Research Library Land resources series Natural resources research 1996 Soils of the Mount Beaumont area G G. Scholz Henry Smolinski Follow this and additional works at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/land_res Part of the Agriculture Commons, Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons, and the Soil Science Commons Recommended Citation Scholz, G G, and Smolinski, H. (1996), Soils of the Mount Beaumont area. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia, Perth. Report 7. This report is brought to you for free and open access by the Natural resources research at Research Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Land resources series by an authorized administrator of Research Library. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ISSN 1033-1670 AGDEX 524 LAND RESOURCES SERIES No. 7 SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA G.G.H. Scholz and H.J. Smolinski Aviculture Cover: The view from Clyde Hill looking west over Mount Beaumont Stage I and Stage 2 areas. Stage I was developed for agriculture in the early 1980s while Stage 2 remains uncleared. 1 ISSN 1033-1670 Agdex 524 Soils of the MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA G.G.H. Scholz and H.J. Smolinski LAND RESOURCES SERIES No. 7 Natural Resources Assessment Group Agriculture Western Australia 3 Baron-Hay Court Agriculture SOUTH PERTH WA 6151 WESTERN AUSTRALIA SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA The authors: Dr Gottfried Scholz is a former research officer with Agriculture Western Australia. Henry Smolinski is a research officer with Agriculture Western Australia based in Perth. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Scholz, G. (G.G.H.) Soils of the Mount Beaumont area Stages I and II. Bibliography ISBN 0 7309 3965 0. 1. Soils - Western Australia - Esperance Region. 2. Soil surveys - Western Australia - Esperance Region. I. Smolinsld, H. (H.J.). II. Agriculture Western Australia. III. Title (Series: Land Resources Series; No. 7). 631.479417. Agriculture Western Australia 3 Baron-Hay Court SOUTH PERTH WA 6151 0 Chief Executive Officer, Agriculture Western Australia 1996 SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA Summary Mount Beaumont is approximately 100 km north-east of Esperance in the south-east of Western Australia. In 1982 an area of 35,000 ha of virgin Crown Land was released for agriculture (identified as Mount Beaumont Stage I) and later it was proposed to release a further 33,600 ha (Mount Beaumont Stage II). Following development of the first stage, doubts arose about the suitability of the soils for agriculture, so the Department of Agriculture (now Agriculture Western Australia) surveyed the soils of the Mount Beaumont Stage II area before further land release. The survey indicated severe limitations to production and as a consequence a further soil survey of the land in Mount Beaumont Stage I was undertaken. The soil series names introduced by Teakle, Burvill and Stokes (1932-35) for the Salmon Gums area have been used where appropriate, and new names have been introduced where new soils have been identified. Comparisons are made between Mount Beaumont soils and similar soils in the Salmon Gums area. The 1965 survey (Benetti and Grant 1965) mis-identified some of the Mount Beaumont soils. There are significant differences between the soils of Mount Beaumont and Salmon Gums. This publication combines the results of the two surveys. The authors conclude that: All soils in the Stage I area suffer from salinity at relatively shallow depths and most have structural degradation as a result of clearing and cultivation. Ninety per cent of the soils of the Stage II area are not suited to conventional agriculture and would require special management to prevent a rapid decline in productivity following clearing. -3- SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA Contents Page Introduction 6 Hi story of land use 9 Climate 10 Geology and physiography 15 Vegetation 17 Previous surveys 18 Present survey 19 Soils 22 1. Heart Echo 27 2. Fleming 29 3. Beete/Geordie Association 30 4. Dowak 35 5. Karlsberg 38 6. Scaddan 42 7. Parmango 45 8. Doust 46 9. Clyde Hill 47 Others Beaumont, Dundas, Fowlie 48 Comparison of Mount Beaumont and Salmon Gums soils 53 Conclusions Salinity in the agricultural area Stage I 59 Soil acidity and alkalinity 59 Soil distribution and land use recommendation 60 Glossary 62 Acknowledgments 65 References and bibliography 66 SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA List of figures 1. Location map of Mount Beaumont area 7 2. Vacant Crown Land and Conservation and Land Management reserves 8 3. Rainfall recording stations and mean annual rainfall 12 4. Mean annual rainfall isohyets 13 5. Length of growing season (months) 14 6. Mount Beaumont Stages I and II in relation to salt lakes and claypans 16 7. Locations of soil sampling sites 20 