Soil/Landform Unit 11

Looking east over the town of Meredith towards the Brisbane Ranges. The forested rises east of Meredith are associated with dissection of the Moorabool River

Area:

3555 ha

0.27% of CMA region

The undulating rises in the Meredith area are composed of a veneer of Neogene

fluvial

gravels, sands and clays over Lower

Ordovician

marine slate and sandstone. Often these Ordovician sediments are exposed in dissection of this landscape where the Neogene material has been removed. These sedimentary rises have Grassy Dry Forests and Heathy Dry Forests as the dominant vegetation communities. Slopes of the rises are generally gentle, though there can be quite steep slopes and scarps neighbouring the Moorabool River. Land use is predominantly grazing with some cropping. Soils on the slopes consist of neutral and alkaline mottled yellow and brown texture contrast soils with occasional red equivalents. Overland flow is attributed to the hardsetting surfaces of these texture contrast soils and their low subsoil permeability. Salting is also common in the dissections and gullies, along with sheet and rill erosion. This salting occurs especially adjacent to Ordovician sediments.

Undulating rises that have been cropped west of Meredith
	Grassy Dry Forest remnants west of Meredith

Component	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Proportion of soil-landform unit	35%	1%	7%	7%	22%	10%	3%	15%
CLIMATE Rainfall (mm)	Annual: 680
Temperature (^oC)	Minimum 8, Maximum 18
Precipitation less than potential evapotranspiration	October-March
GEOLOGY Age and lithology	Neogene fluvial gravels, sands and clays				Ordovician marine slate and sandstone
Geomorphology	2.1.1 Dissected Western Uplands associated with Palaeozoic sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
LANDUSE	Uncleared: Nature conservation; water supply; hardwood forestry Cleared: Sheep and beef cattle grazing; gravel extraction; cropping (cereal)
TOPOGRAPHY Landscape	Undulating rises
Elevation range (m)	151-360
Local relief (m)	3
Drainage pattern	Dendritic
Drainage density (km/km²)	4.4
Landform	Undualting plain	Undulating plain	Flat plain	Drainage lines	Undulating plain	Broad ridge	Scarp
Landform element	Well-drained non-sandy areas	Patches of deep sandy soil	Poorly drained non-sandy areas	Low lying areas	Long gentle slope	Crest	Drainage line	Dry exposed slopes
Slope and range (%)	1 (1-3)	1 (1-3)	0 (0-2)	1 (1-3)	4 (4-6)	2 (1-3)	2 (1-3)	15 (10-25)
Slope shape	Convex	Convex	Flat	Concave	Straight	Convex	Concave	Straight
NATIVE VEGETATION Ecological Vegetation Class	Grassy Dry Forest (8.4%)					Heathy Dry Forest (1.9%)
Dominant species	Pteridium esulentum, E. viminalis	Pteridium esulentum, E. viminalis	E. ovata	E. ovata	E. viminalis, E. obliqua	E. obliqua, E. radiata	E. ovata, E. obliqua	E. viminalis, E. obliqua, E. dives, E. radiata
SOIL Parent material	Unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay	Unconsolidated sand	Unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay	Unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay	In situ sandstone and shale	In situ sandstone and shale	Allvuium-clay, silt, sand and gravel	In situ sandstond and shale
Description (Corangamite Soil Group)	Red mottled, brown, grey or yellow texture contrast soil, fine structure (15)	Yellow sand soil, uniform texture (16)	Brown, grey or yellow sodic texture contrast soil, coarse structure (14)	Mottled brown, grey or yellow texture contrast (32)	Mottled red and brown, grey or yellow texture contrast soils (26)	Mottled brown, grey or yellow texture contrast soils (25)	Mottled brown, grey or yellow and red gradational soils (33/34)	Mottled brown, grey or yellow gradational or texture contrast soils, fine structure (25)
Soil type sites	OTR499, SW63	SW70, SW61	SW93, SW99	SW88, CLRA4, SFS20	BD13, BD11, MM204	CLRA57, CLRA58, BD10	CLRA15, SW23, SW39	CLRA53, CLRA57
Surface texture	Sandy loam to loamy sand	Sand	Clay loam	Clay loam, sandy clay loam	Clay loam	Loam to clay loam	Clay loam	Silty loam
Permeability	Moderate	High	Low	Moderate	Moderate to low	High	Low to moderate	High
Depth (m)	2	2	2	2	0.8-1.8	0.5-1.0	1.5-2.5	>0.5-1.2
LAND CHARACTERISTICS, POTENTIAL AND LIMITATIONS	Hardsetting surface soils are subject to overland flow, gully erosion and sheet and rill erosion. Dispersive subsoils and leaching of salts may also be features of these soil types.	High leaching potential and low water holding capacity leads to low nutrient holding capacity and fertility decline.	Hardsetting surface soils lead to surface compaction and are subject to overland flow and sheet erosion. Leaching of salts may also be features of these soil types.	Hardsetting surface soils lead to overland flow and sheet and rill erosion and some minor gully erosion. Some accumulation of salts occurs especially when adjacent to Ordovician sediments.	Hardsetting suface soils lead to surface compaction and are subjec to overland flow and minor sheet and rill erosion. Dispersive subsoils and leaching of salts may also occur.	Hardsetting surface soils lead to surface compaction and are subject to over land flow and minor sheet and rill erosion. Dispersive subsoils and leaching of salts may also occur.	Poorly drained soils with hardsetting surfaces. Watertables are seasonally high with periodic waterlogging and soil salinity. Gully erosion may sometimes occur.	Hardsetting surface soils lead to surface compaction and are subject to overland flow and moderate sheet and rill erosion on steep slopes.

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