Victorian Resources Online (archived)
LS21 south
Location: Baker
Australian Soil Classification: Episodic-Epicalcareous, Epipedal, Grey VERTOSOL
Northcote Factual Key: Ug 5.2
Great Soil Group: grey clay
General Landscape Description: Gently Undulating Plain.
Site Description: Mound component within a gilgaied plain.
Native Vegetation: Black Box and Lignum Bush occur in undisturbed areas.
 LS21 south Landscape |
Soil Profile Morphology:
Surface Soil
| A1 | 0-10 cm | Dark greyish brown (10YR4/2); medium clay; firm consistence dry; pH 9.3; |  LS1 south Profile |
| Subsoil | |||
| B21 | 10-50 cm | Greyish brown (10YR5/2); strong medium blocky structure; firm consistence moist; contains a slight amount of soft carbonate; pH 9.3; | |
| B22 | 50-100 cm | Light yellowish brown (10YR6/4) with yellowish red (5YR5/8) mottles; light medium clay; moderate to strong medium prismatic, parting to moderate coarse blocky structure; contains a slight amount of soft carbonate; firm consistence moist; pH 9.3; | |
| B23 | 100+ cm | Very pale brown (10YR7/3); light medium clay; contains a moderate amount of soft carbonate; pH 9.4. | |
Soil Profile Characteristics:
| - | pH | Salinity | ||
Surface (A1 horizon) | Very Strongly Alkaline | Medium | Strongly Sodic | None* |
Subsoil (B21 horizon) | Very Strongly Alkaline | Extremely High | Strongly Sodic | None* |
Deeper Subsoil (at 1 metre) | Very Strongly Alkaline | Extremely High | Strongly Sodic | Moderate- Strong |
| The profile is very strongly alkaline throughout. | The salinity rating is medium in the surface and extremely high in the subsoil. | The profile is strongly sodic throughout. |
Chemical and Physical Analysis:
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | pH (CaCl2) | EC dS/m | Na Cl % | Exchangeable Cations | Total Nitrogen % | Organic Carbon % | Field Capacity pF 2.5 | Wilting Point pF 4.2 | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | ||||||||||
meq/100g | |||||||||||||
A1 | 0-10 | 9.3 | 8.4 | 0.66 | 0.1 | 10.2 | 9.5 | 2 | 4.9 | 0.13 | 1.3 | 32.1 | 24.2 |
B21 | 10-50 | 9.3 | 8.7 | 1.88 | 0.37 | 6 | 16 | 2.6 | 13.4 | 53.7 | 36.1 | ||
B22 | 50-100 | 9.3 | 8.7 | 2.19 | 0.46 | 3.9 | 12 | 2.3 | 11.2 | ||||
B23 | 100+ | 9.4 | 8.8 | 1.99 | 0.38 | 3.3 | 12 | 2 | 10.7 | ||||
Management Considerations:
Surface (A) Horizons
- Moderately saline surface conditions are likely to restrict plant growth.
- Surface soil is sodic and will disperse strongly if mechanically disturbed in a moist condition.
- Subsoil is strongly sodic and magnesic but dispersion is retarded due to high soluble salt concentrations in the soil.
- The calcium/magnesium ratio for the subsoil is low (approx. 0.2) and may result in deleterious effects to plants from magnesium toxicity or calcium deficiency.
- The high level of soluble salts is likely to be harmful to all but very salt tolerant plants.
Profile Described By: Mark Imhof, David Rees, Sonia Thompson (October 1994).
