Yellow-Brown Loams
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SOIL GROUPS OF NEW ZEALAND Part 6 YELLOW-BROWN LOAMS New Zealand Society of Soil Science 1982 SOIL GROUPS OF NEW ZEALAND PART 6 YELLOW-BROWN LOAMS Edited by V.E. Neall NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCE 1982 . ' Bibliographic Reference: Neall, V.E. (Ed.) 1982: Soil Groups of New Zealand. Part 6, Yellow-brown loams. New Zealand Society of Soil Science, Wellington, New Zealand. 114p. PREFACE Typing:. N.C. McLean, T.J. Roach The yellow-brown loams are to the dairy industry in the North Island what the Draughtmg: C.B. l>owell clover plant is to New Zealand's pastoral farming. Today, these soils also form the basis of our kiwifruit industry in the Bay of Plenty and of a host of new horticultural enterprises in addition to traditional market gardening uses, such as in south Auckland and Ohakune. Yellow-brown loams occupy about 1.5 million ha or about 15% of the North Island. They are one of the major natural resources of New Zealand and increasingly they will become a cornerstone of our food production industry and export earnings. In this, the sixth volume of Soil Groups of New Zealand, the New Zealand Society of Soil Science has attempted to draw attention to the uniqueness of the yellow-brown loams and the special properties which they display. This volume comes at a time when global interest in such groups of soils is widespread and This volume has been compiled from both published readily complements the recently published book "Soils with Variable Charge", and unpublished information. Authors must be prepared for the International Conference held in New Zealand in February, 1981, consulted before papers are cited in other on this subject. publications. The Society is grateful to Dr Vince Neall for editing this very useful and timely volume. J.K. Syers (President N .Z. Society of Soil Science) 18 March, 1982 P.D. HASSELBERG. GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND-1982 CONTENTS Page 1 DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION ..................................................................................... 7 Yellow-brown loams-definition and classification J.D. Cowie ........................................................... 7 Classification of yellow-brown loams, intergrades and composites according to U.S. Soil Taxonomy (1975) and the 1978 Andisol proposals V.E. Neall, G.E. Orbell ..................................................................... 9 Classification-FAO/Unesco R.B. Miller ..................................................................................... 11 2 SOIL STRATIGRAPHY STUDIES ........................................................................................... 12 Parent materials of yellow-brown loams in the Waikato-Coromandel district H.S. Gibbs, D.J. Lowe, A. G. Hogg .................................................................................................................................. 12 Soil stratigraphy of Kereone, Ohaupo and Mairoa soils in the Waikato and Te Kuiti districts R.L. Parfitt, S.M. Robertson, G.E. Orbell .................................................................................................... 13 Elucidation of the Stratford Shower, Taranaki AM. Geddes, V.E. Neall ............................................ 16 3 DISTRIBUTION AND DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................... 23 Early surveys of the yellow-brown loams 1939-1954 W.A. Pullar .......................................................23 Yellow-brown loams of the Waikato region G.E. Orbell .................................................................. 25 Yellow-brown loams in the South Auckland area B.R. Purdie ........................................................... 29 Yellow-brown loams in the Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay-East Coast and King Country districts W. C. Rijkse 33 Yellow-brown loams of Taranaki V.E. Neall................................................................................. 34 Yellow-brown loams of the Wanganui Region R.H. Wilde ...............................................................36 The Southland yellow-brown loams J. G. Bruce ............................................................................. .37 4 YELLOW-BROWNLOAMINTERGRADESANDCOMPOSITES ................................................. 41 Yellow-brown loam composites and intergrades in the King Country W. C. Rijkse ................................ .41 The boundary between yellow-brown loams and yellow-brown earths; an example from the Dannevirke area, southern Hawke's Bay B.R. Purdie ......................................................................................... 43 Yellow-brown loam to yellow-brown earth intergrades in Southland J. G. Bruce ................................... .45 5 SOIL MINERALOGY .......................................................................................................... .47 Sand mineralogy of North Island yellow-brown loams R.B. Stewart ................................................... .47 The clay mineralogy of yellow-brown loam soils R.L. Parfitt, M. Russell, J.H. Kirkman ......................... .48 6 SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ............................................................................................. 54 Physical properties of yellow-brown loams M. W. Gradwell ..............................................................54 Factors affecting 15-bar water retention in yellow-brown loams M.P. Tuohy ......................................... 55 7 SOIL CHEMISTRY .............................................................................................................. 57 Survey chemistry of yellow-brown loams L. C. Blakemore, B.K. Daly .................................................57 Cation exchange properties of yellow-brown loams D. C. Edmeades ...................................................61 Sorption of phosphate by selected yellow-brown loams R. W. Tillman, J.K. Syers ..................................63 Magnesium status of yellow-brown loams M.A. Turner, R. Lee ......................................................... 65 Sulphate retention studies of three yellow-brown loams P.L. Searle .................................................... 68 8 BIOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 77 Faunas of yellow-brown loams G. W. Yeates, H.P. McColl ............................................................... 77 Microbial biomass of some yellow-brown loams under pasture and maize cultivation D.J. Ross, K.R. Tate .. 78 9 AGRICULTURE .................................................................................................................. 81 Agriculture on Waikato yellow-brown loams B.A.J. Smith ...............................................................81 Agriculture on Taranaki yellow-brown loams B.J. Hockings ............................................................. 83 Farming on the yellow-brown loams-Manawatu area P.R. Hockey ...................................................84 Lime use and animal production in the King Country M.R.J. Toxopeus ...............................................85 Review of lime research on Taranaki yellow-brown loams N.A. Thomson ............................................89 Potash requirements of the Stratford sandy loam as affected by rainfall N.A. Thomson ........................... 92 10 HORTICULTURE .............................................................................................................. 95 Horticulture on the Waikato yellow-brown loams E.E. Toleman ....................................................... 95 11 LANDI USE ...................................................................................................................... 96 Land use capability of yellow-brown loams J.R. Fletcher, M.R. Jessen ................................................ 96 Yellow-brown loams and forestry G.M. Will ............................................................................... 102 Land use on the yellow-brown loams in the Tauranga-Te Puke district W.E. Cotching ... ..................... 102 Recontouring of yellow-brown loams in the Te Puke district W.E. Cotching ....................................... 103 12 WATERQUALITY ........................................................................................................... 104 Spray irrigation of dairy factory wastewater on a Kopua silt loam K. W. McAuliffe ............................... 104 Iron ochre in drainage systems affecting potential productivity of yellow-brown loams W.J. Climo .......... 107 13 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 109 7 1. DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION YELLOW-BROWN LOAMS-DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION J.D. Cowie, Soil Bureau, D.S.I.R., Lower Hutt The yellow-brown loams of New Zealand were from fine-textured volcanic ash of andesitic and first classed as brown podzolised soils in the soil rhyolitic composition; from alluvium from ash; and survey of part Waipa County (Grange et al. 1939) from sediments containing ash. but their distinctive character was noted and it was suggested that they would be better as a group on Subsoils are yellow-brown to brown, are very their own, and that they had strong affinities to the friable, and in handling break down readily almost brown loams from basalt. They were described as to a powder. When wet, the soils feel somewhat forming from young deposits of volcanic ash and slippery rather than sticky. The dominant