Location: Loy Yang | Australian Soil Classification: Magnesic, Mottled-Mesonatric, Brown SODOSOL |
Great Soil Group: solodic | Geology: Tertiary (Pliocene) sediments. |
General Landscape Description: Far flood plain of Pliocene fluvial landscape (sediment derived from Baw Baws). | Mapping Unit: Loy Yang. |
Site Description: Grazing paddock. |
Site GP32 Landscape |
A1 | 0-20 cm | Dark brown (10YR3/3); sandy loam; weakly structured; weak consistence dry; pH 5.5; clear change to: | Site GP32 Soil Profile |
A2 | 20-40 cm | Brown (10YR5/3) conspicuously bleached (10YR8/2d); sandy loam; firm consistence dry; contains a few (5-10%) iron nodules (5-10 mm in size) and a few (3%) quartz fragments (3-4 mm in size); pH 5.6; sharp and wavy change to: | |
Subsoil | |||
B21 | 40-75 cm | Yellowish brown (10YR5/8) with greyish brown (10YR5/2) and red (2.5YR5/8) mottles [at 45-65 cm depth, dark greyish brown (10YR4/2) stains occur on some ped faces]; heavy clay; moderate coarse prismatic, parting to moderate coarse blocky structure; very strong consistence dry; contains a few (2-5%) ferruginous nodules; pH 6.4: | |
B22 | 75+ cm | Brownish yellow (10YR6/6) and yellowish brown (10YR5/8) with light brownish grey (2.5Y6/2) mottles; heavy clay; contains a few (2-5%) ferruginous nodules and quartz fragments; pH 6.4. |
Horizon | pH | Salinity Rating | ||
Surface (A1 horizon) | strongly acid | very low | non-sodic | none |
Subsoil (B21 horizon) | slightly acid | very low | strongly sodic | moderate - strong |
Deeper subsoil (at 75+ cm) | slightly acid | very low | strongly sodic | slight 1 |
The surface soil is strongly acid. The subsoil is slightly acid. | The surface is non-sodic. The subsoil is strongly sodic throughout. | ||
The salinity rating is very low throughout the profile. | The clay content increases significantly at the A/B horizon interface. |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | pH (CaCl2) | EC 1:5 | Exchangeable Cations | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | |||||
meq/100g | ||||||||
A1 | 0-20 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 0.06 | 2.3 | 0.62 | 0.11 | 0.14 |
A2 | 20-40 | 5.6 | 4.6 | <0.05 | 0.75 | 0.2 | <0.05 | 0.06 |
B21 | 40-75 | 6.4 | 5 | 0.09 | 0.62 | 7.8 | 0.11 | 2.1 |
B22 | 75+ | 6.4 | 5 | 0.09 | 0.13 | 7 | 0.08 | 2.2 |
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | Exchangeable Aluminium mg/kg | Exchangeable Acidity meq/100g | Wilting Point pF4.2 | Coarse Sand (0.2-2.0 mm) | Fine Sand (0.02-0.2 mm) | Silt (0.002-0.02 mm) | Clay (<0.002 mm) |
A1 | 0-20 | 15 | 8.6 | 5.2 | 38 | 30 | 18 | 10 |
A2 | 20-40 | <10 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 33 | 36 | 21 | 9 |
B21 | 40-75 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 12 | 48 | ||
B22 | 75+ | 16 |