THE STONY TABLELAND SOILS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN ARID ZONE AND THEIR EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY

Summary The stony tableland soils which are paleosols of Quaternary age have a clay profile, high proportion of exchangeable sodium, strong salinity, large amounts of stone in the upper few inches of the profile, a surface stone pavement, low carbonate but high gypsum contents and gypsum at shallower depths than carbonate. The surface of the soil layer has a gilgai micro-relief. The soils formed on deposits of wind-blown clays. Underlying the soil layer is a discontinuous layer of wind-deposited gypsite. These wind-blown materials (called lakulangite) were derived from lacustrine sediments; deflation of these sediments led to the formation of wind-excavated hollows that are often of large extent. Stones originally buried beneath the clay deposit have been moved upwards and concentrated on or near the soil surface.