SOILS NEWS

No. 16 JUNE 1964

AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF SOIL SCIENCE

Registered at the G.RO. Melbourne for transmission by post as a periodical.

SOILS NEWS is i ssued solely to m e m b e r s of the Austral ian Society of Soil Science and is regarded as an informal news serv ice of that body. The s ta tements printed here in a r e not intended for citation e lsewhere and no rep r in t s a r e available on reques t . Le t t e r s , communicat ions , short r ev iews , and news i t ems a r e invited and ma te r i a l for the next i s sue should reach the Secre ta ry by mid-October . This is the las t of the four ha l f -year ly i s sues to be made from Canber ra , the location of the Fede ra l office of the Society for the period ending June 30, 1964.

Off ice-bearers of Fede ra l Council to June 30, 1964:-

Pres iden t : Mr. B . E . Butler , C. S. I. R. O. Division of Soils, Canber ra

Vice -Pres iden t : Prof. J . P . Quirk, Insti tute of Agr icul ture , Universi ty of Western Aus t ra l ia .

Secre ta ry : Dr. R . J . Hunter, C. S. I. R. O. Division of Soils, Canber ra

T r e a s u r e r : Dr. D . J . David, C . S . I . R . O . Division of Plant Industry, Canber ra

Hon. Editor of : Mr. D. V. Wal te r s , P . O . Box 109, Soils News City, Canber ra

Off ice-bearers of Fede ra l Council for period commencing July 1, 1964:

Pres iden t : Prof. J . P . Quirk, Insti tute of Agr icul ture , Universi ty of Western Aus t ra l ia , Nedlands, W.A.

Secre ta ry , : Dr. A. V. Blackmore , c / - W.A. Regional Labora tory , C . S . I . R . O . Nedlands, W.A.

(Russel l Grimwade Bequest P r e s s )

SOILS NEWS

The Newsletter of the Austra l ian Society of Soil Science

No. 16 P r i c e : 5 / - per copy June 1964

CONTENTS

Summar ies of Talks

Adsorption of Phosphate by Kaolinite and Aluminium Oxides

Mineralogy of Manganese in Austra l ian Soils

The Associat ion of Iron Oxides with Organic Matter

The Determination of Exchangeable Cations

Agricul ture and Its P rob lems in Northern Austra l ia

Soils of Northern Austra l ia

Mechanical P rob lems in Northern T e r r i t o r y Soils

Malayan Soils and Soil Water P rob lems

J , K . Taylor - An Appreciation

Fede ra l Council Notes

Pe r sona l Notes

Branch Activities

Page

D. Muljadi 1 A. M. Posner

R. M. Taylor 2

J . M . Oades 2

D. J . David 4

M. J . T. Norman 5

G. A. Stewart 6

W.Arndt 6

E. Phil l is 7

9

10

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14

ADSORPTION OF PHOSPHATE BY KAOLINITE AND ALUMINIUM OXIDES

(Talk given by D. Muljadi and A. M. Posner to South Austra l ian Branch, F e b r u a r y 27, 1964).

Fac to r s such as pH, concentrat ion, t empera tu re a re very important in determining the adsorption of phosphate from solution by clay m i n e r a l s , and their effects must therefore be separa ted if the adsorption p rocess is to be understood.

A detailed study of the adsorption i so the rms of kaolini te , gibbsite, and pseudo boehmite as a function of pH and t empera tu re showed them to be very s imi la r in shape and differing only in the amounts of phosphate adsorbed.

The i so the rms can be divided by inspection into three distinct reg ions , which can be re la ted to the affinity of phosphate for th ree energet ical ly different types of react ive s i t es :

(I) At low phosphate concentrat ions the adsorption i so the rm r i s e s steeply and remains close to the y-axis ; this region r ep resen t s s i tes with a high affinity for phosphate. The extent of this region depends on the pH, reaching a maximum value with decreas ing pH at about 5.

( I I ) The second region commences when the i so the rm becomes concave to the x -ax i s . The extent of this region var ies with pH. Adsorption in this region i s thus both concentrat ion and pH dependent and occurs at low to medium concentrat ion.

( i l l ) The third par t is l inear and occurs at medium to high concentrat ion. The slope of this region passes through a maxiumum with increas ing pH (approx. 7).

The adsorpt ion i so the rms on kaolinite a re revers ib le with respec t to pH in all regions and with respec t to concentration in regions ( l l ) and ( i l l ) . In the case of the oxides the i so the rms are la rgely i r r e v e r s i b l e with respec t to concentration over the period of t ime examined (up to 7 days) . The resu l t s for Region ( l l ) fit a Langmuir adsorption i so the rm and it i s therefore thought that a phase change occurred when the desorption exper iments were ca r r i ed out on the oxides. -

For an exothermic adsorption p rocess in which the number of adsorption s i tes i s independent of t empera tu re it i s general ly observed that the amount of adsorption dec r ea se s witht. empera tu re . Since the adsorption of phosphate on kaolinite and the oxides i n c r e a s e s with t empera tu re it appears that the number of adsorption s i tes must be t empera tu re dependent. The inc rease in adsorption si tes with t empera tu re is only par t ia l ly r eve rs ib le when the t empera tu re is reduced.

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2.

It is concluded that the adsorption p roces se s occurr ing in kaolinite possess s imi la r i t i e s and d i s s imi l a r i t i e s to those occurr ing on gibbsite and pseudo boehmite.

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MINERALOGY OF MANGANESE IN AUSTRALIAN SOILS

(Talk given by R. M. Taylor to South Austra l ian Branch, April 23, 1964).

