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Salinity Province 101, Ravenswood Nuggetty

Thumbnail image showing the location of the Ravenswood NuggettyProvince in VictoriaThe Ravenswood_Nuggetty Salinity Province is dominated by a circular landform developed from a deeply weathered Devonian granitic pluton, enclosed by the remnants of the surrounding metamorphic aureole. These remnants form the ridges that make up the landscape’s high points. The ridges converge the drainage patterns onto the weathered pluton that, when coupled with its restricted drainage, develops a shallow watertable particularly at the valley floor. Dryland salinity is mostly associated with local to intermediate scale Groundwater Flow Systems in the deeply weathered granitic and colluvial landscape, and to a lesser extent with similar scale systems in the weathered, fractured Palaeozoic meta-sediments. It typically occurs within the low-lying areas and deeply incised drainage lines of the weathered granite and to a lesser extent at ‘break-of-slope’ locations in the meta-sediments.

Landuse an almost exclusively dryland pasture/grazing, with some minor cropping. Fenced tree planting and perennial pasture planting for recharge control has been undertaken in the province with good success.



Province Attributes

Catchment Management Region:NORTH CENTRAL
Priority Status:High
Province Area:43,780 ha
Recorded Soil Salinity Area 1:721 ha
Dominant Surface Geology Type:Intrusive
Influence of Geological Structure on Salinity Occurrence/s:None
Relevant Geomorphological Mapping Units (GMUs):2.1.4
Predominant Groundwater Flow Systems (GFSs):Local/Intermediate
Relevant Irrigation Areas:N/A


Ravenswood Nuggetty Salinity Province Map

A detailed map showing Ravenswood Nuggetty Salinity Province

Links to further reading and material related to the North Central Salinity Province
For further information relating to groundwater levels and salinities in this Province please see: Visualising Victoria's Groundwater (VVG)



1 Please Note: The ‘Recorded Soil Salinity Area’ indicated in the Salinity Province Attribute Table, comprises the total geographic area that has been mapped as having, or showing symptoms of, dryland soil salinity at some time (past or present). As dryland salinity occurrence in the Victorian landscape exhibits many different levels of severity and can change due to climate, landuse and vegetation, previously mapped areas may no longer be showing symptoms. In addition, as not all parts of the State have been mapped, or mapped in the same way, the mapping may not have captured some occurrences.

The soil salinity mapping used to calculate this ‘area’ does not cover irrigation regions. In irrigation regions, depth to watertable and watertable salinity mapping has been used to convey the threat of high watertables on soil waterlogging and/or soil salinisation and these areas are not included in this ‘area‘ calculation.

Please contact the Department, your Catchment Management Authority or your rural water provider for more information about salinity in your location.
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