i Soils and land suitability of the Whitsunday Coast area, Central Queensland Scott Hardy Whitsunday Shire Council 276 i The Whitsunday Coast survey is jointly funded by Local, State and Commonwealth Governments as well as local industry bodies. Contributions from the following organisations are gratefully acknowledged for the operation of the project and the preparation of this report: · National Heritage Trust, · Proserpine Canegrowers Association, · Department of Natural Resources · Proserpine Co-operative Sugar Milling Association Limited, and, · Whitsunday Shire Council. This publication was prepared to assist with land resource planning in the Whitsunday Coast area. Digital data suitable for incorporation into a Geographic Information System has been produced in conjunction with this report. Enquires regarding the availability of this digital data should be directed to the Planning and Environment Officer, Resource Management, Department of Natural Resources, Mackay, or the Natural Resource Information Management Officer, Resource Management, Department of Natural Resources, Rockhampton. Enquires regarding the Whitsunday coast project or this report should be directed to the Director of Planning and Development, Whitsunday Shire Council. © Whitsunday Shire Council, 2003 Whitsunday Shire Council Po Box 104 Proserpine, 4800 ii CONTENTS Page No. List of Figures V List of Tables VIII List of Plates VII List of Maps VIII Summary IX 1. Introduction 1 2. Physical environment 2 2.1. Climate 2 2.1.1 Rainfall 3 2.1.2. Other climatic factors 3 2.2. Geology 4 2.3. Geomorphology 7 2.4. Water resources 8 2.4.1 Surface water 9 2.4.2. Sub surface water 9 2.5. Natural Vegetation 9 2.5.1. Introduction 9 2.5.2. Vegetation communities 9 3.0. Methods 14 3.1. Survey methods 14 3.2. Soil chemistry analyses 15 3.3. Mapping reliability 15 4.0 Soils 16 4.1. General 16 4.2. Soils formed on acid to intermediate intrusive rocks 16 4.3. Soils formed on intermediate to basic intrusive rocks 25 4.4. Soils formed from acid to intermediate metamorphic rock 31 4.5. Soils formed on acid to intermediate tuff 33 4.6 Soils formed from acid to intermediate volcanic rock 36 4.7 Soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic rocks 44 4.8 Soils formed from Permian sedimentary rocks 49 4.9 Soils formed from Tertiary sedimentary rocks 52 4.10 Soils formed from Tertiary-Pliocene consolidated sediments 55 4.11 Soils formed on the gently undulating plains of unconsolidated 59 Cainozoic alluvium 4.12. Soils formed on Quaternary alluvium 62 4.13 Soils formed on Quaternary (Holocene) marine sediments 77 4.14. Available soil water capacity 83 4.15. Miscellaneous units 85 iii 5.0 Land degradation 5.1. Salinity 86 5.2. Soil erosion 87 5.3. Acid drainage 88 6.0 Land use and land use suitability 90 6.1. Introduction 90 6.2. Land uses selected for the suitability assessment 90 6.3. Land suitability classes 92 6.4. Soil and land limitations 93 6.5. Land use suitability classification scheme 93 6.6. Agricultural land classes 104 6.7. Land use suitability assessment of the soils 105 6.7.1. Soils formed on acid to intermediate intrusive rocks 105 6.7.2. Soils formed on intermediate to basic intrusive rocks 108 6.7.3. Soils formed from acid to intermediate metamorphic rock 110 6.7.4. Soils formed from acid to intermediate tuff 111 6.7.5 Soils formed from acid to intermediate volcanic rock 112 6.7.6 Soils formed from intermediate to basic rocks 114 6.7.7 Soils formed from Permian sedimentary rocks 116 6.7.8 Soils formed from Tertiary sedimentary rocks 117 6.7.9. Soils formed from Tertiary-Pliocene consolidated sediments 118 6.7.10 Soils formed on the gently undulating plains 120 of unconsolidated Cainozoic alluvium 6.7.11 Soils derived from Quaternary alluvium 121 6.7.12. Soils overlying Quaternary marine sediments 125 6.7.13. Miscellaneous units 126 6.8. Suitability assessment results for each land use 126 6.9. Assessment of good quality agricultural land 128 7.0. Conclusion 129 8.0 Acknowledgments 130 9.0 Glossary of terms 131 10.0. References 132 11.0 Appendix Appendix I: Vegetation list for the Whitsunday Coast survey area 134 Appendix II: A detailed description of the land suitability classes 135 used in the Whitsunday Coast survey. Appendix III: The classification scheme for agricultural land 136 classes used in the Whitsunday Coast Survey. Appendix IV: Thematic maps produced from the accompanying database 137 Appendix V: Soil Chemistry data 138 iv List of Figures 1. The location of the Whitsunday coast survey 2 2. The mean monthly rainfall at Proserpine and Bowen 3 3. The mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures for Proserpine. 4 4. A schematic representation of the main geological units in the Whitsunday 6 coast area 5. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate intrusive 21 rocks in upland areas 6. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from acid to 21 intermediate intrusive rocks in upland areas 7. