Roseneath (Symbol: Rn)

Profile No. 41 (Aldrick et al, 1982)

Geology
Recent marine sediments mantled with some aeolian sediments.

Landform
Marine plain. Plains comprising clay flats and some small saline swamps, often mantled by sand. These plains have been formed by the exposure of earlier lake floors and occur mainly around Lake Wellington.


Remnant vegetation adjoining Holland’s Landing Road

Previous maps and reports
This map unit was mapped as Clydebank Land System by Aldrick et al. (1992) and under Roseneath and Wulla Wullock by Nicholson (1978). Areas where extensive dunefields occur are mapped as the Seacombe map unit.

Soils
Many of the surface soils are slightly acidic dark grey clays but north of Lake Wellington within the Strathfieldsaye Estate the clays are often mantled by a thin layer of sand. With depth the soil generally becomes alkaline and increasingly saline.

Native Vegetation
Swamp scrub.

Land use
Mostly cleared and used for grazing.

Profile No. 41 (Aldrick et al, 1982)

Location: 4 km SE of Meerlieu	Geo. Ref.: 536500E 5890800N
Australian Soil Classification: Epihypersodic, Epipedal, Black VERTOSOL	Grey cracking clay
General landscape description: Plain
Geology: Holocene lacustrine sediments
Site description: <1% slope
Land use: Grazing
Native vegetation: Swamp scrub
Map unit: Roseneath

• Clay textures throughout the profile.

Horizon	Depth cm	Field texture	pH water	EC dS/m	Gravel %	Coarse sand %	Fine sand %	Silt %	Clay %	Field cap. % w/w	Wilt. point % w/w	PAW* water % w/w
A11	0-4	Org CL	5.7	0.18	8	2	21	13	51
A12	4-10	C	5.9	0.11	5	13	25	14	45
B21	12-20	MC	6.8	0.14	17	4	30	25	38
B22	30-60	HC	8.3	1.20	11	7	32	13	51
C1	90-110	CL	9.3	2.20	41	4	38	15	45

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
0-4	7.7	0.57	0.7		4.3	4.5	1.7	1.2	11.7	23.9	35.6	1.0	3
4-10	3.0	0.27	0.7		2.8	3.2	0.9	1.1	8.0	16.8	24.8	0.9	4
12-20	1.5	0.14	1.1		4.1	6.8	0.7	2.5	14.1	8.6	22.7	0.6	11
30-60			1.7		4.2	11.4	1.0	7.9	24.5	4.3	28.2	0.4	28
90-110			0.4		4.8	9.2	0.7	7.7	22.4		22.4	0.5	34

• No additional lime or potassium is needed for pasture growth.

• When the soil is dry, heavy rains will move down cracks. This rapid recharge will be valuable for the survival of plants near wilting. When wet, the soil will swell and further infiltration of water will be relatively slow.
• The surface soil will be difficult to manage, being hard and cloddy when dry and firm and sticky when wet. As a consequence, these soils are generally suited to pasture production. Tillage or overstocking of these soils should be avoided if the soil is wet.

• From a depth of 30 cm the soil is extremely sodic and has high and harmful levels of soluble salts. This would greatly restrict root growth.