Brookton, Western Australia, Australia - 019

Brookton, Western Australia, Australia - 019. [Photograph] [Special Collections]

Summary

A demonstration pit dug with a backhoe to show interested local residents what was underneath the surface of their soil. Location Brookton townsite. Note the very thin layer of topsoil. There was very little life of any kind left in the soil and less organic matter. From the thin layer of topsoil to the darker brown impermeable layer is the reconstructed, once permeable, subsoil. No water is coming up from the bottom and no water can penetrate from the top. This soil is 'dead'. There is no possible hope of growing a tree or any other plant until the soil has some soil animals, organic matter and water.

Trench dug on Westrail property:- A, B & C Horizons well defined. B Horizon is so well defined by the cementation above the remains of the throughflow. B Horizon is growing downwards, similar to a stalactite in growth, only this is due to the chemical interaction at the surface between the B Horizon and the throughflow.

This image is part of the WISALTS (Whittington Interceptor Sustainable Agriculture Land Treatment Society Incorporated) Collection.

Date:	24 April 1989
Item Type:	Special Collections
Collection:	WISALTS Collection
Notes:	1 photograph : col. ; 10 x 15 cm
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/43638

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