SW60
Location: Simpson.
Australian Soil Classification: Reticulate, Mesotrophic, Brown CHROMOSOL.
General Landscape Description: A plateau of dissected Tertiary sediments within a gently undulating plain.
Site Description: Level to slightly sloping crest.
Geology: Hanson Plain Sand.
Land Use: Dairy cattle grazing.
Soil Profile Morphology:
Surface Soil
| Ah | 0-25 cm | Very dark greyish brown (10YR3/2); sandy loam; weak fine to medium polyhedral structure; pH 6.2; abrupt and smooth boundary to: |  SW60 Profile. NOTE: Reticulate Mottling or "Tiger Mottling" in subsoil. |
| Subsoil |  | | |
| B21 | 25-40 cm | Brownish yellow (10YR6/8); sandy clay loam; massive; pH 6.0; clear and wavy change to: | |
| B22t | 40-70/90 cm | Light olive brown (2.5Y5/3) with yellowish brown (10YR5/6) mottles with red (2.5YR5/8) ped interiors; medium clay; fine to coarse polyhedral structure; smooth ped faces; very firm consistence dry; pH 5.8; irregular and clear change to: | |
| B/C | 70/90+ cm | Light grey (2.5Y7/1) with yellowish brown (10YR5/8) and yellowish red (5YR5/6) ped interiors, with conspicuous coarse (50-100 mm in size) reticulate mottling; very coarse to coarse (30-100 mm in size) polyhedral, parting to medium to fine (5-30 mm in size) polyhedral structure; smooth faced peds; pH 5.5. | |
| | | |
Key Profile Features:
- Strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B21) horizon.
Soil Profile Characteristics:
| pH | Salinity Rating | ||
Surface (A1 horizon) | Slightly Acid | Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Subsoil (B21 horizon) | Moderately Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Deeper subsoil (at 80+ cm) | Strongly Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
| This surface is slightly acid. The subsoil is moderately acid becoming strongly acid at depth. | | This salinity rating in the surface is low. The subsoil is very low. | | The clay content increases markedly at the surface / subsoil boundary. |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | pH (CaCl2) | EC (dS/m) | Exchangeable Cations | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | |||||
meq/100g | ||||||||
A1 | 0-25 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 0.15 | 6.2 | 0.55 | 0.51 | 0.18 |
A2 | 25-40 | 6 | 5.4 | 0.08 | 1.8 | 0.92 | 0.24 | 0.09 |
B21 | 40-80 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 0.09 | 1.7 | 5 | 0.45 | 0.25 |
B22 | 80-105 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 0.08 | 0.82 | 4.7 | 0.17 | 0.33 |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | Oxidisable Organic Carbon % | Total Nitrogen % | 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) |
A1 | 0-25 | 3.1 | 0.25 | <10 | 9.3 | 18 | 7 | 29 | 46 | 12 | 8 |
A2 | 25-40 | | | <10 | 4.3 | 16 | 9 | 27 | 41 | 8 | 24 |
B21 | 40-80 | | | <10 | 8 | 33 | 24 | 15 | 18 | 6 | 58 |
B22 | 80-105 | | | <10 | 6.8 | 32 | 21 | 25 | 16 | 4 | 52 |
Management Considerations:
Subsoil (B) Horizons
- The low exchangeable calcium:magnesium ratio in the subsoil (0.4 in B21, 0.2 in B22) indicates that nutrient imbalances may occur e.g. calcium deficiency.
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