Victorian Resources Online (archived)
SFS17
Location: Woorndoo
Australian Soil Classification: Vertic, Mottled-Hypernatric, Black and Grey SODOSOL
General Landscape Description: Gently undulating basalt plain
Site Description: Relatively elevated position near the crest with gilgai 4 m wide.
Land Use: Wheat cropping
Geology: Quaternary - Newer Volcanics
SFS17 Landscape
Soil Profile Morphology:
Surface Soil
| Ap | 0-10 cm | Brown (10YR5/3); fine sandy clay loam; cracking surface; apedal to weakly pedal; weak consistence dry; pH 5.8; abrupt change to: |  SFS17 Profile |
| A21e | 10-20 cm | Light brownish grey (10YR6/2) conspicuously bleached (10YR7/3d); fine sandy loam; apedal but with platy pan in upper part of horizon; weak to firm consistence dry; pH 5.1; clear change to: | |
| A22c | 20-35 cm | Light brownish grey (10YR6/2) conspicuously bleached (10YR7/3d); gravelly loam; very many medium to coarse (3-20 mm) buckshot (the coarser buckshot fraction is comprised of cemented smaller buckshot, the finer fraction is magnetic); pH 6.0; sharp change to: NOTE: horizon varies in thickness, can go as deep as 60 cm. | |
| Subsoil | |||
| B21t | 35-60 cm | Dark grey to very dark grey (10YR4/1 – 3/1) with fine strong red mottles (sometimes yellower and becoming dull yellow with depth); heavy clay; strong coarse prismatic, parting to medium blocky structure; strong consistence dry; pH 7.1-7.7. | |
 Subsoil B21 ped |  Crop root development |
Key Profile Features:
- Strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B21) horizon.
- Conspicuously bleached subsurface (A2) horizon.
Soil Profile Characteristics:
pH | Salinity Rating | |||
Surface (A1 horizon) | Moderately Acid | Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Subsoil (B21 horizon) | Near Neutral | Low | Strongly sodic | Strong-Complete |
Deeper Subsoil (at 50-60 cm) | Slightly Alkaline | Low | Strongly Sodic | Strong |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | pH (CaCl2) | EC dS/m | NaCl % | Organic Carbon % | Nitrogen % | Exchangeable Cations | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | ||||||||
meq/100g | |||||||||||
Ap | 0-10 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 0.25 | 2.9 | 0.25 | 6.5 | 1.6 | 0.31 | 0.33 | |
A21 | 10-20 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 0.17 | 1.9 | 0.66 | 0.10 | 0.12 | |||
A22 | 20-35 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 0.19 | 1.5 | 0.73 | 0.14 | 0.28 | |||
B21 (upper) | 35-45 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 0.35 | 0.04 | 5.4 | 9.0 | 0.7 | 5.6 | ||
B21 (lower) | 50-60 | 7.7 | 7.0 | 0.39 | 0.04 | 4.9 | 8.4 | 0.6 | 5.3 | ||
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | Exchangeable Aluminium mg/kg | Exchangeable Acidity meq/100g | Field Capacity pF2.5 | Wilting Point pF4.2 | Coarse Sand (0.2-2.0 mm) | Fine Sand (0.02-0.2 mm) | Silt (0.002-0.02 mm) | Clay (<0.002 mm) |
Ap | 0-10 | <10 | 8.8 | 29.2 | 9.8 | 8 | 43 | 26 | 17 |
A21 | 10-20 | <10 | 4.6 | 22.4 | 4.4 | 8 | 49 | 27 | 14 |
A22 | 20-35 | <10 | 7.4 | 15.8 | 6.5 | 55 | 22 | 13 | 9 |
B21 (upper) | 35-45 | 41.2 | 26.6 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 69 | ||
B21 (lower) | 50-60 | 37.2 | 22.9 | 17 | 16 | 28 | 30 |
Management Considerations:
Whole Profile
- Plant available water capacity (PAWC) is considered to be low (estimated at 95 mm) in the upper 100 cm of this soil profile.
NOTES: Property owner reports that this paddock has crabhole features with A2 and buckshot of very variable thickness, some places the clay B horizon may be at 60 cm depth while in others the clay is almost at the surface. Generally around 4 metres between crabholes. Soil shows cracking to surface on “clay banks” and crickets are plentiful.
Profile Described By: Richard MacEwan (December 1999).
