Victorian Resources Online (archived)

SFS 17

Location: Woorndoo, Streatham Road South
Aust. Soil Class.: Vertic, Mottled-Hypernatric, Black and Grey SODOSOL

General Landscape Description: Gently undulating plain (relatively elevated plain ~1% and ~70-100 m below crest)
Site Description: Wheat crop.
Geology: Quaternary - Newer Volcanics

SFS 17

Soil Profile Morphology:

Surface Soil			SFS 17
Ap	0-10 cm	Brown (10YR 5/3 moist), light greyish brown (10YR 6/2 dry); fine sandy clay loam; apedal to weakly pedal; abrupt change to:
A21e	10-20 cm	Light greyish brown (10YR 6/2 moist), conspicuously bleached (10YR 7/3 dry); fine sandy loam; apedal but with platy pan in upper part of horizon; weak to firm consistence; clear change to:
A22c	20-35 cm	Light greyish brown (10YR 6/2 moist); conspicuously bleached (10YR 7/3 dry); gravelly loam (>70%) (3-20 mm) buckshot; (the coarser buckshot fraction is comprised of cemented smaller buckshot, the finer fraction is magnetic); sharp change to:
Subsoil
B21t	35-50 cm	Dark to very dark grey (10YR 4/1 – 3/1) with fine strong red mottles (sometimes yellower and becoming dull yellow with depth); heavy clay; strongly pedal, medium prismatic (25-40 mm) parting to medium blocky (20 mm) structure; strong consistence (dry).

Subsoil 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	Sodicity	Dispersion
Surface (A1 horizon)	Moderately Acid	Low	Non-Sodic
Subsoil (B21 horizon)	Near Neutral	Low	Strongly sodic	Strong-Complete
Deeper subsoil (at 35-50 cm)	Slightly Alkaline	Low-Medium	Strongly Sodic	Strong

Horizon	Horizon Depth (cm)	pH (water)	pH (CaCl₂)	EC dS/m	NaCl	Exchangeable Cations
						Ca	Mg	K	Na
						meq/100g
Ap	0-10	5.8	5.8	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	35-45	7.1	6.3	0.35	0.04	5.4	9.0	0.7	5.6
B22	50-60	7.7

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	8.0	42.6	25.5	17.0
A21	10-20	<10	4.6	22.4	4.4	8.4	48.9	26.5	13.5
A22	20-35	<10	7.4	15.8	6.5	55.2	22.4	12.5	8.5
B21	35-45			41.2	26.6	6.8	13.1	7.0	68.5
B22	50-60

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

Richard Jamieson 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, May 1999.

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