10. Red texture contrast soils/Dissected Uplands: Terraces and floodplains

This soil has developed on mainly Quaternary alluvial and colluvial unconsolidated material in the Western Uplands. This soil is often strongly acidic at the surface, tending to neutral at depth.

The surface soil is usually a brown sandy loam to sandy clay loam, with no structure (massive). It overlies a conspicuously bleached loamy sand to sandy clay loam subsurface horizon which is also massive. There is a clear change to a yellowish red medium to heavy clay. This has strong structure (with coarse parting to medium sized peds). There is often a brown, pale and red mottle at depth. This grades into lighter textured weathered unconsolidated material. The profile depth is about 100 cm or more with variable depths of the surface horizons, generally 15 cm for the surface and 10-40 cm for the subsurface horizon, occasionally deeper. There is a sandy lighter variant with sandy light clay subsoil with weak structure.

Notable features include:

• Texture contrast and associated structure differences between the surface horizons and subsoil (some restrictive drainage).
• The subsurface horizon sometimes not bleached.
• The lower subsoil may be sodic.
• The coarse fraction component of the upper soil has low nutrient capacity and low water holding capacity, particularly if low in organic matter and leached.