8/2/2019 Soil Poster

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Formed by the modification, mixing,truncation or burial of the original soil orcreation of new soil parent materials as aresult of human activities.

Includes soils underlain by manufacturedor organic landfill, soils formed by theapplication of human-made materials suchas slurry, and soils formed by earthmovingin construction.

Identified by the presence of artefacts in theprofile or knowledge that the soils or parentmaterials have been made or altered byhuman action.

Excludes soils altered by commonagricultural operations and soils that areartificially drained or flooded.

Anthroposols: Contain calcium carbonate as soft or hard

white fragments or as a solid layer.

Occur in the low rainfall, arid and semi-aridregions of Australia.

Land use includes cereal growing andirrigated horticulture in the south and sparsegrazing in the north.

Limitations include shallow depth, low waterretention due to hard carbonate contentand wind erosion on the sandier types.High salinity, alkalinity and sodicity mayalso be a problem. Soil fertility deficienciesare widespread.

Calcarosols:

Saturated for 2-3 months or more due tosite or tidal influence.

Distribution is often limited to wet drainagedepressions, low lying narrow coastal plainsand seepage areas on lower slopes.

Saline Hydrosols of arid and semi-aridWestern Australia differ from the non-salineHydrosols of the temperate south andtropical north where rainfall is stronglyseasonal.

Most non-saline Hydrosols require drainagefor land use other than grazing such as thoseunder sugarcane in northern New SouthWales and coastal Queensland.

Small areas have been cleared and sown toimproved pastures for dairying.

Extent is increasing due to human-inducedrising watertables leading to salinisation.

Drainage of potentially acid sulfate Hydrosolscan pose engineering andenvironmental problemsand lead toacidification.

Hydrosols:

Mostly well-drained, permeable soilsalthough some Yellow and most GreyKandosols have impeded subsoil drainage.

Common in all States except Victoria andTasmania. Most widespread in the arid andsemi-arid interior.

Used for extensive agriculture in thewheatbelt of southern New South Wales andsouthwest Western Australia. In the better-watered areas they are used for a range ofhorticultural crops.

Most have low fertility and land use isrestricted to grazing of native pastures.

Grazing lands are susceptible to surface soildegradation such as hardsetting and crustingeven though grazing intensity is low.

Kandosols:

Abrupt clay increase down the profile andhigh sodium content, which may lead to soildispersion and instability.

Seasonally perched water tables arecommon and subsoil horizons have astriking prismatic or columnar appearance.

Usually associated with a dry climateand widely distributed in the eastern halfof Australia and western portion ofWestern Australia.

Common land uses include grazing of nativeor improved pastures for both dryland andirrigated agriculture, and forestry.

Many will hardset when dry and are proneto crust formation.

Dispersive subsoils makes them particularlyprone to tunnel and gully erosion. Arid zoneSodosols may be strongly saline.

Sodosols:

Clay soils that shrink and swell, and crackas the soil dries.

Australia has the largest area and greatestvariety of Vertosols, including deep forms(up to 6 m or more).

Largest single area occurs in the arid andsemi-arid interior of the continent.

Used for grazing of native and improvedpastures, extensive dryland agriculture whererainfall is adequate, and irrigated agriculture.

Problems of water entry are usually related totillage practices and adverse soil physicalconditions at least partly induced by highsodium in the upper part of many profiles.

Vertosols:

Strongly acid soils with an abrupt increasein clay.

Extend from southern Queensland, throughcoastal and subcoastal New South Wales,to Tasmania. Less common in southwestWestern Australia.

Vegetation is largely dependent on rainfalland ranges from eucalypt woodlands toopen forests.

Some areas have been cleared and used fordairying on improved pastures. In the higherrainfall areas of New South Wales andTasmania, Kurosols are used for forestry.Small areas in Western Australia are used forcereal growing and lower rainfall woodlandssupport sparse cattlegrazing.

Kurosols:

High free iron and clay contents.

Occur along the eastern coastline, innorthern parts of Western Australia and theTop End.

In high rainfall zones they may be very deepand well drained.

Land use includes dairying on improvedpastures, horticultural crops, some plantationforestry, and sugar cane in Queensland.In northern Australia the shallow and stonysoil types support beef cattle grazing.

May be degraded by erosion and compactioncaused by cropping practices and may alsosuffer from acidification.

Ferrosols:

Dominated by organic materials.

Occur in wet landscapes in the more humidparts of the eastern Australian coastal zone.

Less acidic forms in southern Australia havebeen drained and sown to pastures fordairying or used for intensive vegetablegrowing. Limited areas of sugarcane aregrown on drained peats in north Queensland.

Common in alpine regions but fragile andprone to erosion if disturbed.

Organosols:

Dominated by organic matter and aluminiumwith or without iron.

Can be greater than 20 m deep(giant podzols).

Most are very permeable unless induratedpans are present.

Largely confined to parts of the coastal zoneand some offshore islands.

Not all are derived from sand masses, theyalso occur in the wetter mountainous areasof Tasmania and New South Wales onother bedrock.

Agricultural use is limited because ofextremely low fertility, poor water retentionand the seasonal waterlogging insome forms.

