Site GN24

Location: East Shepparton Landcare Group.

Australian Soil Classification: Haplic, Eutrophic, Red KANDOSOL

General Landscape Description: Level plain with prior stream activity. This site is associated with channel deposits of a prior stream and has been mapped as Broken Sand by Skene and Freedman (1944). Pears are grown at this site.

Site GN24 Landscape

Soil Profile Morphology:

Surface Soil

A1	0-23cm	Brown (7.5YR4/4) loamy sand; hardsetting surface condition; weakly structured; firm consistence dry; contains a few (5%) quartz gravel (2-5 mm size); pH 5.6; abrupt change to:	Site GN24 Profile
A21	23-40cm	Yellowish red (5YR5/8) sandy loam; structureless; firm consistence dry; contains a common (15%) amount of quartz gravel (4 mm size); pH 7.0; clear change to:
A22	40-50cm	Yellowish red (5YR5/8); sandy loam; structureless; very firm consistence dry; contains a common (20%) amount of quartz and feldspar gravel (2-8 mm size); pH 7.0; abrupt and wavy change to:
Subsoil
B21	50-60cm	Dark red (2.5YR4/8); coarse sandy clay loam; structureless; firm consistence moist; contains many (25%) quartz, slate and feldspar gravels (2-8 mm size); pH 7.0; clear and wavy change to:
2A1	60-90cm	Yellowish red (5YR5/8) sandy loam; structureless; weak consistence moist; contains a common (20%) amount of quartz and feldspar gravel (2-8 mm size); pH 7.2; clear change to:
2A2	90-110cm	Light reddish brown (5YR6/3) with yellowish red (5YR5/8) mottles; loamy sand; structureless; weak consistence moist; contains many (25%) quartz and feldspar gravels (2-8 mm size); pH 7.6; clear change to:
2B2	110-130cm	Strong brown (7.5YR5/6) with yellowish red (5YR5/8) mottles; sandy clay loam; structureless; contains a few (5-10 %) quartz gravels; firm consistence moist; pH 7.4; clear change to:
2B3	130 cm+	Brown (7.5YR4/4) sandy loam; structureless; firm consistence moist; large manganese stains present; pH 6.2.

Key Profile Features:

• Variable textured subsoil horizons due to prior stream channel deposition.

• High coarse sand and gravel content throughout profile.

Soil Profile Characteristics:

	pH	Salinity Rating	Sodicity	Dispersion
Surface (A1 horizon)	moderately acid	very low	non-sodic	none
Upper Subsoil (B21 horizon)	neutral	very low	non-sodic	none
Deeper subsoil (at 1 m)	slightly alkaline	very low	non-sodic	none
Deep subsoil (at 130 cm+)	slightly acid	low	non-sodic	-

Management Considerations:

Whole Profile

• Plant available water capacity (PAWC) is considered to be potentially low (estimated at 70 mm) for the top metre of the soil profile. Most tree roots observed in the soil profile occurred before 1 m depth.
• Soluble salt levels are low throughout the profile.
• The high sand and gravel content in the top metre of the soil profile will ensure that infiltration and movement of water will be relatively high. Nutrients are likely to be more easily leached than for heavier textured soils.

Surface (A) Horizons

• The surface soil has a high combined fine sand and silt content (i.e. 70%). Organic matter is important for such soils in order to maintain soil aggregation.
• The inherent fertility (based on the sum of the exchangeable cations) is relatively low in the surface horizons compared to the heavier textured soils in the area. Organic matter is an important source of cation exchange on these light textured soils.
• The surface (0-23 cm) layer is moderately acid. At low pH levels, imbalances in nutrient levels (e.g. aluminium and/or manganese toxicity) may occur and phosphate can become poorly available. Lime can be used to raise pH but further testing over a larger area of this soil type should be carried out to determine whether lime use is economical. In the deeper surface horizons, pH has increased which is beneficial.

Subsoil (B) Horizons

• The subsoil horizons are structureless which may hinder root development to some extent. They are, however, non-sodic and have a relatively high calcium:magnesium ratio which should promote favourable conditions for root and water movement. Water movement is likely to be relatively high in the subsoil compared to heavier textured soils.

Profile Described By: Mark Imhof, Paul Rampant, Sonia Thompson (1996).

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