Victorian Resources Online (archived)
GRES576
Location: 300 m south of Bennison Lookout
Australian Soil Classification: Dystrophic, Brown KANDOSOL
Map Unit: Carrabungla
Previous Site Name: AL12
General Landscape Description: Steep hills
Site description: Mid-slope, WSW aspect 45% slope
Land Use: Grazing on annual pasture
Native Vegetation: Shrubby dry forest
Geology: Devonian rhyolites and rhyodacites , (Wellington Rhyolites, Snowy River Volcanics)
Soil Profile Morphology:
| Surface soil | |||
| A1 | 0 - 9 cm | Very dark greyish brown (10YR3/2); stony loam; weak crumb structure; very weak consistence dry; 40% bedrock fragments up to 10 mm; pH 4.2; clear change to: | |
| Subsoil | |||
| B | 9 - 71 cm | Yellowish brown (10YR5/6); stony clay loam; apedal; slightly hard dry; 40% bedrock fragments up to 18 mm; pH 4.9; changes to: | |
| R | 71+ cm | Bedrock. | |
Key Profile Features:
- Slight increase in texture down the soil profile.
- Shallow soil depth.
Soil Profile Characteristics:
- | pH | Salinity | |
Surface soil (A1 horizon) | Very strongly acid | Very low | Non sodic |
Subsoil (B horizon) | Very strongly acid | Very low | Non sodic |
Chemical and Physical Analysis:
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | EC dS/m | Exchangeable Acididty meq/100g | Exchangeable Cations | Gravel (>2mm) % | Coarse Sand (0.2-2.0 mm) % | Fine Sand (0.02-0.2 mm) % | Silt (0.002-0.02 mm) % | Clay (<0.002 mm) % | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | ||||||||||
meq/100g | |||||||||||||
A1 | 0-9 | 4.2 | 0.07 | 55.9 | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 39 | 22 | 18 | 25 | 15 |
B | 20-30 | 4.9 | 0.04 | 24.4 | 0.07 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.09 | 33 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 21 |
B | 30-60 | 5.0 | 0.03 | 18.0 | 0.07 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 28 | 16 | 21 | 31 | 24 |
Management Considerations
Whole profile
- The surface soil is very strongly acid and is highly likely to respond to lime applications. As both the calcium and magnesium levels are low, dolomitic lime would be the better option. It is difficult to put a figure on the lime required, but in excess of 2.5 tonnes per hectare would be required.
- With such a strongly acidic soil, the levels of exchangeable aluminium are likely to be high which tends to “fix” phosphorus and molybdenum and can be toxic to aluminium-sensitive plant species. Adding lime will help alleviate this problem.
- The potassium levels are quite high and no response to potassium fertiliser would be expected.
Profile Described By: J.M. Aldrick, 1978.
