Reclamation of a scalded, red duplex soil by waterponding

Soil Research ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 779 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Ringrose-Voase ◽  
DW Rhodes ◽  
GF Hall
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Soluble Salts ◽  
Massive Structure ◽  
Shrinkage Cracks ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Swell Potential ◽  
Wind And Water Erosion

In semi-arid New South Wales, waterponding is successfully used to reclaim red duplex soils which have been scalded by wind and water erosion exacerbated by overgrazing and drought. Reclamation was studied by comparing profiles under scald, 7 month old and 22 year old ponds, as well as under a sandy hummock and a naturally revegetated patch. The scalded soils were generally bare of vegetation, having crusted, silt loam A horizons over red, silty clay B horizons, which were saline and sodic with well developed structure. Infiltration was slow, causing rainfall to be lost by runoff and evaporation. Under recent ponds, there had been leaching of soluble salts but few other changes. Under older ponds and naturally reclaimed sites, besides leaching, the structure of the B horizon had become massive with the formation of large shrinkage cracks on drying which break open the crust. In thin section, the fabric showed more birefringent clay and there were some pore coatings of dispersed clay. These observations lead to the hypothesis that initial revegetation is a result of reduction in run-off and increased infiltration and possibly leaching of soluble salts. In the longer term, leaching causes reorganization of clay in the sodic B horizon and formation of a massive structure with shrinkage cracks which dramatically improve the infiltration rate. For waterponding to cause revegetation by this process, the soils should have a clay subsoil with shrink/swell potential and high sodicity so that restructuring takes place on leaching.

Influence of cropping on the population of a native earthworm and consequent effects on hydraulic properties of vertisols

Soil Research ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 995 ◽  
Author(s):  
JJ Friend ◽  
KY Chan
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
New South ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Shrinkage Cracks ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Natural Pasture ◽  
Earthworm Population ◽  
Moisture Conditions ◽  
Brown Clay

Population density of Heteroporodrilus mediterreus, a large native earthworm found on the Mitchell grassland (Astrebla lappacea) on the Vertisol plains near Walgett, New South Wales, was investigated at two sites (brown and grey clays). Maximum earthworm activity at the soil surface layer was observed during winter (July/August) corresponding to more favourable soil moisture conditions. The highest earthworm population density (7.5 m-2) and biomass (0.89 t ha-1) were detected at the brown clay site under natural pasture. Populations were much lower (by two thirds in the brown clay) and the proportion of immature worms was much higher in the cropped soils than in the pasture soils. Current wheat cropping practices involving long fallowing and excessive cultivation during the period when earthworms are active at the surface are the possible causes of the reduction in population. Disc permeameter measurements compared with infiltration through single earthworm holes showed that the earthworm channels contributed significantly to the movement of water into the subsoil. Their persistence under wet conditions, even after closure of shrinkage cracks, suggests they are also important in maintaining subsoil aeration. Significant reductions in sorptivity and infiltration rate were observed in the cropped soils.

Improved subsoil macroporosity following perennial pastures

2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. McCallum ◽  
J. A. Kirkegaard ◽  
T. W. Green ◽  
H. P. Cresswell ◽  
S. L. Davies ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Total Porosity ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Biological Action ◽  
The Other ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Annual Crops ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Yield Responses

Biopores left in the soil by perennial and annual pastures and their effects on macroporosity, water infiltration and the water use and productivity of subsequent wheat and canola crops were investigated in a field experiment on a Sodosol in southern New South Wales. Phases of both lucerne (4 years) and phalaris (10 years) improved the macroporosity and water infiltration into the dense B horizon compared with continuous annual crops and pastures. After removal of lucerne and phalaris, the subsoil (> 12 cm depth) contained similar numbers of pores > 2 mm diameter (228 and 190/m2, respectively) compared with a mean of 68/m2 after annual crops. However water infiltration rate after lucerne was greater than after phalaris, apparently because of more numerous pores > 4 mm, rather than a change in total porosity. The subsoil after phalaris on the other hand contained more pores 0.3 mm in diameter and a higher total porosity, possibly because of more roots around this diameter, and a longer period without traffic or cultivation. The number of lucerne biopores in the subsoil remained unchanged (170–180/m2) for at least 2 crops after the lucerne was removed although the average size decreased. The volume of water extracted from the subsoil by crops following lucerne was similar to that following annual crop/pasture for 10 of the 12 crop comparisons made. For 2 of the crops, more subsoil water (22 and 24 mm) was used after lucerne than after annuals, and in 1 season this was associated with higher yield of canola. During the 3-year study there was no winter waterlogging or post-anthesis water stress, so there was little opportunity for yield responses to improved subsoil structure. The results confirm speculation that the unfavourable structure of dense subsoils can be improved by the biological action of perennial pasture roots, although reduced wheel traffic and cultivation during the pasture phases may also play a role. Further studies will be necessary to demonstrate associated yield improvements.

