19. Brown and yellow texture contrast soils/Low elevation plateaux: High relief, low drainage density and Low relief, low drainage density

These soils have developed on weathered material of Neogene sands (often indurated) in the Western Uplands, predominantly on the Dundas Tableland. The soil is acidic throughout.

The surface soil is generally a dark greyish brown sandy loam, which is weakly structured. This soil grades into a subsurface horizon, occasionally bleached. There is a clear, wavy change to a dark yellowish brown, light medium to medium clay. This has weak structure (with fine sized peds), becoming with depth, more yellow and mottled in colour with ferruginous and manganiferous concretions/nodules. This soil grades into the ferruginous rich discontinuous pan material which abruptly overlies a red and pale horizontal mottled layer. The depth is about 80-100 cm or more with variable depths of the surface horizons, generally 20 cm for the surface and 10 cm for the subsurface, occasionally deeper.

Notable features include:

• Texture contrast soil, acidic but not strongly at depth.
• A ferric pan as well as ferruginous concretions/nodules are generally present.
• Roots tend to be confined to upper soil.
• Weathered substrate material often displays distinctive red and white horizontal mottling (tiger mottles).
• The ferruginised pan and coarse mottled material indicate restricted drainage.