Victorian Resources Online (archived)
GN11
| Location: Dookie | |
| Australian Soil Classification: Basic, Regolithic, Bleached-Orthic TENOSOL over a buried clayey horizon | |
| General Landscape Description: Possible old alluvial bed or source boarding dune. | |
| Site Description: Flat | |
| Native Vegetation: The sandy loams predominantly vegetated with White cypress pine/Murray pine (Callitris columellaris) and Yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora). Grey box (Eucalyptus microcarpa) can be found where texture is slightly heavier. | |
| Occurrence: Found in sloping, undulating country extending down to flatter areas, particularly on the northern and western sides of the Land Management Group area. |
 GN11 Landscape |
Soil Profile Morphology:
Surface Soil
| O | 0-1 cm | Surface condition loose; sharp change to: |  GN11 Profile |
| A11 | 1-20 cm | Dark brown (7.5YR3/4); loamy coarse sand; very few quartz fragments (1 mm in size); pH 5.7; clear change to: | |
| A12 | 20-60 cm | Light red (5YR6/8); coarse sand; many quartz fragments (2-5 mm in size); pH 5.8: | |
| A13 | 60-79 cm | Gravel; very many quartz fragments (2-5mm and 11mm): | |
| A2 | 79-80 cm | Pinkish grey (7.5YR7/2d); thin layer; sharp change to: | |
| Subsoil | |||
| 2B21 | 80+ cm | Brown (7.5YR5/4); medium clay; strong medium to coarse prismatic, parting to strong fine blocky structure; very firm consistence; pH 5.8. | |
Key Profile Features:
- Identifying characteristics: These soils range from fine sandy loam to loamy sands and are commonly associated with sand ridges. The topsoil is generally not very deep, but can vary in depth and texture. The soil has a tendency to have a soupy subsoil once to becomes saturated.
pH | Salinity Rating | |||
Surface soil (1-20 cm) | Moderately Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Upper subsoil (20-60 cm) | Moderately Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Deeper subsoil (at 80+ cm) | Moderately Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | pH (CaCl2) | EC 1:5 | Total Nitrogen % | Organic Carbon % | Exchangeable Cations | Field Capacity pF 2.5 | Wilting Point pF 4.2 | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | |||||||||
meq/100g | ||||||||||||
A11 | 1-20 | 5.7 | 4.6 | <0.05 | <0.05 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | <0.1 | 10 | 4.2 |
A12 | 20-60 | 5.8 | 4.6 | <0.05 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 | <0.1 | 9.2 | 2.2 | ||
A13 | 60-79 | 28.9 | 13.4 | |||||||||
A2 | 79-80 | 29.1 | 9 | |||||||||
2B21 | 80+ | 5.8 | 4.6 | <0.05 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 22.5 | 10.3 | ||
Management Considerations (Briggs 1995):
Favourable Characteristics
- Drainage: The sandy loams are naturally free-draining soils. These soils can suffer from soaks and appear to be prone to having soupy subsoils.
- Workability/Trafficability: The sandy loams are flexible in their timing of cultivation and are easy to work. Direct drilling is a feasible option but due to the high sand content, the soil can be abrasive on cultivation machinery.
- Acidity/Alkalinity: The sandy loam topsoil was consistently acidic throughout all samples, becoming neutral to slightly acidic further down the profile. These soils have a reasonable ability to resist further acidification.
- Fertility: These soils are generally low in both organic carbon and sulphur. Care must be taken when growing lucerne due to moderate aluminium levels. Applied phosphorus should be freely available to crops and pastures.
- Moisture availability: The high sand content of this soil means a lower capacity to hold moisture. In general it dries off earlier than other soils.
- Soil structure: This soil requires careful management to maintain soil structure. With overcultivation the soil structure will decline and show signs of running together (dispersing) when wet and setting hard when dry. The soil can also be prone to soupy subsoils which may limit vehicle access when wet.
- This soil is considered to be less productive than the Dookie red and self-mulching black soil. This soil is suited to shorter crop rotations with longer pasture phases. Direct drilling is a feasible option which will help prevent decline of the soil structure.
- Current possibilities: Wheat, oats, triticale, lupins.
- Further possibilities: Canola, linola.
- Deeper rooted perennials may be able to tap into subsoil moisture, increase productivity, control soaks and improve the nutrient status of the soil.
- Current possibilities: Cocksfoot (Porto), early maturing clovers in your pasture (e.g. Dalkeith), Seaton Park, Goulburn, lucerne (if pH is suitable and no soupy subsoil), phalaris (if pH is suitable).
Profile Described By: Mark Imhof, John Martin and Sonia Thompson (May 1994).
