6.3 Soils A general overview and description of soil types, properties and productivity for the surrounding area is provided in this section. The soil types in the region have been obtained from the Australia Soil Resource Information Systems (ASRIS). An extract of the ASRIS Level 4 250k to 2m soil mapping is provided in Figure 40 and a summary of these soil types is provided in Table 35. Table 35. Soil Type Summary
Soil Type
Soil Type Map Unit
Australian Soil Classification
Irving
CH
Chromosol
Gelobera
RU
Rudosol
Hillmore Rudosol The soils in the region are not productive to support large scale agriculture or cropping as indicated by the land suitability Class 4 unsuitable land with severe limitations assigned to the site. Land suitability classification assesses the potential of land for a specific land use e.g. is the land suitable for furrow irrigated cotton, dryland maize, trickle irrigated apples. The specific land use is assessed against a range of limitations e.g. soil water availability, soil moisture, rockiness, slope, flooding. Five land suitability classes are defined for use in Queensland, with land suitability decreasing progressively from Class 1 to Class 5. Classes 1 to 3 are suitable for agricultural production. Class 1 land is highly productive, requiring only simple management practices to maintain economic production, with minimal degradation to the land resource. Class 5 land has extreme limitations that preclude the possibility of successful sustained use of the land in the proposed manner. RU
Figure 40. Soil Types Mount Morgan Area (ASRIS Level 4 Australian Soil Classification)
Project number: 25B061
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