2. Sodic red texture contrast soils/Dissected Uplands: Palaeozoic nongranitic plateaux, mountains, hills and plains

This soil has developed on sedimentary and metamorphic material (rock or colluvial material) in the Western Uplands. This soil is slightly acidic, often tending to neutral or alkaline with depth. The surface soil is often a dark moderately structured sandy loam to sandy clay loam. It overlies a brown loamy/clayey sand subsurface horizon that is massive, sporadically bleached and contains variable amounts of coarse sandstone fragments. There is a clear change to a yellowish red, medium to medium heavy clay subsoil horizon, which is mottled (light olive brown). This is strongly structured (with medium to fine sized peds), with weathered sandstone fragments. At depth this grades into lighter textured weathered material and the underlying bedrock (Palaeozoic metasediments). The depth is about 70 cm or more with variable depths of the surface horizons, generally 10 cm for the surface and 10 cm for the subsurface (up to 25 cm or more). Lower slopes have deeper profiles. Includes red-mottled brown and yellow variants.

Notable features include:

• Texture contrast and associated structure differences between the surface horizons and subsoil.
• Variants may be browner or paler in poorer drainage situations and possibly more dispersive.
• The deeper subsoil is strongly sodic and highly dispersive.
• The lighter textured topsoil may be susceptible to sheet, rill and wind erosion.
• Some susceptibility to upper subsoil compaction.