8. Location of Salmon Gums area in relation to Mount Beaumont 21 List of tables 1. Rainfall distribution at five, temperature at three locations and evaporation at one station 11 2. Relation of Mount Beaumont soil series to soil groups of Western Australia 22 3. Legend of soil mapping units 24 4. Areas of soil mapping units and soil series identification 25 5. Relative abundance of the main soils (series) 26 6. Soil physical and chemical properties of representative profiles 49 7. Soil physical and chemical properties of CVsl, Ks1 and Gsl from Salmon Gums 54 8. Comparison of Kumarl sandy loam (Ksl) and Karlsberg Soil Series (Dy4.13) 55 9. Comparison of Beete sandy loam (Bs1) and Beete Soil Series (Dy1.13) 56 10. Comparison of Dowak clay loam (Doc) and Dowak Soil Series (Gn4.52) 57 11. Comparison of Circle Valley sandy loam (CVs1) and Scaddan Soil Series (Dy4.43) 58 Appendices 1. Analytical methods 74 2. Representative soil profiles 76 3. Representative profiles of three soils from the Salmon Gums area 110 4. Vegetation list 113 Soil map of Mount Beaumont area Back pocket -5- SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA ntroduction The Mount Beaumont survey area is located 100 km north-east of Esperance and covers a total area of about 83,000 ha. Mount Beaumont itself (AMG 470000 inE, 6308500 inN or longitude 122° 4" east, latitude 330 20" south) lies within the survey area near the western margin. The small township of Condingup is 50 km south of the south-western corner. Figure 1 is a location map. About 5,300 ha of nature reserves are included in the survey; mainly around areas of rocky hills such as Mount Beaumont itself. Figure 2 shows areas of vacant Crown Land and Conservation an Land Management (CALM) reserves in relation to the survey area. The Stage I area was released for agriculture in 1982 but Stage his currently undeveloped. Dense scrub restricts access to the area although there are a few cleared survey lines. The aims of this study, completed in 1987, were to map and describe the soils, and to identify problems possibly inherent in their chemical and physical properties which could inhibit productive agriculture. Soils with severe limitations for agriculture cover a large proportion of the Stage II area. These soils contain bicarbonate and are sodic and saline at depths of 5-20 cm. The soils were compared with the soils described by Tealde, Burvill and Stokes (1932-35) and Burvill (1939) in the Salmon Gums area and it was found that some Mount Beaumont soils are quite different from those at Salmon Gums. Hirschberg (1984) recommended that no further land should be released in the Mount Beaumont area because the groundwater at three bores (15 m deep) west of Mount Beaumont showed very high salinity. He concluded that the salinity would further increase if considerable land clearing was permitted. Since 1986, watertable rises have been monitored in a cleared area near the boundary of the Stage 1 and Stage II survey. An annual watertable rise of about 40 cm has been measured (R. Nulsen 1995, personal communication) which confirms the forecast of salinity increases with rising watertables. SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA Mt Beaumont Stage II \ •• •• •• •• •• Mt Beaumont Stage I •• ••••••••••• •• •1 ......... Esperance 0 Southern Ocean 0 50 km Reliability of mapping Soil survey using interpretation of colour aerial photography at a scale of 1:30,000 (1984) and field traverses 1000m apart with observation points at 300m intervals. Soil survey using interpretation of black and white aerial photography at a scale of 1:40,000 (nom.) (1969) and field traverses 4000m apart with observation points at 300m intervals. Western Australia Mt. Beaumont survey Perth Figure 1. Location map of Mount Beaumont area. -7- SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA 33°30S + 122°30E 123°00E 123°E LEGEND ElVacantCrown Land CALM reserve Boundary of Mount Beaumont 2.5 0 5 10 kilometres hossi=insiiid=komma study area Division between — Stage land Stage 11 Road Figure 2. Vacant Crown Land and Conservation and Land Management reserves. SOILS OF THE MOUNT BEAUMONT AREA 1-]is1iy of land use The farms of Mount Beaumont Stage I were released for agriculture in 1978 and were almost fully developed for dryland cereal cropping by the early 1990s. Farming activities are similar to other Esperance mallee areas. Wheat and barley are the main cereals grown in rotation with legume-based pastures or lupins. Soil types determine the legume: alkaline soils grow medics; shallow duplex soils carry subterranean clover; and deeper duplex soils (>30 cm) grow either subterranean clover pasture or lupins depending on farmer preference. Lupin growing is restricted by the limited area of suitable soils. Pasture and cereal rotations are 1:1 or 2:1 pasture:cereal. Medics perform best in short- pasture rotations. Pastures are grazed primarily for production.