Field studies of water and salt movement in an irrigated swelling clay soil. I. Infiltration during ponding

Soil Research ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
DS McIntyre ◽  
J Loveday ◽  
CL Watson
Keyword(s):  
Clay Soil ◽  
New South ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Deep Percolation ◽  
Soil Infiltration ◽  
Swelling Clay ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Plough Layer ◽  
Water And Salt Movement

Infiltration and deep percolation were measured during ponding of a saline sodic cracking clay soil, commonly used for rice production in the Riverina of New South Wales. Because gypsum may be used to ameliorate this soil for row cropping, the effect of incorporating gypsum into the plough layer was determined. Without gypsum, 292mm water infiltrated in 379 days of ponding, wetting the profile to approximately 2.1 m. In contrast when gypsum was incorporated in the plough layer, 605 mm of water infiltrated in 145 days, and water had penetrated beyond 4.5 m in 57 days. In the latter case, sufficient water percolated below 2.0m to raise the groundwater level by as much as 10m. The infiltration rate for the unameliorated soil was similar to values determined by others; for the ameliorated soil, infiltration behaviour was more like that of non-sodic self-mulching grey or brown clays, and raises questions regarding the amount of deep percolation when rice is grown on such soils.

Soil phosphorus status and environmental risk of phosphorus run-off from pastures in south-eastern New South Wales

Soil Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 685 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Hart ◽  
P. S. Cornish
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Risk ◽  
New South ◽  
Soil Phosphorus ◽  
Surface Erosion ◽  
Pasture Management ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Phosphorus Requirement ◽  
Phosphorus Status ◽  
Effective Use

Soils were sampled from 136 sites representing the major soil types in the Sydney drinking water catchments to provide an overview of agronomic phosphorus requirement and phosphorus environmental risk for the various pastoral land uses, which together comprise 40% of the 15700-km2 catchment area. Critical values for Colwell P (estimated from the phosphorus buffering index) were subtracted from the measured Colwell P to derive a ‘normalised’ Colwell P for each site, with negative values broadly signifying potential agronomic response and positive values warranting an assessment of environmental risk. Normalised Colwell P was above zero at approximately half the sites, and >50mgkg–1 at 20% of sites that were considered to present a significant environmental risk, highlighting the need for more effective use of soil testing. Colwell P was highly variable within soil type and land use. No category could be singled out for special attention for management except for dairy and former dairy sites. Where dairy effluent must be applied to soils already high in P, a plan is needed to manage stormwater run-off. Pastures at approximately 20% of sites were ‘degraded’, where the priority should be to improve pasture management and reduce the risk of phosphorus loss in surface erosion.

The effect of irrigated crop production on the properties of a sodic vertisol

Soil Research ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
DC Mckenzie ◽  
TS Abbott ◽  
FR Higginson
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
New South ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Cotton Production ◽  
Massive Structure ◽  
Cultivated Soil ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Uncultivated Soil ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Subsoil Compaction

Irrigated cotton yields in the lower Macquarie Valley, New South Wales, declined within a decade of the inception of irrigation, particularly on grey clays. Degradation of subsoil structure was thought to be involved. Two adjacent sites, one used for irrigated cotton production since 1968 ('cultivated'), the other for native pasture and grazing ('uncultivated'), were compared. The soil at each site, a sodic grey cracking clay (Vertisol), was described and sampled for a range of physical and chemical analyses. In the cultivated soil there was increased surface sodicity, greater dispersion of soil aggregates at 0 - 0-3 m, decreased organic carbon levels to 0 - 3 m and increased subsoil compaction. Also, the cultivated soil was observed to have more massive structure, with fewer macropores, between 0.2 and 0.7 m than the uncultivated soil. Probable reasons for this degradation of chemical and physical fertility following 15 years of intensive irrigated farming are discussed.

Land management and its impact on water yield on the northern tablelands of New South Wales.

1982 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
PA Wright
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Land Management ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
River System ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Run Off ◽  
The University

The extensive and radical change in pastoral land treatment and management which has taken place on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales since 1950 has greatly increased the demand on available water, and has at the same time affected the amount and rate of water run-off into streams and dams, and the nature and permanency of springs and streams. This has not only created problems of water scarcity on the Tablelands, but it has serious implications for the Darling River system, of which the Tablelands form a major source of supply, because of reduced run-off into headwater streams, and additional retention of water for livestock in larger, and an increased number of, farm dams. The onset of drought in 1980 precipitated an immediate and serious shortage of water for livestock and urban use. A recognition that this was partly man induced led to the establishment of a Water Management Research project, jointly sponsored by land users and the University of New England. In 1981-2 a detailed study was undertaken of a typical Tablelands area, the Severn River basin, to ascertain and quantify the effects of changed land management. The results of the study, its implications, and conclusions drawn from it are discussed.

