LSWW09

Self-mulching clay plains near Leeor				Epicalcareous-Endohypersodic, Self-mulching, Grey Vertosol
		Location	Leeor, western Victoria
		Landform	Plain
		Geology	Quaternary Woorinen Formation: aeolian dune sand, calcareous clay
		Element	Plain




Horizon	Depth (cm)	Description
A1	0–10	Very dark grey (10YR3/1); light medium clay; self–mulching surface condition; moderate coarse blocky, parting to fine polyhedral structure; pH 8.3:
B21	10–25	Dark grey (10YR4/1); light medium clay; moderate coarse blocky structure; smooth ped-fabric, some rough faces due to compaction; pH 8.7:
B22	25–55	Dark reddish grey (2.5Y4/1); light medium clay; moderate coarse, parting to strong coarse blocky, parting further to moderate medium blocky structure; very strong consistence when dry; few soft calcareous segregations; pH 9.2:
B23k	55–110	Light grey (2.5Y7/2); light clay; moderate coarse prismatic, parting to moderate medium blocky structure; many soft calcareous segregations; pH 9.7:
B24	110–190+	Light grey (2.5Y7/2); medium heavy clay; strong lenticular structure; few small slickensides; pH 9.6.
Management Considerations
Alkaline clay soil Vertic properties; self mulching surface, gilgai and cracking Topsoil can become compacted following cultivation when soil is wet Non-sodic and non-dispersive in first metre The landscape has gilgai micro-relief, creating uneven horizons. In some cases the carbonate horizon can be within 30 cm of surface A discontinuous bleached A2 horizon with a fine sandy clay texture can occur that indicates that some waterlogging may occur in the depressions on the gilgai microrelief Soil salinity increases with depth and deeper subsoil is strongly sodic Plant Available Water Capacity (PAWC) is considered to be high (estimated at 200 mm) for this site profile based on an Effective Rooting Depth (ERD) of 100 cm. Rooting depth will be restricted by subsoil conditions, such as strongly sodic (Exchangeable Sodium Percentage >20%), high soluble salt levels (chloride >0.1%), poor structure (eg. massive or very coarse, columnar or prismatic), very high carbonate (lime) content (not applicable to all plant species) or hard rock. Plain, poor site drainage

Horizon	Depth (cm)	pH (water)	pH (CaCl₂)	EC dS/m	NaCl %	Exchangeable Cations cmol-/kg				Wilting Point (pF4.2)	Coarse Sand %	Fine Sand %	Silt %	Clay %
Horizon	Depth (cm)	pH (water)	pH (CaCl₂)	EC dS/m	NaCl %	Ca	Mg	K	Na	Wilting Point (pF4.2)	Coarse Sand %	Fine Sand %	Silt %	Clay %
A1	0–10	8.3	7.7	0.17		26	4.3	2.3	0.3	22.4	5.2	23.6	7	51.5
B21	10–25	8.7	7.9	0.13		24	8.6	2	1	27.7	4.2	17.4	7.5	58
B22	25–55	9.2	8.3	0.22		15	12	1.7	4.1		4.4	19.2	10	54.5
B23k	55–110	9.7	8.7	0.48	<0.05					31.5
B24	110–190+	9.6	8.7	1	0.2	3.6	17	2.1	13

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