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Riversdale West Railway Cutting
Figure 4: Stratigraphy of the southern side of the Riversdale West cutting.
Riversdale West cutting (Site No. 3) lies to the east of Tallangatta (see Figure 4 and Figure 2d). The railway cutting exposes more hardpan of the Tallangatta type, in alluvial-colluvial sediments that originate from the steep valley side slopes to the south. The hardpan is also evident in the well weathered gneiss where it cuts through the lowest part of the saddle.
 Figure 2d: Cross section of the piedmont, in the valley of the Mitta River at Riversdale West. | ||
The soil at this site has a well-developed hardpan at about 1.5 m (Photo 6). The hardpan is more-or-less parallel to the present soil surface, but dips at a slightly steeper angle down-slope to the east (Photo 7).
 Photo 6: Riversdale West cutting with hardpan. | |
 Photo 7: Riversdale West cutting showing steeper dip of hardpan than the soil surface. |
The hard pan is continuous with an indurated zone at the top of the gneissic saprolite in the saddle to the west (Figure 4 and Plate 8). The hardpan and soils in the Tallangatta and Riversdale West cuttings are similar.
 Photo 8: Indurated gneissic saprolite at the hardpan level in the Riversdale West cutting. | |
