Coastal dunes (Symbol: cd)

Profile No. 1 (Aldrick et al 1992)

Geology
Recent aeolian sediments

Landform
Longitudinal dunefield parallel to the coastline.



Previous maps and reports
This map unit was mapped as Booran 1 Land System by Aldrick et al. (1992). In the previous reports on ‘Major agricultural soils of the Maffra region’ by Sargeant and Imhof (2000), all of the dunes fronting the coast are grouped under coastal dunes.

Soils
All of the soils are sands and variations in surface colour are mainly due to differences in organic matter content. The subsoil sands generally range in colour from pale brownish grey to brownish yellow and occasionally light reddish brown. Although the surface soils are generally non-calcareous and neutral to slightly acidic, the subsoils are always moderately to strongly alkaline and frequently highly calcareous.

This map unit is intrinsically unstable, with youthful, often mobile, unconsolidated materials and droughty soils susceptible to wind erosion and loss of nutrients through leaching.

Native vegetation
Coastal dune scrub/coastal dune grassland mosaic.

Land use
Mostly uncleared

Profile No. 1 (Aldrick et al 1992)

Location: 1.5 km NE of Golden Beach	Geo. Ref.: 536476E 5771900N
Australian Soil Classification: Shelly RUDOSOL	Coastal dune soil
General landscape description: Dune
Geology: Holocene marine sand
Site description: Crest of foredune, 2% slope to NW
Land use: Native vegetation
Native vegetation: Coastal dune scrub/coastal dune grassland mosaic
Map unit: Coastal dunes

Horizon	Depth cm	Field texture	pH water	pH CaCl2	EC dS/m	Coarse sand %	Fine sand %	Silt %	Clay %	Field cap. % w/w	Wilt. point % w/w	PAW* water % w/w
A1	0-3	S	6.2		0.25	82	6	1	4
A1	3-7	S	8.5		0.15	89	6	<1	4
A2	10-20	S	8.0		0.07	92	5	1	4
A2	24-30	S	8.1		0.06	91	6	<1	4
A2	30-47	S	8.5		0.61
A2	60-90	S	9.0		0.81	91	6	1	4

Depth	Org C	Total N	Free Fe2O3	Exch. Al	Exchangeable cations cmol(+)/kg							Ca:Mg	ESP
cm	%	%	% w/w	ppm	Ca	Mg	K	Na	Total	H	CEC
0-3	4.4	0.25	0.3		6.1	3.3	0.2	1.0	10.8	4.9	15.7	1.8
3-7	1.0	0.6	0.02		4.4	1.1	0.09	0.4			4.9	4.0
10-20	0.66	0.05	0.3		3.2	0.9	0.06	0.06			3.0	3.6
24-30	0.25	0.02
30-47			0.2		1.3	0.3	0.01	0.01			2.6	4.3
60-90			0.1		1.4	0.2	0.01	0.01			1.2	7.0