Some wet soils have been drained and usedfor sugar cane (southeast Queensland) whileothers are used forirrigated vegetablesand dairying andsheep grazingon improvedpastures(Victoria and

South Australia).

Podosols:

Widespread in the eastern half of thecontinent where vast areas occur as redand yellow sand-plains.

Large areas in Western Australia have redloamy soils with red-brown hardpan atshallow depths.

Due to their poor water retention, almostuniversal low fertility and occurrence inregions of low and erratic rainfall, Tenosolsare mainly used for the grazing of nativepastures.

In the better-watered areas landformprevents cultivation, but limited areassupport forestry (east coast and southwestWestern Australia).

Tenosols:

Moderately deep and well-drained soils ofwetter areas in eastern Australia.

May be strongly acid in the high rainfall areasor highly alkaline if they contain calciumcarbonate.

Occur in the mountainous high rainfall zonesof southeastern Australia.

Support a wide range of land uses includingcattle and sheep grazing of native pastures,forestry and sugar cane. Cereal crops,especially wheat, are commonly grown onthe more fertile Dermosols.

Dermosols:

Abrupt increase in clay content downthe soil profile.

Occur in most districts. Large areas insouthern Australia have been cleared ofvegetation.

Common in the cereal belt of southernNew South Wales and Victoria.

Land use in the tropics is mainly cattlegrazing of native pastures.

Many have hardsetting surfaces withstructural degradation caused by agriculture.

May have impeded internal drainage.

Chromosols:

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HypocalcicCalcarosol

m

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0.6

1.0

1.4

SupracalcicCalcarosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

HypercalcicCalcarosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

CalcicCalcarosol

0.2

0.6

1.0

m

RedChromosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

BrownChromosol

m

0.2

1.0

0.6

Yellow

Chromosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

GreyChromosol

m

0.2

0.6

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

BrownDermosol

m

0.2

0.6

Yellow

Dermosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

BlackDermosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

m

0.2

0.6

BrownFerrosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

IntertidalHydrosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

SalicHydrosol

0.2

0.2

0.6

m

RedoxicHydrosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

m

0.2

0.6

RedKandosol

m

0.2

0.6

BrownKandosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

Yellow

Kandosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

Yellow

Kandosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

RedKurosol

m

0.6

0.2

Yellow

Kurosol

m

0.6

0.2

BrownKurosol

m

0.6

0.2

GreyKurosol

m

0.2

0.6

HemicOrganosol

0.2

m

HemicOrganosol

m

0.2

0.6

1.0

1.4

1.8

m

0.6

0.2

1.0

1.4

SemiaquicPodosol

m

0.6

0.2

m

0.2

0.6

BrownSodosol

m

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0.6

1.0

Yellow

Sodosol

m

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1.0

GreySodosol

m

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0.2

1.0

BlackSodosol

m

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0.6

ChernicTenosol

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0.6

1.0

m

OrthicTenosol m

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1.0

OrthicTenosol

m

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0.6

1.0

1.4

Bleached-LepticTenosol

m

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0.2

1.0

m

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0.6

RedVertosol

m

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0.2

1.0

BrownVertosol

m

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0.6

1.0

1.4

GreyVertosol

m

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BlackVertosol

Soils high in sodium andan abrupt increase in clay

Organic materials and aluminium,with or without iron

Soils resulting fromhuman activity

Soils with calcium carbonate

Soils with an abruptincrease in clay

Structured soils

Iron rich soils Seasonally orpermanently wet soils

Structureless soils

Acidic soils with anabrupt increase in clay

Organic soils

Weakly developed soils

Shrink and swell clay soils

Acknowledgements

General Production: Katharine Brown, Neil McKenzie, Ray Isbell andDavid Jacquier (CSIRO Land & Water).

Soil Images: State, Territory and Federal agencies participating inthe Australian Collaborative Land Evaluation Program.

Landscape Images: Richard Woldendorp, Photographer.

Design: MA@D Communication, Braddon, ACT.

References

Isbell RF (1996) The Australian Soil Classification. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne).Isbell RF, McDonald WS, Ashton LJ (1997) Concepts and Rationale of theAustralian Soil Classification. (ACLEP, CSIRO Land and Water: Canberra).

USTRALIA has a great diversity of soils. Most are ancient, strongly weathered and infertile.

hers are younger and more fertile. This variety, combined with the natural limitations of

any soils, has made it difficult to develop sustainable land management practices.

he soils shown here are typical of the 14 Soil Orders in the Australian Soil Classification.

Widespread but most have few commercialland uses because of their properties oroccurrence in arid regions, or both.

The largest areas occur in the desert regionsof arid central and northwest Australia andsupport grazing of native pastures.

In contrast, fertile variants formed in alluviumare used for cropping and improvedpastures. Some dune soils of the RiverinePlain in the Murry-Darling Basin are irrigatedfor citrus and vines.

Some Rudosol areas have spectacular

scenery (e.g. Katherine Gorge and BungleBungle Mountains).

Rudosols:

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ArenicRudosol

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StraticRudosol

m

0.6

0.2LepticRudosol

Minimal soil development

MA@DC

OMMUNICATION

202017