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from acid to intermediate intrusive rocks 21 in upland areas 8. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from acid to intermediate intrusive rocks 21 in upland areas 9. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from acid to 24 intermediate intrusive rocks on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 10. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate intrusive 24 rocks on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 11. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from acid to intermediate intrusive 25 rocks on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 12. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from acid to intermediate intrusive 25 rocks on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 13. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from intermediate to basic intrusive 27 rocks in upland areas 14. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from intermediate 27 to basic intrusive rocks in upland areas 15. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from intermediate to basic intrusive rocks 28 in upland areas 16. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from intermediate to basic intrusive rocks 28 in upland areas 17. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from intermediate to basic intrusive 30 rocks on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 18. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from intermediate 30 to basic intrusive rocks on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 19. The CEC: Clay of the soils formed from intermediate to basic intrusive rocks 31 on undulating footslopes and colluvial fans v 20. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from intermediate to basic intrusive rocks on 31 undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 21. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate 32 metamorphic rocks on upperslopes 22. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from 32 acid to intermediate metamorphic rocks on upperslopes 23. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from acid to intermediate metamorphic 33 rocks on upperslopes 24. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from acid to intermediate metamorphic rocks 33 on upperslopes 25. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate tuff 35 rocks on upperslopes 26. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from 35 acid to intermediate tuff rocks on upperslopes 27. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from acid to intermediate tuff rocks 36 on upperslopes 28. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from acid to intermediate tuff rocks 36 on upperslopes 29. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate 39 volcanic rocks on upperslopes 30. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from 39 acid to intermediate volcanic rocks on upperslopes 31. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from acid to intermediate volcanic rocks 39 on upperslopes 32. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from acid to intermediate volcanic rocks 39 on upperslopes 33. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate volcanic rocks on 43 undulating to gently undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 34. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from acid to intermediate 43 volcanic rocks on undulating to gently undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 35. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from acid to intermediate volcanic rocks on 44 undulating to gently undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 36. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from acid to intermediate 44 volcanic rocks on undulating to gently undulating footslopes and colluvial fans 37. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic 46 rocks formed on upperslopes vi 38. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from intermediate 46 to basic volcanic rocks formed on upperslopes 39. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic rocks 47 formed on upperslopes 40. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic rocks 47 formed on upperslopes 41. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic rocks on 48 undulating to gently undulating footslopes 42. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from intermediate to basic 48 volcanic rocks on undulating to gently undulating footslopes 43. The CEC:Clay of the soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic rocks on 49 undulating to gently undulating footslopes 44. The Ca:Mg of the soils formed from intermediate to basic volcanic rocks on 49 undulating to gently undulating footslopes 45. The mean sodicity of the soils formed from Permian sedimentary rocks 51 46. The mean electrical conductivity of the soils formed from Permian sedimentary rocks 51 47.