The effects of gypsum on macroporosity and crusting of two red duplex soils

Abstract

The effects of gypsum on the physical properties of two red duplex soils in northern Victoria were investigated by assessing the relative abundance of macropores (diameters greater than 75 µm) in the 0-30 mm zone of their cultivated layers. Samples were collected in October 1983 from both fallow cropped and stubble cropped plots. Changes in soil porosity between untreated and gypsum-treated plots were measured on photographic images of thin-sections using a Quantimet 720 image analyser. The soils differed in their clay mineralogy, one being dominated by illite, the other by randomly interstratified material. The results indicate only a minor improvement due to gypsum application in the area of macropores in the soils dominant in illite and kaolinite, whereas in the soil with the higher proportion of randomly interstratified clay minerals the area of macropores approximately doubled on the stubble cropped site and also considerably increased on the fallow cropped site. Micromorphological observations indicated that, in the presence of gypsum, crust formation was reduced because less clay was mobilized and redistributed in the surface soil layers.