Yelarbon Soil Summary Sheets
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Yelarbon Soil summary sheets Locality and site notes The barren nature of the scalded landscape at Yelarbon has led to it be known as the ‘desert’. The degraded landscape corresponds to part of an alluvial plain located just to the north of the junction of Macintyre Brook and the Dumaresq River and is notable for its extremely alkaline (pH >10) and hypersodic (ESP >90%) soils. However, salinity is generally not excessively high in the ‘desert’ area. The accumulation of sodium has been attributed to the upward leakage of Great Artesian Basin groundwater. The presence of toxic sodium carbonate, usually associated with extreme alkalinity, is probably contributing to the scalded landscape. There are four detailed sites in the Yelarbon area. The first site is on a sandstone slope above the alluvial plain (Site 3A). The second and third sites are on the alluvial plain (Site 3B and 3C), but outside the area normally considered to be ‘desert’. The fourth site (Site 3D) is in the ‘desert’ area. Locality and site location map .! 3A Moonie River stern Ck .! We 3B QLD .! .! k 3C-1 .! 3C-2 3C-3 Toobeah Inglewood We " Commoron C " ir River Goondiwindi .!.! " .!.!.! ".! River Yelarbon .! Macintyre Dumaresq River 3D Whalan Ck Texas " Yelarbon Roma Miles " " " NSW Croppa C CUNNINGHAM HIGH " St George WAY " 0 20 40 80 0 1 24 k Goondiwindi Kilometres Kilometres Upper Weir Catchment Site Details Site Soil type Vegetation Land use Surface Profile Regolith Property Site fertility analysis profile ID* 3A Grey Vertosol Brigalow Cropping Belmore West 48 3B Grey Sodosol Box/cypress pine Grazing Belmore West 49 3C-1 Grey Dermosol Belah/yellow box Grazing Belmore West 24 3C-2 Black Dermosol Brigalow/belah Grazing Belmore West 22 3C-3 Grey Dermosol Belah Grazing Belmore West 23 3D Grey Sodosol Teatree Grazing Cranbourne 42 * internal NRW site identification for the QMDSC project LOCALITY 3 - in the Compendium of Site Information from: Harms BP, Hughes KE and Payne JE (2008) Soil reference sites for improved land management — report for the Queensland Murray Darling Committee. Department of Natural Resources and Water, Brisbane. Yelarbon Site 3A Site 3A is a rise above the alluvial plain, and is therefore outside the country known as the ‘desert’. This site characterises brigalow soils on sandstone rises. It consists of: • soil description and classification, surface soil fertility and profile chemistry. • regolith description, pH, EC and chloride analysis to 4.55 m. Landscape description Soil and landscape correlation Landform Very gently undulating rise, above Name Source alluvial plain Land resource area Brigalow rises (5a/5b) MWD Geology Labile sedimentary rock Commoron – eastern (Cretaceous sandstone) brigalow landscapes; WLM* lowlands Vegetation Open forest of brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) - cleared Soil mapping unit 4 - Grey clay ITTG association Slope 1% Runoff Slow Soil Calingunee WLM Ulimaroa MWD Drainage Imperfectly drained * this site is slightly outside WLM land resource area map Microrelief None evident General soil qualities Infiltration Moderate when dry (self-mulching surface). Permeability Moderate to slow (in the deep subsoil). Nutrient availability Surface fertility is moderate. Organic carbon is at a marginal level (1%), and phosphorous is low for cropping. CEC is moderate with calcium the dominant cation. pH Strong to very strongly alkaline (0-90 cm), then strongly acid. Salinity Salinity as indicated by the chloride levels is high below 1 m. The high EC level at 80 cm is most likely due to the presence of gypsum. Sodicity Hypersodic (ESP > 25%) below about 80 cm. Physical root limitations Restricted aeration and drainage in the sodic subsoil. Toxicities Chloride levels reach a high level at about 80 cm. Aluminium in the deep subsoil was measured at levels well below the toxic threshold. Available water store Estimated to be moderate for cropping and high for pastures (effective rooting depth of 90 cm, based on the salinity profile, and soil observations). ` Looking south from the cropping at Site 3A, with the alluvial plain in the distance. 