The minera logica l and chemical compositions of 28 manganese nodules from Austral ian soils were studied. Specific manganese mine ra l s were identified in 26 of these after ext ract ion and concentrat ion from the associa ted soil m i n e r a l s : 10 were l i thiophorite Li Al (Mn^ , Co, Ni,)

M n T 0 _, 14H 0; 10 were b i rnes s i t e , (Ca, Mg, Na K ) Mn Mn 10 35 2 Z, Z, x

4+ 3 + (0. 0H)_; 3 were hollandite, Ba(Mn Fe ) 0 . ; 1 was todorokite

2+ 4+ a 1 6

(Mn Ca)Mn 0 . 2H 0; 1 was pyrolus i te , MnO ; and 1 contained both li thiophorite and hollandite. With the possible exception of pyrolus i te , all samples were found to contain varying amounts of Ni, Co, Mg, Ba, Al, K, Na, F e , and Ca. Although there was overlap in the chemis t ry of the b i rness i t e and li thiophorite group the mean concentrat ions of aluminium, i ron , and lithium were lower and the mean concentrat ion of calcium and magnes ium higher in the fo rmer . Pure manganese oxides and hydroxides appear to be quite r a r e as secondary soil m i n e r a l s .

Lithiophorite occur red mainly in neut ra l to acid subsurface so i l s , whereas b i rnes s i t e , although found in both acid and alkaline so i l s , was more common in alkaline surface hor izons . The average crys ta l l i te size of the manganese mine ra l aggregates was quite smal l , being of the order of 0. 02 p. for b i rnes s i t e s and 0. 1 p, for the l i th iophori tes .

THE ASSOCIATION OF IRON OXIDES WITH ORGANIC MATTER

(Talk given by J . M. Oades to South Austra l ian Branch April 23, 1964).

F r e e i ron in the clay fraction of soils as es t imated by chemical p rocedures consis ts p r ima r i l y of i ron oxides and i ron associated with organic m a t t e r .

Iron oxides often identified in soil clays a re : Fe 0 hemat i te ,

FeOOH geothite, ' F e 0 maghemite , ^ FeOOH lepidocroci te , Fe 0 magnet i te , Amorphous i ron oxides. . . . /3

3.

These oxides a r e not individually identifiable by chemical techniques and th ree physical methods a r e commonly used: a) X- ray analys is , b) Differential t he rma l ana lys is , c) Magnetic susceptibil i ty m e a s u r e m e n t s .

a) X- r ay - capable of identifying and differentiating geothite, hemat i te , lepidocroci te , and maghemite or magnetite,,

k) D° T, A. - gives useful additional information par t icu la r ly for geothite. The peak t empera tu re of the geothite endotherm becomes lower as par t ic le s ize -c rys ta l l in i ty d e c r e a s e s , and as the peak t empera tu re approaches 200°C the X- ray diffraction pat tern becomes diffuse, so much so that a portion of such oxides may be considered amorphous to X-rays,, These amorphous oxides a re not the amorphous cold precipi ta ted hydrated fe r r i c oxides of Mackenzie (1949).

c) Magnetic susceptibil i ty m e a s u r e m e n t s - maghemite and magneti te have magnetic susceptibi l i t ies > 1, 000 t imes those of the other oxides, and such m e a s u r e m e n t s allow the detection of these m i n e r a l s . Susceptibility measu remen t s can be made using a simple adaptation of an analytical balance cal ibrated using standard f e r r i c chloride solutions. An examination of severa l soils showed in general a concentration of the fer romagnet ic oxides in the clay fractions of surface horizons and the r e su l t s suggest pedologic formation of such mine ra l s ra ther than concentrat ion of magneti te or i lmenite in the soil surface horizons,, During peroxidation some of these mine ra l s a re dissolved.

'Organic ' i ron

Organic ma te r i a l s res i s tan t to peroxidation produce effects shown on D„ To A. t r a ce s (oxygen a tmosphere) , notably a sharp exothermic peak in the region of 300-340°C. The ma te r i a l s responsible for such effects a re removed by t r ea tment s with dithionite, pyrophosphate and acetylacetone indicating that Fe is complexed by degradation products or organic ma t t e r . These complexes a re stable to further breakdown by hydrogen peroxide. Such complexes have been identified as mixed Fe and Al oxalates by infra­red techniques.

It is suggested that peroxidation a l t e r s the surface proper t ies of clay and sesquioxide par t ic les by ei ther deposition of m a t e r i a l s (organic and inorganic) on surfaces or by solution of Fe and Al from par t ic le su r faces .

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THE DETERMINATION OF EXCHANGEABLE CATIONS

(Talk given by D„ J„ David to Canberra Branch November 14, 1963).

It was stated the exchange capacity of a soil r e s ides almost ent i re ly in the clay fraction and that it is a resu l t par t ly of the smal l par t ic le size presenting a la rge surface a r ea for adsorption and par t ly of the in t r ins ic p roper t i e s of the clay mine ra l s involved and organic mat te r that may be present . The exchange capaci t ies of the clay mine ra l s t hem­selves cover about a 10-fold range from kaolinite and hal loys i te-2H ? 0 at about 10 m „ e . per 100 g to that of vermicul i te at about 120 m. e. per 100 g. However, organic ma t t e r in soils has a profound effect on their exchange capaci t ies as has been shown among others by Williams et. al„ who found that 25 years of pas ture improvement on granite soils at Crookwell, N. S0 W0 had increased the exchange capacity Z^, -fold from 5 to 12. 5m. e. per 100 g and conversely s that the des t ruct ion of organic ma t t e r in a basal t ic soil at Ariah Pa rk , N,, S„ W, by ploughing decreased i t s exchange capacity, both in d i rec t proport ion to the organic ma t t e r content.

