Soils Book

The Angas Bremer Soils book provides a district soil-map and detailed information about the local soils. For each of 25 typical soils, the book provides a 4-page data-sheet that includes a large coloured photo of the wall of a two-metre deep soil pit. Every soil-layer is described and the laboratory results from 15 chemical analyses are tabled, compared with target values and interpreted, for each layer. The book is designed to help you to interpret what you are seeing in a soil profile that is exposed when you dig a soil pit.

Step 1: While you stand in your pit and look at the soil, open this book to page 21.

Step 2: Compare your soil profile with each of the 25 soil photos and record the soil-number of each photo that looks similar to your profile.

Step 3: Turn to the data-sheet for each of the recorded soil numbers and decide which data-sheet most closely describes your soil. Step 4: Use the tables and the interpretations of Laboratory data to guide your decisions about which chemical analyses you will have done for your soil-profile. Note that the lower the soil-number, the smaller the investment that is likely to be needed into pre-planting activities. With any of the soils numbered from 18 to 25, over a long period (decades), the profit from growing irrigated wine-grapes is likely to be small or negative for the reasons that are outlined in the "Management" section of each of the data-sheets.

The "Management" section for each soil describes (1) any potential soil problems (2) pre-planting actions that can be taken to tackle those problems and (3) how best to manage the soil after planting.

This June 2007 version of the Angas Bremer Soils book replaces the October 2005 DRAFT version that was provided, in electronic form, on the interactive "Angas Bremer Map Layers" computer compact disc.

This updated version is being distributed:
1. from the Angas Bremer web-site www.angasbremerwater.org.au
2. as a 126-page, full-colour, spiral-bound book and
3. on a new computer disc

The Angas Bremer Soils book is provided by the Angas Bremer Water Management Committee. It was developed and funded by the Government of South Australia (David Maschmedt, Primary Industries and Resources SA and Tony Thomson, Department of Water Land and Biodiversity Conservation) and a grant from the River Murray Catchment Water Management Board (now the SA Murray Darling Basin Natural Resource Management Board). The Soils book is part of Module 2 of the Angas Bremer Preliminary Land and Water Management Plan. To reduce each file to a size that can be downloaded even without broadband, the book has been divided into the following 4 pdf files (Adobe 5) :

Introduction and Soil 1

Soils 2 - 9

Soils 10 - 17

Soils 18 - 25

Soil Profiles