Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook (Australian Soil and Land Survey Handbooks Series)

265 Pages·2010·4.92 MB·English

the Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook specifies methods and terminology
for soil and land surveys. it has been widely used throughout Australia, providing one
reference set of definitions for the characterisation of landform, vegetation, land surface,
soil and substrate. Australian Soil
the book advocates that a comprehensive suite of land and soil attributes be recorded
in a uniform manner. this approach is more useful than the allocation of land or soil to
preconceived types or classes.
and Land Survey
the third edition includes revised chapters on location and vegetation as well as some
new landform elements. these updates have been guided by the national Committee on
Soil and terrain, a steering committee comprising representatives from key federal, state
and territory land resource assessment agencies.
Field Handbook
essential reading for all professionals involved in land resource surveys, this book will
also be of value to students and educators in soil science, geography, ecology, agriculture,
forestry, resource management, planning, landscape architecture and engineering. third edition
The NaTioNal CommiTTee oN Soil aNd TerraiN
Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook is Volume 1 in the Australian Soil and
Land Survey Handbook Series. Other volumes currently available in this series are:
Volume 2: Guidelines for Surveying Soil and Land Resources
Volume 4: The Australian Soil Classification
Volume 5: Soil Physical Measurement and Interpretation for Land Evaluation
Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook The National Committee on Soil and Terrain
Australian Soil and Land
Survey Field Handbook
THIRD EDITION
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Australian Soil
and Land Survey
Field Handbook
THIRD EDITION
THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON SOIL AND TERRAIN
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© CSIRO 2009
All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and
subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO PUBLISHING for all
permission requests.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Australian soil and land survey field handbook.
3rd ed.
Collingwood, Vic. : CSIRO Publishing, 2009.
9780643093959 (pbk.)
Australian soil and land survey handbooks ; no. 1
Includes index.
Bibliography.
Landforms – Australia – Classification – Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Soil surveys – Australia – Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Land use surveys – Australia – Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Vegetation classification – Australia – Handbooks, manuals, etc.
631.4794
First edition 1984; Second edition 1990
Published by
CSIRO PUBLISHING
150 Oxford Street (PO Box 1139)
Collingwood VIC 3066
Australia
Telephone: [phone]
Local call: 1300 788 000 (Australia only)
Fax: [phone]
Email:
CONTENTS
Preface to the first edition xi
Preface to the second edition xiii
Preface to the third edition xiv
Acknowledgements xvi
Purpose and use of handbook J.G. Speight and R.F. Isbell 1
Purpose 1
Use 3
The site concept J.G. Speight and R.C. McDonald 5
Location L.J. Gregory, R.C. McDonald and R.F. Isbell 7
Method 7
State or Territory 7
Cordinates 7
Topographic map sheet 9
Global Positioning System (GPS) Survey 10
Air photo reference 10
General R.C. McDonald and R.F. Isbell 13
Described by 13
Date 13
Annual rainfall 13
Type of site 13
v
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Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook
Landform J.G. Speight 15
Landform description 15
Description of landform element 17
Landform element key and glossary 31
Description of landform pattern 44
Landform pattern glossary 55
Vegetation R.J. Hnatiuk, R. Thackway and J. Walker 73
Overview of the classification 75
Recognising strata 77
Formation (Level 1) 80
Structural formation (Level 2) 88
Broad floristic formation (Level 3) and subdivisions (Levels 4 to 6) 95
Examples of standard classification 102
Wetlands 103
Rainforest 109
Growth stage 120
Condition 120
Land surface R.C. McDonald, R.F. Isbell and J.G. Speight 127
Aspect 127
Elevation 127
Drainage height 128
Disturbance of site 128
Microrelief 129
Erosion 13
Agradation 138
Inundation 138
Coarse fragments 139
Rock outcrop 143
vi
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Contents
Depth to free water 144
Runof 14
Soil profile R.C. McDonald and R.F. Isbell 147
Type of soil observation 147
Horizons 148
Depth of horizons 156
Depth to R horizon or strongly cemented pan 156
Colour 159
Mottles and other colour patterns 159
Field texture 161
Coarse fragments 170
Structure 171
Fabric 181
Cutans 182
Voids 184
Soil water status 186
Consistence 186
Condition of surface soil when dry 189
Water repellence 191
Pans 192
Segregations of pedogenic origin 195
Effervescence of carbonate in fine earth 198
Field pH 198
Rots 19
Boundaries between horizons 199
Soil water regime 200
Substrate J.G. Speight and R.F. Isbell 205
Properties of substrate material 206
vii
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Australian Soil and Land Survey Field Handbook
Properties of substrate masses 210
Genetic type of substrate masses 216
Glossary of substrate mass genetic types 219
Appendix 1: Soil taxonomic units R.F. Isbell and
R.C. McDonald 225
The Australian Soil Classification 225
Soil Taxonomy 227
World Reference Base for soil resources (WRB) 226
References 29
Index 240
viii
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Correct citation:
If reference is made to the Handbook as a whole, give reference as follows:
s in text
National Committee on Soil and Terrain (2009)
s in references
National Committee on Soil and Terrain (2009) ‘Australian soil and land
survey field handbook (3rd edn).’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne).
If reference is made to a specific section e.g. Landform, give reference as
follows:
s in text
Speight (2009)
s in references
Speight JG (2009) Landform. In ‘Australian soil and land survey field
handbook (3rd edn).’ (National Committee on Soil and Terrain) (CSIRO
Publishing: Melbourne).
The Handbook was prepared under the auspices of the National Committee
on Soil and Terrain with funding and support from CSIRO, the Natural
Heritage Trust and the Bureau of Rural Sciences.
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