Site CFTT1

Location: Mt Worth East.

Australian Soil Classification: Melacic (& Acidic), Dystrophic, Black DERMOSOL.
Great Soil Group: brown podsolic.

Geology: Cretaceous sediments.
General Landscape Description: Waning upper 10% slope to north-east.
Mapping Unit: Strzelecki.
Site Description: Eucalypt plantation.



Soil Profile Morphology:

Surface Soil

A1	0-20 cm	Very dark brown (10YR2/2) clay loam; strong medium granular structure; very weak consistence moist; pH 4.4; gradual and smooth transition to:	Site CFTT 1 Soil Profile
Subsoil
B21	20 - 50 cm	Dark brown (7.5YR3/2) light clay; moderate medium polyhedral structure; very weak consistence moist; pH 4.5; diffuse and smooth transition to:
B22	50 – 90 cm	Dark brown (7.5YR3/2) light clay; moderate medium polyhedral structure; weak consistence moist; pH 4.6; diffuse and smooth transition to:
B23	90 – 140 cm	Dark brown (10YR4/3) light medium clay; moderate coarse polyhedral structure; weak consistence moist; pH 4.6; gradual transition to:
B24	140 – 180 cm	Yellowish brown (10YR5/4) light clay; moderate coarse polyhedral structure; weak consistence moist; pH 4.6.

Key Profile Features:

• Lack of strong texture contrast between surface (A) horizons and subsoil (B21) horizon.

Soil Profile Characteristics:

	pH	Salinity Rating	Sodicity	Dispersion
Surface (A1 horizon)	Extremely acid	Very low	Non-sodic	none
Subsoil (B21 horizon)	Very strongly acid	Very low	Non-sodic	none
Deeper subsoil (at 1.4 m +)	Very strongly acid	Very low	Non-sodic	none

	The soil profile is extremely acid to very strongly acid throughout.		The level of exchangeable aluminium is high in the upper soil profile and decreases with depth.
	The level of soluble salts is very low throughout the soil profile.		The clay content increases gradually with depth.

Horizon	Horizon Depth (cm)	pH water	pH CaCl2	EC 1:5	Exchangeable Cations				Ex. Al mg/kg	Ex. Acidity meq/100g	Field Capacity pF 2.5	Wilting Point pF 4.2	Coarse Sand (0.2 -2 mm)	Fine Sand (0.02-0.2 mm)	Silt (0.002-0.02 mm)	Clay (<0.002 mm)
					Ca	Mg	K	Na
					meq/100g
A1	0-20	4.4	4	0.12	1	0.95	1.3	0.23	180	31	48.6	26.7	3	14	28	45
B21	20-50	4.5	4.1	0.12	0.41	0.43	1.2	0.3	190	30	47.2	24.9	1	13	26	49
B22	50-90	4.6	4.1	0.08	0.47	0.39	0.89	0.23	170	29	42.4	23.5	1	13	28	51
B23	90-140	4.6	3.9	0.07	1.4	1.3	0.46	0.17	140	31	38.8	22.4	0.3	14	31	50
B24	140-180	4.6	3.9	0.07	1.8	2.2	0.31	0.24	120	32	40.7	20.4	0.2	18	38	42

Management Considerations:

• The soil pit was excavated to 2 metres depth. No physical impeding layers were evident. The soil profile is friable throughout when moist and should provide good conditions for root movement.

• The upper soil profile has high levels of exchangeable potassium (K) relative to other basic cations (37% in surface soil and 50% in upper subsoil).

• The soil profile has high wilting point values. This indicates that plants will be unable to extract soil moisture when levels are low.

• The surface soil has a high clay content – making it susceptible to compaction from heavy trafficking or overstocking when in a moist to wet condition.

• Availability of some trace elements (e.g. copper, molybdenum) may be low in very strongly acid soils.

Profile Described By: Ian Sargeant and Justin Wong (1/6/99).

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