Lilliput Loam has a profile distinguished by an ashy grey strongly bleached subsurface (A2) horizon and grey intractable clay in the deep subsoil. The A2 horizon often has a distinct silty or floury consistence, and its transition to the B horizon is abrupt. The soil type is poorly drained both internally and externally.
Unit 2 is a gilgai complex containing four soil types. Lilliput Loam is the depression component of this complex.
Lilliput Loam also forms a complex with Black Dog Fine Sandy Loam on the southern part of the Station.
Gilgai Country in Mapping Unit 2 |
Surface | ||
A1 | 0-15 cm | (Dark) grey-brown (10YR5/3) to grey loam or fine sandy loam, with fine rusty root channel mottling; usually a trace of buckshot; friable when moist; 10 to 20 cm thick; separated by a clear boundary from: |
A2 | 15-40 cm | Light grey or grey (10YR6/1 - 2.5YR7/2) strongly bleached (10YR7-8/1 dry) silty loam to fine sandy loam; sometimes increasing to clay-loam just above the B horizon; brittle when dry, usually weakly compacted and structureless; small vesicle irregularly present; light, often increasing to moderate buckshot; 7 to 30 cm thick; sharply separated from: |
Subsoil | ||
B21 | 40-67 cm | Grey to brownish grey (10YR5/1 - 6/3) or grey mottled clay; tough and intractable; moderate prismatic structure, with some bleached A2 material frequently present between the prisms; at depths varying from 60 to 90 cm grading into: |
B22 | 67-120 cm | Diffusely or moderately mottled clay, with colours varying from brownish grey and olive to yellowish brown (2.5Y6/4); usually crumbly; calcium carbonate and scattered black inclusions irregularly present. |