Soil/Landform Unit 129

Emu Hill has slopes with many surface stones that mainly support grazing

Area: 306 ha

0.02% of CMA region

Emu Hill is a low hill that has poorly developed drainage and thin soils within the dissected landscape of the Western Plains. This low hill has many surface stones on the upper slopes with no remnant vegetation within this unit. The soils of the middle and lower slopes are relatively poorly drained texture contrast soils with a shallow surface horizon over

sodic

medium to heavy clay subsoils. On the upper slopes the stony soils are shallow black cracking clays. Local relief is less than 35 m with little significant defined drainage. The land use is extensively grazing (mainly sheep) and minor cropping. Waterlogging (particularly on the lower slopes) combined with poor soil permeabilities is a major land management concern make cropping extremely difficult.

The lower slopes provide deeper soils and are used for grazing and cropping

Component	1	2	3
Proportion of soil-landform unit	45%	20%	35%
CLIMATE Rainfall (mm)	Annual:670
Temperature (^oC)	Minimum 9, Maximum 18
Precipitation less than potential evapotranspiration	October-March
GEOLOGY Age and lithology	Quaternary basalt
Geomorphology	6.1.4 Volcanic Western Plains with well developed drainage
LANDUSE	Uncleared: Nature conservation Cleared: Sheep and beef cattle grazing; cropping (cereal)
TOPOGRAPHY Landscape	Low hills
Elevation range (m)	270-320
Local relief (m)	35
Drainage pattern	Centripetal-annular
Drainage density (km/km²)	0.4
Landform	Hillslopes
Landform element	Crest, upper slopes	Mid slopes	Lower slopes
Slope and range (%)	3 (1-8)	5 (3-12)	4 (2-7)
Slope shape	Convex	Irregular	Concave
NATIVE VEGETATION Ecological Vegetation Class	Absent
SOIL Parent material	Basalt	Basalt	Basalt and colluvium
Description (Corangamite Soil Group)	Shallow black cracking clays (39)	Alkaline mottled brown, grey or yellow texture contrast soils (36)	Alkaline mottled brown, grey or yellow texture contrast soils (36)
Soil type sites	SW102, SW101, SW103	SFS6, MM5015, CLRA47	SFS6, MM5015, CLRA47
Surface texture	Light clay	Fine sandy clay loam	Fine sandy clay loam
Permeability	Moderate to high	Low	Low
Depth (m)	<0.7	<1.5	<2
LAND CHARACTERISTICS, POTENTIAL AND LIMITATIONS	Uniform expansive clay soil, friable but shallow. Moderate water holding capcity and high to very high nutrient holding capacity. May be sodic and/or calcereous. Stony.	Texture contrast soil, low water holding capacity and moderate nutrient holding capacity in shallow surface and subsurface soils, higher in deep subsoil. Red soils have moderate permeability, yellow (brown) soils have low to very low permeability. Strongly sodic subsoil, possibly surface soil associated with poor drainage. Moderately rapid site drainage.	Texture contrast soil, low water holding capacity and moderate nutrient holding capacity in shallow surface and subsurface soils, higher in deep subsoil. Red soils have a moderate permeability, yellow (brown) soils have low to very low permeability. Strongly sodic subsoil, possible surface soil associated with poor drainage. Moderate site drainage. May be susceptible to compaction.

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