After touching on the impor tance of a high exchange capacity in enhancement of fert i l i ty of soils and defining the exchangeable cation content of a soil as the quantities of those ions that can be displaced with suitable reagents without chemical attack on the exchange complex itself, the means by which exchangeable cations can be extracted were outlined. Of the three general methods that have been suggested (leaching with a concentrated solution of a sal t , leaching with dilute acid and e lec t rodia lys is ) , leaching with a concentrated salt solution has been found most sat isfactory and is commonly used. Normal ammonium chloride or ammonium acetate a r e general ly employed, the la t ter l e s s commonly because of the grea te r difficulty involved in removing it p r io r to the determinat ion of exchangeable cations and a suggestion that the acetate ion has specific activity in the dissolution of some ions .

Two of the difficulties encountered in the extract ion of exchangeable cations from soils were mentioned, namely, the p resence in some soi ls of free calcium and magnesium carbonate , which have appreciable solubility in most ex t rac tants and the presence of soluble sal ts in o the r s . The three methods of offsetting the effects of free calcium and magnes ium carbonates descr ibed were the es t imat ion of dissolved carbonate by determining the amount of CO evolved on acid t r ea tment , the es t imat ion of calcium and magnesium in two success ive leachings of the soil using normal sodium chlor ide, exchangeable calcium and magnesium being determined by difference, and Tucker ' s method of extract ion of the soil with normal ammonium chloride in 60% ethanol at pH 8. 5 in which free calcium and magnesium carbonates show negligible solubility. Soluble sa l t s , if p resen t , a re best removed by eaching the soil with 40% ethanol before extract ion of exchangeable cat ions. If gypsum is present , however, i ts

. . . / 5

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low solubility in 40% ethanol makes it nece s sa ry to es t imate sulphate in the exchangeable cation ext rac t and co r r ec t the calcium resul t for gypsum d i s s ­olved.

The conventional methods of est imation of exchangeable cations descr ibed were : for sodium, the sodium magnesium uranyl acetate method and the flame photometric method; for potass ium, the cobal t in i t r i te , perchlora te and flame photometr ic methods; for calcium, permanganate t i t ra t ion of the oxalate and the flame photometric method in which steps a re taken to avoid in ter ferences due to the formation of involatile compounds; for magnes ium, the 8-hydroxy quinoline and magnes ium ammonium phosphate g r a v i m e t r i c methods and co lor imet r ic es t imat ion using thiozole yellow; for both calcium and magnes ium, es t imat ion by EDTA t i t ra t ion using Calcein and E r i ch rome Black T was descr ibed , but this method was stated to be difficult due to the necess i ty of est imating Mg by difference, the indistinct nature of the endpoints and in terference h a z a r d s .

The advantages of the use of atomic absorption in the est imat ion of all four exchangeable cations were outlined. In cont ras t to the situation in flame emiss ion ana lys i s , the sensi t ivi ty for magnesium is very high and, since sensi t ivi ty for the othe _• e lements i s at leas t equal to that in flame emiss ion ana lys i s , it is possible to es t imate all four e lements using only 5 ml of the ext rac t solution. This points to the possibi l i ty of reducing the amounts of soils and volumes of extractant used in the determinat ion of exchangeable cations if a sma l l e r sample that i s still representa t ive of the whole can be taken. The other advantage of atomic absorption analysis using a modulated ins t rument is i ts re l iabi l i ty with respec t to accuracy if s teps a r e taken to avoid in te r fe rences with calcium due to the formation of involatile compounds. This a r i s e s from the fact that the effects of flame background or light emitted by extraneous e lements a re avoided. Final ly, it was pointed out that the determinat ion of exchangeable s t ront ium in soils presented no par t icu lar problem by atomic absorption analys is .

AGRICULTURE AND ITS PROBLEMS IN NORTHERN AUSTRALIA

(Talk given by M„ J„ T0 Norman to A„ C. T„ Branch on March 5, 1964) .

The general physical environment of the far noa h was outlined and the act ivi t ies of the Kather ine , Kimberley, and Coastal Plains Resea rch Stations of CSIRO descr ibed .

This talk was intended as an introduction to a s e r i e s of special is t talks which were to follow, given by m e m b e r s of the staff of Division of Land Research and Regional Survey, CSIRO, on par t icu lar soil problems of the North. As an introduction, it drew attention to the important problems re la ted to soil science sti l l confronting us .

SOILS OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA

(Talk given by G. A. Stewart to A. C. T. Branch, March 19, 1964).

Mr. Stewart l imited his descr ipt ions to the higher rainfall a r e a s where agr icul ture is feasible or where i r r iga t ion water i s avai lable. He differentiated between the upland la ter i t ic soil types and the lowland cracking clay types which form the bas i s of CSIRO r e s e a r c h activity. Thus Katherine Resea rch Station is on dryland red ear th while Kimberley and Coastal Pla ins (Humpty Doo) stations a re on lowland clay and a re i r r iga ted .

Discussing the nutrient status of these soi l s , he said that even on the most leached dryland soils no minor element deficiencies had been found. Phosphorus was the main element that was deficient and rock phosphate and res idual phosphate effects were well marked . Leaching of nitrogen was evident on well drained so i l s . Deep-rooted plants responded well because of their exploitation of mois tu re and minera l nutr ients from depth - bulrush mil let was the main example. At Kather ine , Townsville lucerne was a useful legume while another legume, peanuts , grew successfully and could well become an important c rop .

It was pointed out that there was something of an anomoly in that n i t ra tes were leached only to the subsoil (and some of these re turned to the surface) yet the soils otherwise showed a highly leached condition -no l ime , and no soluble sa l t s . This could mean that the soils developed under a wetter cl imate than the present one.

Questions were asked during discussion about the absence of salinity. Except for soils affected by tidal influence, salt was noticeably absent. This occur red not only on the upland soils as at Katherine but a lso in the in ternal drainage basin of the Berkeley Tableland. It is probable that low sodium i s a factor in the high aggregation of soil c lays , causing the soils to be very freely drained.