The pedogenesis of desert loam soils in the Barrier Range, western New South Wales. Ii. Weathering and soil formation

Soil Research ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Chartres
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
New South ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Middle Layer ◽  
Soluble Salts ◽  
Aeolian Deposits ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Pedogenetic Processes

Micromorphological, clay mineralogical and chemical data are used to demonstrate the complex, polygenetic nature of soils developed in a mixture of aeolian deposits and in-situ weathered material. At least three separate layers can be recognized in the soils, though some pedological reorganization of these has occurred. The lowest layer consists of weathered rock, aeolian deposits, gypsum and calcium carbonate, and may be, in part, the truncated remnant of an older soil. The middle layer is predominantly composed of aeolian clayey pellets and silts. The upper layer is a slope-wash deposit. The majority of soluble salts, carbonates and sulfates in the soils appear to have been transported into the soils by wind. Pedogenetic processes after the last phase of aeolian deposition have been restricted to the redistribution of some of the more soluble salts and iron oxides, and the modification of soil structure and fabric.

Age of loess deposits in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales

Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul P. Hesse ◽  
Geoff S. Humphreys ◽  
Barton L. Smith ◽  
James Campbell ◽  
Elizabeth K. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

Basal optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of more than 50 000 years in loessic (parna) mantles on the Central Tablelands of New South Wales indicate significant aeolian silt (c. 30 μm mode) deposition commenced well before the onset of the last glacial maximum. Each mantle consists of >1 m of reddish silty clay loam–silty clay with an earthy fabric which sits atop manganese and iron pans and saprolite. Mixing of saprolite-derived material into the pans and also into the silty layer indicates a site history of steady accumulation of aeolian loess and continual pedogenesis. No palaeosols are found. The OSL chronology of both sites, while low resolution, indicates an almost constant mass accumulation rate from 50 000 years ago through the last glacial maximum and into the Holocene. Local factors affecting retention of deposited dust may be responsible for the apparent passivity of the sites.

Herbage Production Following Rainfall Redistribution in a Semi-Arid Mulga (Acacia Aneura) Woodland in Western New South Wales.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 206 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Noble ◽  
RSB Greene ◽  
WJ Muller
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
New South ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Rainfall Event ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Acacia Aneura ◽  
Semi Arid

The effects of stocking rate (nominally ranging from 0.3 up to 0.8 dry sheep equivalents per ha) on rainfall redistribution, soil-water storage and herbage production were studied in three contiguous geomorphic zones (run-off, interception and run-on zones) in a semi-arid mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland in western New South Wales. The amount of rainfall redistribution increased directly with rainfall but there was no significant effect of stocking rate on the amount of soil-water stored in various zones. while soil-water storage differed little between zones following a minor rainfall event (11.9 mm), it was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the run-on zone following a major rainfall event (42.7 mm). The interception zone was by far the most productive herbage zone contributing a significantly (P < 0.01) disproportionate amount of forage (c. 90% of total paddock production at low stocking rates) despite this zone only occupying a relatively small proportion (c. 12%) of landscape catenae. Herbage in the interception zone principally comprised palatable C3 perennial grasses such as Thyridolepis mitchelliana (mulga grass) and Monachather paradoxa (bandicoot grass). Experimental manipulation confirmed the fundamental importance of rainfall redistribution as a landscape process mediating herbage production in these semi-arid plant communities. Dry matter production by Eragrostis eriopoda (woollybutt) was significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) in the run-off zone when incident rainfall was retained in situ by metal barriers. Conversely, production by Thyridolepis mitchelliana in the lower interception zone was significantly depressed (P < 0.01) where similar barriers prevented access by overland flow. The results are discussed in the context of developing conservative management strategies designed to maintain effective landscape processes in these extensive ecosystems.

The use of electromagnetic induction to detect the spatial variability of the salt and clay contents of soils

Soil Research ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
BG Williams ◽  
D Hoey
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Electromagnetic Induction ◽  
New South ◽  
Clay Material ◽  
Soluble Salts ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Apparent Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Land Use Practices

The apparent electrical conductivity (EC,) of a 250 ha area of the Riverine Plain in New South Wales was mapped using a Geonics EM 34/3 electromagnetic terrain conductivity meter. The EC, values obtained were highly correlated with both the total soluble salts and the total <2 km clay material to a depth of 15 m. The spatial variability of both these properties has a direct bearing on present and future land-use practices.

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