Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pale deep sand
Sand >80 cm deep with white, grey or pale yellow topsoil
Characteristics
•
White, grey or pale yellow (Munsell value 7 or higher)
within top 30 cm
•
Neutral to acid pH
•
Ironstone gravel may be present, but not in large
quantities
•
Coffee rock, clay, or duricrust may occur at >80 cm
•
A weak coffee rock layer may occur within 80 cm
•
A colored sand may be present at 30-80 cm
Local names
Spillway sand, Gutless sand, Silver loam,
Tincurrin/Harrismith sand, Christmas tree and Banksia sand,
Deep mallee sand, Mungie sand
Typical Australian Soil Classification (ASC)
(dominant ASC in italics)
•
Bleached-Orthic Tenosol
•
Aeric Podosol
Main occurrences in Western Australia
•
Common in the southwest agricultural area on the Swan
Coastal Plain, the Scott River Plain and Cape Arid east of
Esperance
•
Also in broad valleys in lateritic terrain throughout the
southwest, notably in the West Midlands north of Perth
•
Scattered in other southwest areas
Soil attributes
(dominant values)
Water repellence
High
Subsurface compaction
Low to moderate
Soil structure decline
Low
pH 0-10 cm
Neutral to acid
Subsurface acidification
Low to moderate
pH 50-80 cm
Neutral to acid
Surface condition
Soft to loose
Soil permeability
Very rapid
Unrestricted rooting depth
Deep to very deep
Soil workability
Good
Available water storage
Low
Wind erodibility
High
Land-use considerations
•
Poor fertility and water-holding characteristics
•
Nutrient leaching and groundwater recharge are significant issues
•
Prone to wind erosion in exposed positions
•
Prone to water repellence, especially after legume cropping
Figure 9.3
Example of a Soil Group description (pale deep sand).
optical Ýber cable routes. Secondly, it enables them to use the appropriate type of cable for a
particular soil, thereby using more expensive, heavy-duty cables in a cost-effective manner while
ensuring the reliability of the optical link. Finally, they can then correct problems affecting cables
previously installed in troublesome soil types, and rectify problems of reinstatement of fragile soils
following cable burial.
Minesoils
A wide range of distinct types of minesoils forming on waste-rock and spoil dumps at open-cut
mining operations in Australia has been recognized and described by Fitzpatrick and Hollingsworth
