Moisture characteristics of irrigated Mallee soils in South Australia

Abstract

The soil moisture characteristics of undisturbed samples of Mallee soils, taken from typical profiles of the Riverland district neat Berri in South Australia, were determined. Samples were grouped according to texture and bulk density and, for each group, the moisture storage between matric potentials was derived. Over the usual range of soil moisture tensions (-0 to 40kPa) these showed only small variation between soil groups since, while moisture storage at field capacity and at wilting point does vary with texture; 50 to 60 mm/m is available between field capacity (-7 kPa) and the re-irrigation point (-30 to 40kPa) in all soils.