SW72
| Australian Soil Classification: Bleached-Vertic, Magnesic, Brown CHROMOSOL | General Landscape Description: Undulating low hills |
| Site Description: Mid slope, simple slope | Geology: Otway Group, (volcanogenic sandstone) |
Soil Profile Morphology:
Surface Soil
| A1 | 0-20 cm | Very dark grey (10YR3/1 moist), grey (10YR5/1 dry); fine sandy clay loam, moderately pedal, crumb; weak to firm consistence; pH 5.3: |  SW72 Profile - Note: Surface (A1) horizon has been stripped from the soil profile |
| A2 | 20-45/50 cm | Light brownish grey (10YR6/2 moist), conspicuously bleached (10YR7/1 dry); fine sandy loam; apedal; hardsetting; very firm consistence; fine (<10 mm) ferruginous gravel (some magnetic), up to 50% or more, in lower 100 mm; pH 6.0; sharp and slightly wavy change to: | |
| Subsoil |  | | |
| B21tss | 45/50-100/120 cm | Dark brown (10YR3/3 moist, dry); few (<10%), fine red and fine yellow mottles, red mottles becoming prominent [up to 30%] and larger (~10 mm) with depth, yellow fringes; medium clay to medium heavy clay; coarse prismatic and coarse lenticular structure, [becoming coarser with depth]; larger (>300 mm) slickensides underlying several peds; pH 6; clear/gradual change to: | |
| B22t | 100/120-140/150 cm | Mottled yellowish red (5YR5/8 moist) or brownish yellow (10YR6/8 moist) and white (with black (5Y2.5/1) clay coatings on ped faces); medium heavy clay; medium prismatic to angular blocky (30-50 mm) peds with sandier matrix in interior; strong consistence; pH 5.4; gradual change to: | |
| C/B | 140/150 cm+ | Red and white mottled, fine weathered sandstone with black clay and organic coatings in cracks. |
Key Profile Features:
- Conspicuously bleached subsurface (A2) horizon.
- Strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B21) horizon.
- Slickensides in subsoil.
Soil Profile Characteristics:
| pH | Salinity Rating | Sodicity | Dispersion |
Surface (A1 horizon) | Strongly Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Subsoil (B21 horizon) | Moderately Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
Deeper subsoil (at 150+ cm) | Strongly Acid | Very Low | Non-Sodic | None |
 |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | pH (CaCl2) | EC 1:5 | NaCl % | Exchangeable Cations | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | ||||||
meq/100g | |||||||||
A1 | 0-10 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 0.1 | | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.28 | 0.32 |
A2 | 30-45 | 6 | 5 | <0.05 | | 0.72 | 1.5 | <0.05 | 0.19 |
B21 | 60-80 | 6 | 4.9 | 0.11 | | 1.4 | 12 | 0.18 | 1.1 |
B22+ | 120-140 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 0.1 | | 0.29 | 7.8 | 0.12 | 0.93 |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | Ex Al mg/kg | Ex Ac meq/100g | Field 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 | 0-10 | 57 | 16 | 30.4 | 11.5 | 12.3 | 38.4 | 27.5 | 13.5 |
A2 | 30-45 | <10 | 6.2 | 17.9 | 7 | 16.5 | 45.6 | 16 | 15 |
B21 | 60-80 | 22 | 13 | 41.1 | 26.3 | 2.8 | 12.4 | 9 | 72 |
B22+ | 120-140 | 190 | 12 | 34.3 | 20.4 | 3.5 | 17.7 | 14.5 | 62 |
Management Considerations:
Subsoil (B) Horizons
- This subsoil has a very low ratio of exchangeable calcium relative to exchangeable magnesium (i.e. magnesic).
- The strongly acid deeper subsoil has high levels of exchangeable calcium.
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