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MECHANICAL PROBLEMS IN NORTHERN " TERRITORY SOILS

(Talk given by W. Arndt to A. C. T0 Branch, April 16, 1964).

Mr. Arndt descr ibed his p rogramme of invest igat ions: the re la ted problems of surface soil stabil i ty and soil surface sealing in the annual cultivation cycle on a la te r i t ic red ear th in North Australia„

Basical ly, he said, there does not seem to be any great weakness in i ts soil itself. He presented numerous measu remen t s of many aspects of the p rob lems , made with special ly devised equipment, and presented

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7. his case for concluding that many of the problems met with in the annual

cycle of cultivation for row crops were due to the cultivation cycle being out of phase with the s t r ic t summer rainfall dis t r ibut ion.

He argued that the p resen t t radi t ion of ploughing before planting was sound where rainfall occur red before planting, as for summer crops in the t empera te zone, but not necessa r i ly so when the peak rainfall occurs after planting as for the t ropical savannah zones. The idea of planting on the mellowed surface left from the previous year and coarse ly ripping up the compacted i n t e r - r o w spaces after planting is being tes ted on a field sca le . The implicat ions a r e that it s eems preferable to seek bet ter manager ia l control of the soi l -c l imate-cul t iva t ion in te r -ac t ions than to t r y to a l ter the nature of the soil itself.

This new philosophy seems well supported by data on a number of subjects that a re re la t ively new to Australian soil sc ience , namely: the r ea l nature of mechanical impedance by sea l s , a model of the impedance problem based on d i rec t soil and plant m e a s u r e m e n t s , the "physical conditioning effect" of wetting and drying, the determination of th ree ca tegor ies of surface soil stabil i ty, the application of Vilensky's pr inciple , the advantages of pre-cul t iva t ion compaction, and the idea of exploiting the wheel traffic on arable land.

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MALAYAN SOILS AND SOIL, WATER PROBLEMS

(Talk given by E. Phi His to A. C. T. Branch, April 2, 1964).

The peninsula of Malaya is approximately 500 mis long, with a maximum width of 125 m i s . There is a cent ra l mountain range , high in the north where individual peaks r i s e to 7. 500 ft. and fading away towards the south. About a half of the country l ies below 500 ft. elevation. The centra l range i s composed mainly of g ran i tes , with some l imes tone . The clays of the plains between the mountains and the sea a re mainly i l l i te on the west coast , and kaolinite on the east . The s t ra i t s of Malacca, separat ing Malaya from Sumatra , a r e na r row, and although there is a r i s e and fall of t ide , there is no cur -ant through the s t r a i t s . Mud banks a re building up along Malaya 's west coast , and some of these have been r e ­claimed to form ex t remely fer t i le s t r ips ; the clay here appears to be montmori l loni t ic , with a fantast ical ly high water holding capacity of over a hundred per cent.

F o r e s t and jungle still cover about three qua r t e r s of the country and development i s r e s t r i c t ed in general to the coastal p la ins , the foot­hills and a few r iver val leys . Population is about 10 mil l ion, and of the 5\ mil l ion a c r e s of land under cultivation, some 3j mil l ion a re given over to rubber , and about 1 mill ion to r i c e . Rainfall is at least 80" - often

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nuch m o r e - per annum over most of the country. The rainfall pat tern rar ies in different pa r t s of the country, but there is usually a d r i e r period n the ea r ly par t of the year , and heavy rainfall l a te r in the year . The ^. W. , the major r i ce a r e a , has in addition a wetter period in Apri l -May. 3ne very in teres t ing feature of the diurnal rainfall pat tern on the W. coast e. g. around Kuala Lumpur) is that a lmost all r a in falls around 4 p . m . -> p . m . - this i s ideal for the rubber industry since the mornings a re fine md dry for collecting the 200 mill ion dollar rubber crop. Evaporation does lot vary much the year round , and is about 0. 5 cm. per day. Tempera tu res lo not change much seasonal ly, and range between 70° and 90°F , while lumidity may drop as low as 60% in the d r i e r weather; it i s normal ly letween 75 and 95 per cent.

Rice is grown on about a mill ion a c r e s , mainly on the W. coast >roducing a mill ion tons of paddy, worth M. $30 mil l ion. Attempts a re )eing made to ensure good yields in all yea r s and one of the ways in which he grower is being helped is in the development of supplementary i r r iga t ion systems. In connection with the design of such s y s t e m s there was need for nformation on the permeabi l i ty of r ice lands to water . This was nvestigated with the aid of p i ezomete r s . Steel tubes 2" in d iameter were nser ted through the water in the major r ice a r e a s down to various depths, rhe soil in the tube was removed with an auger and then a cavity was made >elow the tube, usually 6" long, and the ra te of movement of water into or >ut of this cavity studied.

The typical profile on an establ ished r ice field consisted of a layer >f mud a few inches thick which was te rmina ted by a very hard layer , an nch or two thick. Below th i s , the soil was re la t ively dry for a variable l is tance. This 'dry1 soil normal ly showed well oxidised root t r a c e s , much >range red mottl ing, and often black manganese concre t ions . In mos t c a s e s , is the bore was deepened, the colour of the soil changed, the orange red :hanging to olive. Then the water table was reached, and at this point, water entered into the bore and rose rapidly. The soil from the surface of he hard layer down to the water table appeared to be re la t ively impermeable -vhen the bore was filled with water , the level in the tube did not change visibly within an hour. Once the water table was reached, water rose •apidly in the bore to an equil ibrium level which might be anywhere within he profile ; and in some cases was even above the level of water in the field, rhese levels were equi l ibr ia , since water added to the tube soon moved down :o attain the same level . The hydrostat ic p r e s s u r e of water in the water able was obviously determined by factors remote from the r ice f ields.

The saturated soil below the water table was found to be permeated )y old root channels , in some cases sti l l containing remnants of the roots hat existed before r i ce cultivation began many yea r s ago.

