35. Sodic, red texture contrast soils/Ridges with sand and flats: Prominent ridge tops and oriented swales

These soils have developed on Quaternary unconsolidated material, generally of aeolian origin in the North West Dunefields and Plains, north of the Little Desert. They usually have neutral to alkaline surfaces and alkaline subsoils.

The surface soil is usually a dark brown sandy clay loam, which is weakly structured. It occasionally overlies a sporadically bleached subsurface horizon, occasionally capping the subsoil. There is a clear change to a reddish brown (occasionally yellowish red) medium clay subsoil horizon. This is strongly structured (coarse parting to medium sized peds) and sodic. This soil grades into a red, heavy sodic clay which is moderately structured. This becomes lighter in texture with many calcium carbonate soft segregations with depth. This grades into a lighter textured and paler (light yellowish brown) sandy clay which will grade into weathered regolith either unconsolidated or sandstone. The profile depth is about 100 cm or more (depending on topographic position) with variable depths of the surface horizons, generally 10 cm for the surface and 10 cm for the subsurface, occasionally deeper surface soil.

Notable features include:
Texture contrast soil, variable surface friability (generally hardsetting).
Strong consistence (strength) when dry, occasional sporadic bleached subsurface soil. Strong consistence contrast (strength) between shallow surface soil and sodic subsoil.
Strongly sodic at depth, also high dispersion.
Free (visible) calcium carbonate is common to dominant in subsoil.
Mottling generally absent until transition to parent material.