SFS 17

Location: Woorndoo, Streatham Road South
Aust. Soil Class.: Vertic, Mottled-Hypernatric, Black and Grey SODOSOL

General Landscape Description: Gently undulating plain (relatively elevated plain ~1% and ~70-100 m below crest)
Site Description: Wheat crop.
Geology: Quaternary - Newer Volcanics

SFS 17

Surface Soil			SFS 17
Ap	0-10 cm	Brown (10YR 5/3 moist), light greyish brown (10YR 6/2 dry); fine sandy clay loam; apedal to weakly pedal; abrupt change to:
A21e	10-20 cm	Light greyish brown (10YR 6/2 moist), conspicuously bleached (10YR 7/3 dry); fine sandy loam; apedal but with platy pan in upper part of horizon; weak to firm consistence; clear change to:
A22c	20-35 cm	Light greyish brown (10YR 6/2 moist); conspicuously bleached (10YR 7/3 dry); gravelly loam (>70%) (3-20 mm) buckshot; (the coarser buckshot fraction is comprised of cemented smaller buckshot, the finer fraction is magnetic); sharp change to:
Subsoil
B21t	35-50 cm	Dark to very dark grey (10YR 4/1 – 3/1) with fine strong red mottles (sometimes yellower and becoming dull yellow with depth); heavy clay; strongly pedal, medium prismatic (25-40 mm) parting to medium blocky (20 mm) structure; strong consistence (dry).

Subsoil ped

Crop root development

• Strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B21) horizon.
• Conspicuously bleached subsurface (A2) horizon.

	pH	Salinity Rating	Sodicity	Dispersion
Surface (A1 horizon)	Moderately Acid	Low	Non-Sodic
Subsoil (B21 horizon)	Near Neutral	Low	Strongly sodic	Strong-Complete
Deeper subsoil (at 35-50 cm)	Slightly Alkaline	Low-Medium	Strongly Sodic	Strong

Horizon	Horizon Depth (cm)	pH (water)	pH (CaCl2)	EC dS/m	NaCl	Exchangeable Cations
						Ca	Mg	K	Na
						meq/100g
Ap	0-10	5.8	5.8	0.25		6.5	1.6	0.31	0.33
A21	10-20	5.1	4.7	0.17		1.9	0.66	0.10	0.12
A22	20-35	6.0	5.7	0.19		1.5	0.73	0.14	0.28
B21	35-45	7.1	6.3	0.35	0.04	5.4	9.0	0.7	5.6
B22	50-60	7.7

Horizon	Horizon Depth (cm)	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)
Ap	0-10	<10	8.8	29.2	9.8	8.0	42.6	25.5	17.0
A21	10-20	<10	4.6	22.4	4.4	8.4	48.9	26.5	13.5
A22	20-35	<10	7.4	15.8	6.5	55.2	22.4	12.5	8.5
B21	35-45			41.2	26.6	6.8	13.1	7.0	68.5
B22	50-60

Management Considerations:

Whole Profile

• Plant available water capacity (PAWC) is considered to be low (estimated at 95 mm) in the upper 100 cm of this soil profile.

• Richard Jamieson reports that this paddock has crabhole features with A2 and buckshot of very variable thickness, some places the clay B horizon may be at 60 cm depth while in others the clay is almost at the surface. Generally around 4 metres between crabholes. Soil shows cracking to surface on “clay banks” and crickets are plentiful.
• Profile described by Richard MacEwan, May 1999.