Most Malayan r ice fields a re not m o r e than 20-30 ft. above sea level iven though they may be mi les inland. As a consequence of the low drainage

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9.

gradient , the water table r a r e l y drops to m o r e than four to five feet below the surface in the d r i e r season. The soil above the table may crack , although it s t i l l r ema ins wet except near the surface . When the ra ins i n c r e a s e , the profile fills up again with water . It is believed that the soil above the water table becomes compacted under p r e s s u r e as a resul t of par t ia l drying and rewett ing, and that i ts impermeabi l i ty when wet i s due to this compac tness . The very hard layer near the surface is mos t probably caused by the movement of soil par t ic les from the dis turbed, puddled, cultivated layer into the soil layer immedia te ly below.

In general in Malaya, percolat ion in r i ce fields can be ignored, f i rs t ly because the re is no place for percolated water to go, and secondly because there is a re la t ively thick layer of clay (between the l imits of the water table in dry and in wet weather) which i s for all prac t ica l purposes impermeab le to water when wet.

The roots of the r ice plant a r e invariably r e s t r i c t ed to the mud l aye r s above the hard cemented layer - they never get very far into it and never through i t . This r e s t r i c t ion of rooting zone could well be an impor tant factor in r e s t r i c t ing yields.

The positive hydrostat ic p r e s s u r e noted in many r ice fields is probably connected with the Malay custom of using slightly higher is lands of land in the coastal plains as village s i t e s . These a r e covered in t r e e s and shrubs and a r e not cultivated so that water en te r s here and is t rapped under the hard pan of the slightly lower lying r ice f ields.

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J . K . TAYLOR - AN APPRECIATION

Mr. J . K . Taylor r e t i r ed from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industr ia l Resea rch Organisat ion on December 5, 1963, after being chief of the Division of Soils since 1947.

His work with the Division began at Adelaide in 1927 under P ro fessor J . A. P re sco t t when he had the task of s tar t ing up the f i rs t of the soil surveys to be conducted by the Council for Scientific and Industr ia l Resea rch , the forerunner of C. S. I. R« O. This work expanded gradually at f i rs t during the depress ion of the th i r t i es and then rapidly during the period of r e se t t l emen t after the war.

Then in 1947, after Mr. Taylor became i ts Chief, the re was a change in the nature of the work being done by the Division which ea r l i e r had been oriented around the soil survey. Under his l eadersh ip , developments took place in special ized fields of r e s e a r c h on soil chemis t ry , soil physics , clay minera logy, soil microbiology, and pedology. These called for bet ter l abora to r ies and bet ter l abora tory equipment than the Division possessed but before he r e t i r ed he had the satisfaction of seeing a headquar te r s .

10.

boratory establ ished at Adelaide.

Mr. Taylor has been active in many ways in developing soil science Austra l ia . lr.e worked towards the founding of this Society and was i ts esident in 1958-60. He has always kept a close in te res t in the Society. 3th before and since his r e t i r emen t , he has done a lot towards enlisting e in te res t and support of ove r seas soil sc ient is ts in the possibi l i ty of dding the next meeting of the International Society of Soil Science in i s t r a l i a .

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FEDERAL COUNCIL NOTES

lange in Fede ra l Off ice-bearers

Mr. B, E. Butler , Fede ra l P res iden t , r e t i r e s June 30 and will be iplaced by Professor J . P . Quirk who was the previous Vice -Pres iden t . ;dera l Secre ta ry Dr. R . J . Hunter will r e t i r e a lso on that date; his place .11 be taken by Dr. A. V. Blackmore . Ret ir ing Fede ra l T r e a s u r e r i s :. D. J . David.

:anch P re s iden t s : 1963-64

Queensland D r . P . J . Skerman N. S. W. M r . C A . Hawkins A. C. T. D r . J . R . Simpson River ina M r . S.E. Flint Victoria M r . E . A . Jackson S.A. D r . D . J . Greenland W.A. D r . M . J . Mulcahy

residential Address Four ord inary meet ings of Fede ra l Council and one General Meet-

g of m e m b e r s were held during 1963-64. At the General Meeting at inber ra in January 1964 Mr. Butler del ivered his Pres iden t ia l Address ititled "Can Pedology be Ra t iona l ized?" . This is being printed and will : c i rculated as the Society's Publication No. 3.

i s t ra l ian Journal of Soil Resea rch The second i s sue of Volume 1 appeared in October 1963 and the

rst i s sue of Volume 2 is expected to appear in June of this year . Sub-riptions to the Journal have declined from 123 in 1963 to 85 in 1964. le Advisory Committee of A. J . S . R. has not yet informed us of i ts policy i review a r t i c l e s and technical notes .

S. S„ S. 1968 Congress It has been decided that , should the Austra l ian invitation to stage

e Congress be accepted, it will be held in Adelaide in August 1968. .

1 1 .

Pro fes so r Quirk will attend the Bucharest Congress in August this year to present our ca se . Dr. E . G . Hallsworth has been asked by Fede ra l Council to accept the position of Pres iden t of I. S. S. S. for the period 1964-68 if our invitation is accepted, and has agreed to do so. Dr. Hallsworth will thus be Pres iden t of the Congress and Professor Quirk will be Vice Pres iden t .

Council has drawn up a l i s t of possible candidates for the Vice Pres iden t ia l posts in each Commiss ion, for the guidance of Dr. Hallsworth.

The Executive Sub-Committee has been made responsible for drawing up the case to be presented at Buchares t .

The final r epor t of the I. S. S. S. 1968 Congress Sub-Committee was received from the convenor, Mr. J . K . Taylor . The Committee has received a s su rances of support from a number of eminent soil sc ient is ts o v e r s e a s . A knowledge of the att i tudes of these sc ient is ts will no doubt be of great a ss i s t ance in furthering our case at Buchares t .