2 Site 3A Yelarbon A1p General information - Site 3A Location coordinates 283313 mE 6844083 m N Zone 56 B1 Location ID QMDSC 48, Obs 1 Brief soil description Deep, grey cracking clay soil Surface condition Self-mulching, surface flake B21 Surface coarse fragments none Classification Australian Soil Classification Self-mulching, Grey Vertosol Great Soil Group Grey, brown and and red clays Principal Profile Form Ug5.24 Soil morphology Horizon Depth Colour Mottles Texture Structure Coarse Segregations Boundary Fragments B22 Grade Type Size dark greyish brown A1p 0.00-0.08 - medium clay moderate subangular blocky 20-50mm - - abrupt (10YR42) greyish brown B1 0.08-0.20 - medium clay strong subangular blocky 10-20mm - - clear (10YR52) light brownish grey medium moderate lenticular 10-20mm B21 0.20-0.40 - - - gradual B23c (10YR62) heavy clay moderate polyhedral 10-20mm moderate polyhedral 10-20mm 2-10% calcareous light brownish grey medium B22 0.40-0.90 - - soft segregations clear (2.5Y62) heavy clay moderate lenticular 10-20mm (6-20mm) B24 2-10% light brownish grey manganiferous B23c 0.90-1.00 - heavy clay moderate subangular blocky 10-20mm - clear (2.5Y62) soft segregations (6-20mm) light brownish grey B24 1.00-1.60 - heavy clay weak - - - - - (2.5Y62) 3 Yelarbon Site 3A Surface soil fertility (bulked sample 0-0.1 m) (Site 3A) pH EC Cl NO -N Org.C Total N Avail. P SO - S DTPA extractable trace 3 C/N ratio Extr. K 4 1:5 soil/water solution (bicarb) elements (mg/kg) (dS/m) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) (%) (%) (mg/kg) (meq/100g) (mg/kg) Cu Zn Mn Fe 8.5 0.21 30 59 1.02 0.12 9 15 1.8 9 1.3 1.3 25.5 5.9 Soil profile analysis (Site 3A) pH EC Cl NO3 Exchangeable cations * ESP Moist Disp Depth Particle size % m.eq/100g WP ratio 1:5 soil/water solution (m) (dS/m) (mg/kg) (mg/kg) CS FS SIL CLA Ca Mg Na K CEC (%) (%) R1 0.00-0.10 8.8 0.20 32 35 11 41 13 40 19.80 2.91 1.14 1.28 24 5 13.8 0.64 0.20-0.30 9.3 0.25 37 15 10 33 16 45 18.40 7.87 3.65 0.80 28 13 16.5 0.83 0.50-0.60 9.6 0.56 169 27 10 33 16 45 12.30 8.82 6.70 0.68 28 24 16.5 0.98 0.80-0.90 8.9 1.17 524 31 11 34 13 46 11.90 9.74 8.52 0.70 27 32 16.4 0.98 1.10-1.20 5.4 1.04 872 29 11 35 15 44 8.93 8.14 7.98 0.52 26 31 16.2 0.98 1.40-1.50 5.0 1.02 1070 25 13 37 13 42 7.22 7.23 7.00 0.40 24 29 19.5 0.97 * 0.00-1.10m - extracted using alcoholic ammonium chloride at pH 8.5 1.10-1.50m - extracted using aqueous ammonium chloride at pH 7.0. Soil pH Soil Sodicity pH ESP (%) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 0 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8 Depth (m) 1 Depth (m) 1 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.6 Soil Electrical Conductivity Soil Chloride EC (dS/m) Chloride (mg/kg) 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 0 300 600 900 1200 1500 0 0 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8 Depth (m) 1 Depth (m) 1 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.6 4 Yelarbon Site 3A Regolith profile summary (Site 3A) Regolith pH This regolith profile consists entirely of clay horizons to the sampled pH (1:5 soil w ater) depth of approx. 4.5 m. The clay material is relatively homogenous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 in terms of colour and texture, and has negligible mottling. Drilling 0 past 4.5 m was prevented by a hard impenetrable layer. At the base of the deepest sampled retrieved, there was a thin layer 0.5 of carbonate, however there was not enough of this material to designate it as a calcareous pan. 1 The regolith profile is very strongly acid between 1 m and 4 m. The pH values are very consistent, ranging from 4.5-4.9. Below 1. 5 4 m there is an increase in pH which is related to the carbonate observed. It is probable that alkaline groundwater has accumulated 2 at the bottom of the ‘soft’ regolith, just above the hard layer, which is presumably impermeable. 2.5 Depth (m) Salinity (as indicated by EC and chloride) gradually increases with depth, reaching an extremely high level below about 2 m. The 3 Cl level of 3710 mg/kg recorded at 4.1 m is the highest level of Chloride recorded for any sample during this project. 3.5 4 Horizons 4.5 0.0m— A1 Regolith EC grey structured clay B1 EC (dS/m) 0 0.5 1 1. 5 2 2.5 grey structured B21 0 clay with faint mottles 0.5 grey structured clay 1.6 m 1.8 m B22k with abundant carbonate segregations 1.0m— 1 1. 5 grey structured clay B23 with faint mottles 2 2.0 m 2.2 m 2.5 Depth (m) 3 2.0m— B24 3.5 2.6 m 2.8 m 4 B25 4.5 Regolith chloride 3.0m— grey structured clay Cl (mg/kg) 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 3.4 m 3.6 m 0 B26 0.5 1 4.0m— 1.