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Marong Map unit Ose

Back to: A Land Capability Study of the Rural City of Marong

Map Unit:	Ordovician sediments, gentle slope	Map Unit Symbol:	Ose
		% of Study Area:	17.1

General Description:
This unit is widespread throughout the centre of the study area. The dominant soil types are red duplex with hardsetting fine sandy loam topsoils and sporadically bleached A2 horizons. Yellow mottling occurs occasionally in the medium clay subsoils. Soil variations include fully bleached A2 horizons and gradational yellow brown soils with sporadically bleached A2 horizons. Coarse fragments are common throughout the profile and on the soil surface. The soils are very similar to those on the very gentle slopes and gentle crests and detailed information has been extrapolated from those sites.

Site characteristics:

Parent material age:	Ordovician	Depth seasonal watertable:	> 5 m
Lithology:	Sediments	Potential recharge to groundwater:	Low
Landform Pattern:	Undulating low hills	Flooding risk:	Nil
Element:	Slope	Drainage:	Well drained
Slope common:	5%	Depth to hardrock:	0.8 m
Slope range:	3 - 10%
Rock outcrop:	0%

Major vegetation: Grey Box, Red Box, Yellow Gum, Golden Wattle, Gold-dust Wattle, Hedge Wattle, Round-leaf Wattle, Black-anther Flax-lily, Drooping Cassinia, Spear Grass, Onion Grass

Present land use: Native forest, grazing, residential

Land degradation:	Water erosion		Wind erosion	Salting	Acidification
	Sheet/rill	Gully
Susceptibility	High	High	Low	Low	Moderate
Incidence	Low	Moderate	Low	Nil	Moderate

Soil profile characteristics:

Permeability (measured - average, range):	37, 15 - 88 mm/day
Permeability (estimated):	-
Available water capacity:	122 mm H20
Linear shrinkage (B horizon):	14.6 %

Soil profile description:

A1	0-12 cm	Dull reddish brown (5YR4/3) fine sandy loam, weak structure, subangular blocky peds 2 - 5 mm, smooth fabric, moderately firm consistence, common subangular sedimentary and quartz gravel fragments, moderate organic matter, pH 6.2. Clear transition to
A2	12-30 cm	Hardsetting orange (5YR6/6) loam fine sandy, sporadically bleached when dry, weak structure, subangular blocky peds 5-10 mm, smooth fabric, moderately firm consistence, a few organic segregations, many angular coarse sedimentary fragments, pH 4.7. Clear transition to
B2	30-60 cm	Dull reddish brown (5YR4/4) medium clay, weak structure, subangular blocky peds 10 - 20 mm, smooth fabric, very firm consistence, pH 7.3. Gradational transition to
B3	60-80 cm	Dull reddish brown (5YR4/4) medium clay, moderate structure, subangular blocky peds 5 - 10 mm, smooth fabric, moderately firm consistence, many subangular sedimentary gravel fragments, pH 9.0. Clear transition to
C	80 cm	Rock

Soil classification:

Factual Key (Northcote):	Dr 2.33 (major), Dr 2.13, Dr 3.41 (minor)
Australian Soil Classification:	Subnatric, Red, Sodosol, moderate, medium, loamy, gravelly
Unified Soil Group:	CH

Interpretation of soil analyses*

Horizon	pH	Gravel %	E.C. (salts)	Nutrient Status	P	K	Al	Organic Matter	Dispersibility
A1	6.2	2.6	VL	M	D	S	S	H	L
A2	4.7**	31	VL	VL	D	D	T	H	H
B2	7.3	2.9	M	H	D	S	S	L	VH
B3	9.0	62.9	M	H	D	S	S	VL	L

VL : Very Low; L : Low; M : Moderate; H : High; VH : Very High; D : Deficient; S : Satisfactory; T : Toxic; **: Acid * See Appendix 4 for analytical results


Land capability assessment

Land Use	Class	Major limiting feature(s)/ landuse
Agriculture (CTS values)	C3T3S4	Highly susceptible to sheet/rill and gully erosion, shallow depth to hardrock, high gravel/stone content
Effluent disposal (septic tanks)	4	Slow permeability
Farm dams (earthen)	5	Shallow depth to hardrock, very dispersible subsoil
Building foundations - slab	2	Nil
Building foundations - stumps/footings	3	Moderate linear shrinkage
Secondary roads	5	Very dispersible subsoil
Urban residential	5	Secondary roads
Rural residential	5	Farm dams, secondary roads

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