Soil-Testing Sub-Committee The Convenor of this Sub-Commit tee , Mr. J . K. M. Skene, has

submitted to Council two r epor t s which indicate that p r o g r e s s i s being made . Replies to quest ionnaires have been received from all govern­menta l and commerc ia l f i rms engaged in soil test ing and the commit tee is now about to dis t r ibute quest ionnaires to field officers to obtain information on the effectiveness of the se rv ices offered. When completed this r epor t should be of considerable value.

A. N. Z. A. A . S . The Society par t ic ipated for the f i rs t t ime in the A. N. Z. A. A. S.

p rog ramme in F e b r u a r y of this year . Under the auspices of Section K a symposium on "Sorption in Soil Systems" was conducted. This was well attended and generated some useful d i scuss ions . The Society was also concerned in the organisat ion of the pr incipal symposium in Section K on "Land Use in High Rainfall A r e a s " . As par t of this symposium the Society a r ranged a group of th ree papers on the subject of "Potent ia l for Increasing Soil Fe r t i l i ty" .

The s h e r r y par ty organised jointly by Fede ra l Council and the A. C. T. Branch was a resounding s u c c e s s .

Committee on Academic Training This Commit tee , with P ro fe s so r Quirk as Convenor, is

expected to p resen t i t s r epor t to Council before the end of this year and i ts findings a r e being eager ly awaited in some q u a r t e r s .

Publications Council reviewed the present format and content of i ts Soil

Publication seri&s recent ly and decided to re ta in the present format and distr ibution pending an enquiry by the Executive Sub-Committee into

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the possibi l i ty of having future i s sues printed and given wider circulat ion than at p resen t . P res iden t ia l add re s se s will, as from 1964, be published in this s e r i e s .

Membership The Society admitted 21 new m e m b e r s during the year and accepted

one resignat ion. A further six former m e m b e r s have indicated to their branch t r e a s u r e r s that they wish to r e s ign and two other m e m b e r s have been unfinancial for so long (more than 3 years) that they a r e deemed to have res igned. The la t te r a r e Miss J. Connor and Mr. M. J . Trois i whose present add re s se s a re unknown so that the provisions of By-Law 4 cannot be completely adhered to .

Two well known m e m b e r s of the Society, P ro fessor R. L. Crocker and Dr„ A0 Steinbergs, died within a few days of one another in June of last year and their deaths were mourned by their many friends in the Society.

The net effective membersh ip of the Society now stands at 338.

PERSONAL NOTES

South Aust ra l ian Branch Pr ide of place in the personal notes for the Branch mus t be to

wish J . K . Taylor all that he would wish for in r e t i r emen t , especia l ly as the ve ry existence of the Society and of i ts acknowledged parents the Austra l ian Conferences in Soil Science, and of the Austra l ian Journal of Soil Resea rch a re very par t i cu la r ly the r e su l t s of his hopes and his effective endeavours . Many m e m b e r s were able to wish him well at the dinner on December 5, 1963 a r ranged by the C, S. I. R. O., and at a s h e r r y par ty put on by the Waite Club on the following day. The C. S. I, R. O. Division of Soils a lso had a Buffet Tea to say their own domest ic farewell . His place has been ve ry adequately and happily taken in the meant ime by T.J,, Marshal l pending the a r r i v a l in August 1964 of Dr. E . G . Hallsworth from Sutton Bonington.

Academic congratulations go to A. C. Oer te l who was admitted to the degree of D. Sc. by the Universi ty of Queensland on April 30 1964, for published work on the measu remen t and pedological in te rpre ta t ion of the t r a c e element contents of soi ls ; a lso to D. G. Lewis for his Universi ty of Adelaide Ph. D. - - he has just re turned from post -doctora l work at the Universi ty of Illinois with Dr. A. Klute on diffusion of phosphate in unsaturated sys tems in so i l s .

Once again C. M. Donald has performed to give us cause to congratulate him, this t ime by being awarded the Austra l ian Medal for

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Agricul tural Science for 1964. R. R. Maud is to be both congratulated and welcomed on his a r r i va l in Adelaide from the Mt, Edgecombe Sugar Resea rch Station, Natal, on a Selby Scholarship granted by the Austra l ian Academy of Science. He is to work for a year with C. G. Stephens . Welcome also to R. W. L. Kimber and Barba ra McDougall, both potential m e m b e r s of the Society on the staff of the C. S. I. R. O. Division of Soils.

There seem to be more m e m b e r s in or going to foreign par t s than re turning from them: .?. G. H. White i s to re - jo in the staff at Lincoln College, New Zealand, after two years of Ph. D. work at the Waite Inst i tute. T. L. Deshpande has re turned to India as Assis tant P ro fe s so r of Soil Science at the College of Agricul ture in Poona. J0 W. Holmes is visiting the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of D, S. I„R. , New Zealand, and the Argonne National Laboratory , U.S.A.. , during six months t r ave l to study the use of t r i t ium for dating and t racing water . T. R. Sweatman is in Malaya giving instruct ion in X- ray f luorescence spect rography as par t of the Colombo Plan p r o g r a m m e . A. M. Posner has left for r a the r l e s s foreign pa r t s to become Reader in Soil Science in the Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrit ion, Universi ty of Western Aust ra l ia . J . H. A. Butler continues with his work at Illinois on infra red spect rography of functional groups of soil organic ma t t e r . Go D, Bowen is t ravel l ing in Canada and North Amer ica on his way back to Adelaide, ar r iv ing in mid-June 1964. J . K . Powrie of the Plant and Soil group, Agronomy Department , Waite Inst i tute, i s at present at the Macauley Inst i tute , Aberdeen. Mr . Powrie has taken soil samples of varying phosphorus status from sil iceous sands of the Upper S. E . d i s t r ic t in South Aus t ra l ia , and is studying the availabili ty and constitution of different f ract ions .

