15. Sandy soils with pans/Strike ridges and valleys: Sandstone hills, valleys

These soils have developed on mainly associated colluvial material of Palaeozoic sandstone in the Western Uplands, primarily the Black Range as well as the Grampians Ranges. This is a strongly acidic soil tending to slightly acidic/neutral at depth.

The surface soil is usually a dark brownish grey loamy sand, which is apedal (sandy) and has very weak consistence (strength). It clearly overlies a conspicuously bleached pale loamy sand subsurface horizon, which is apedal (sandy). This soil also has very weak consistence (strength). There is a clear change to a yellow organic and sesquioxide discontinuous pan (coffee rock) sitting clearly over a mottled (yellow) medium clay, which is massive. This grades into lighter textured weathered material. The profile depth is about 130 cm or more with variable depths of the surface horizons, generally 15-30 cm for the surface and 20-30 cm for the subsurface, often deeper.

Notable features include:

• Deep uniform sands over a pan, in turn over variable amounts of clay at depth.
• Pan type, depth (up to 40 cm at site example) and continuity will vary.
• These soils have low nutrient capacity and low water holding capacity.
• These features make these soils vulnerable to sheet and wind erosion, particularly on sloping terrain given low consistence/coherence and lighter surface materials.