Contact with other Branches has been well maintained, par t ly by the opportunity afforded at A. N. Z. A. A. S. in Canber ra in January 1964, and par t ly by v is i t s to Adelaide by m e m b e r s of the Society in other States - - J . P . Quirk on severa l occas ions , A. V. Blackmore on his regular dr ive around the continent, F . J . Hingston on a m o r e extended visi t to the C„ S. I, R. O. l abora to r i es h e r e , W. N. Mac Arthur moving in the opposite direct ion and back to former haunts , S.N. Adams, B. E , Butler , M, J . Mulcahy, K. D. Nicolls , R. Brewer and G. D. Hubble. We have also sent our envoys out to the other States . M. Raupach, R. W. Jessup , and G. Blackburn have been to West Austral ia; A. R. P . Clarke was in Victor ia on a pine-needle sampling project; R„ J . Swaby and K. H. Northcote have each fled from the f i rs t of the Adelaide winter up to the warmth of Queensland for a few months .

Vis i tors to the Waite Inst i tute. Dr, L .H. Sto l -yof the Department of Soils and Plant Nutrition, Universi ty of California, Rivers ide , California will work with the Plant and Soil group at the Agronomy Department , Waite Inst i tute, for a year from September,

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1964. Dr. Stolzy i s visit ing Austra l ia on a Fulbright award, and will be continuing his studies of diffusion to plant roo t s .

Dr. J . L. Paul recent ly re turned to California after working with the above group for 15 months as a post -Doctoral Fellow. Dr. Paul was engaged on a study of the effects of soil water content on chloride uptake by excised wheat roots as influenced by diffusion coefficient and root fac tors .

A. C. T. Branch Degrees of Doctor of Science have been awarded to R. Brewer

by the Universi ty of Sydney, to Da J . David by the Universi ty of Western Aust ra l ia , and C, H, Will iams by the Universi ty of Adelaide.

Mr. H.A, Haantjens leaves in June on a world t r ip of 5j months durat ion, during which he will visit Africa, Amer ica , Hawaii, Japan and Malaya, and attend the V l l l t h I„ S„ S„ S. Congress at Buchares t .

Dr. R.. Brewer will be attending the V l l l t h I. S, S. S. Congress at Bucharest and the 2nd International Working-Meeting on Micromorphology at Arnhem, Nether lands.

BRANCH ACTIVITIES

South Austra l ian Branch

Lunch hour d iscuss ion group. The smal le r than usual number of meet ings has been matched by a l a rge r than usual attendance at each. The discuss ions were on : -

19 Nov 1963 : "Nitrogen and water economy of a soil under wheat", led by R. J . Millington

10 Mar 1964 : "Phosphorus supplies and phosphorus usage" led by C. M. Donald

14 Apr 1964 : "Soil mechanics applied to ag r i cu l tu re" , led by E„ L. Greacen.

Ordinary General Meetings, The two meet ings held since October were to hear the following add re s se s : -

27 Feb 1964 :D. Muljadi and A .M. Posner "Adsorption of phosphate by kaolinite and aluminium oxides" .

23 Apr 1964 : R. M. Taylor "Mineralogy of manganese in Austra l ian so i l s " . J . M , Oades "The associat ion of i ron oxides with organic m a t t e r " .

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It has been very pleasing to the Committee and m e m b e r s to note that a number of soil sc ient is ts now in r e t i r emen t have chosen the Society and i ts meet ings as their means of keeping in contact with their colleagues and with p rog re s s in their profession.

Other meetings . There has been a number of meet ings sponsored by other organisat ions and supported ei ther by the Branch as such or by i ts individual member s . They include: -

The General Meeting of the Society held in Canber ra on January 20, 1964, at which r a the r more than half the total attendance to hear the Pres iden t ia l Address was from the South Aust ra l ian Branch.

A. N, Z. A, A. S. in Canberra on January 20-24, 1964, attended by D . J . Greenland, J . W. Holmes, R . J . Millington, K. D. Nicolls , J 0 M . Oades, A .M. Posne r , A. D. Rovira , T. R, Sweatman, K„ G. Ti l le r , and C. B. Wells;

The Annual Symposium of The Waite Agricul tura l Sciences Club on the subject of "New Techniques and thei r Application to Agr icul tura l Resea rch" was l a rge ly organised by A, D. Rovira and included for d iscuss ion papers given by K. Nor r i sh , A, M. P o s n e r , and C. B. Wells;

The Second Austra l ian d a y Minerals Conference held in Adelaide from F e b r u a r y 10-12, 1964, and heavily supported by m e m b e r s of the Branch, the re being photographic evidence for the attendance of J . R. Burford, T. L. Deshpande, D. G. Edwards , D . J . Greenland, J . T. Hutton, R. M. McKenzie, D, M, A, Muljadi, K. Nor r i sh , J . M. Oades, A .M. Posne r , M. Raupach, E . W. Radoslovich, T .R . Sweatman, R. M. Taylor , K. G. Ti l le r , B. M. Tucker and C. B. Wells;

A C. So I. R. O. Soil Mechanics Section sponsored Colloquium from April 6 - 8 , 1964, at Syndal, Victoria to d iscuss "Mechanisms of Soil Stabilization" attended from this Branch by W. W. Emer son , D. J . Greenland, J . T. Hutton, P . L. Newland, K. Nor r i sh , T . J . Marshal l and C. B. Wells.

Victorian Branch

Excurs ion to Kei lor . Nov. ^963 - Mr. E. D, Gill of the National Museum of Victoria led an excursion to Kei lor , just north of Melbourne. T e r r a c e s beside the Maribynong River were examined. On these the soils changed with changing leve ls .

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16c

Members a lso saw the site where the Keilor skull was founds This ooriginal skull was unearthed from a depth of severa l feet in the youngest t e r r a c e .

xcurs ion to Werr ibee , April 1964. Soils on basal t were examined with Mr. Skene leading the discussion,

ntil recent ly it was assumed that the red-brown ear ths had formed from Le underlying basa l t . It has now been suggested that the upper couple of :et originated as volcanic ash .

At the Department of Agr icu l tu re ' s Werr ibee Resea rch F a r m tr. Bar te ls explained exper imenta l work done to de te rmine the most "ficient use of i r r iga t ion water . This involved measur ing water input, the i r ious forms of output, and soil mois tu re changes.

The afternoon concluded with a visi t to the Metropolitan F a r m hich d isposes of 98 per cent of Melbourne 's sewerage by land t r ea tmen t . his method makes use of the plant nutr ients in the sewerage . It can only i used where the re i s suitable land with low rainfall (20 inches at Werribee) id high evaporat ion (44" per annum).

The sewerage is purified in th ree ways - by land fi l tration r r iga t ion) , g r a s s f i l trat ion in winter and by lagooning (residue periodical ly i rn t ) . The purified effluent en te r s Po r t Phill ip Bay.

The farm covers 42 square m i l e s . So far a lmost half is i r r iga ted , n average of 87 mill ion gallons of sewerage a day en te r s the f a rm, one ve-hundredths of which is sol ids . Plant nutr ients a r e mainly nitrogen, losphorus , potassium and calcium. The year ly fe r t i l i se r applied per ac re i equivalent to 1950 lb. sulphate of ammonia , 2300 lb. of blood manure id 670 lb . of superphosphate. The fa rm c a r r i e s 18,000 cattle and 3, 000 sheep.

iver ina Branch

In i ts second year as an independent branch, River ina m e m b e r s ' the Austra l ian Society of Soil Science have contributed towards a very :tive s e r i e s of mee t ings . Three meet ings have been held so far during ie year 1963-64. A fourth meeting is planned to take place ea r ly in June, hich will coincide with the annual general meet ing.

Of f i ce -bea re r s elected for the year 1963-64 a r e as follows:-

Pres iden t : S. Fl int , Water Conservation and I r r iga t ion Commiss ion, Leeton s N. S. W.

Vice -Pres iden t : F . Cope, C. S. I. R. O. I r r iga t ion (and Pres iden t Resea rch Laboratory , Griffith, N, S. W. Elect for 1964-5)

Sec re ta ry / : P . R. Gary, Yanco Agricul tural Research T r e a s u r e r Station, Yanco, N. 5„ W„ „ . „ / 1 7

17.

The following speakers have addressed recent Branch meet ings : -

Dr. F . Lenz, C. S. I. R. 0 0 , Griffith, "Nutri t ive Influence on Citrus Flower and Fru i t Development"

Dr. H. Doelle, C .S . I . R .O . , Griffith, "Influence of Soil on Vine Quality in the M. I. A. "

Mr. M. C. Stannard, Yanco A. R. S. , "Ci t rus Research at Yanco A. R. S. "

Mr. J . Duncan, Yanco A. R. S. , " F r u i t Extension Prob lems in the Murray Valley".

Mr. L„ F . Myers , C . S . I . R . O . , Deniliquin, " I r r iga t ion F requenc ies" .

Mr. C. R. Kleinig, C. S. I. R. O. , Deniliquin, "Fe r t i l i t y Prob lems of Soils in the Riverine Pla in" .

Mr. J . Noble, N. S. W. Dept. of Ag. , Deniliquin, "Wheat in the Deniliquin Region".

Mr. A. Smith, Agricul tural Resea rch Institut e, Wagga, "The Role of Aluminium, Iron and Calcium Phosphates in the Supply of Phosphorus to Wheat P l an t s " .

Mr. A. Rixon, C. S.I. R . O . , Deniliquin, "The Effect of Pas tu re Type on Change in Phosphate Frac t ions in I r r iga ted Soils".

Mr. P . R. Cary, Yanco A. R. S. , "Peach Nutrition in the M. I. A. "

The f i rs t four speakers were heard at a meeting in November 1963 at Yanco Agricul tural Resea rch Station. The fifth, sixth and seventh speakers were heard at a meeting in F e b r u a r y 1964 at C . S . I . R . O . Regional Pas to ra l Labora tory , Deniliquin, and the las t th ree speakers were heard at a meeting at the Agricul tura l Research Inst i tute, Wagga, in April 1964.

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EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF EXPLANATORY EXPOSITION

"A para l l e l i sm that may be genetically inherent , and that then introduces a subtlety of meaning into homoeomorphy, i s to be recognised when whole groups of o rgan isms - grapto l i tes , co ra l s , oys te r s - display r e c u r r e n t ' t r ends ' in independent l ineages: the morphic s e r i e s a re then not happily expressed in t e r m s of analogies of s t ruc tu re : the repet i t ion appears strongly to be both of homologous cha rac t e r s and of homologous change, and is best explained by a para l le l election of para l le l mutants . A differential selective balance in the b iose r ies of independent l ineages leads to the in t r i cac ies of a l te rna te pa ra l l e l i sm when end-forms (as in card iocera te ammoni t ies , ceri thi id gas t ropods , spir i feroid brachiopods, in which severa l b ioser ia l ' t r ends ' m a y b e permutat ively expressed) a re analytically a product of t rue polyphyly, and therefore homoeomorphous, but a r e never the less alike because they are genetically kin. "

from "The Concept of Homoeomorphy" by T. Neville George (Professor of Geology at Glasgow) P r o c . Geologists ' Assoc. 73, 9(1962).

Hint; Homoeomorphy is defined as "the occur rence of s imi la r i t i e s of form in o rgan isms of different ances t ry" .

Submitted by : R . J . Hunter

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