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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 48(1)

Inheritance and formation of smectite in a texture contrast soil in the Pilliga State Forests, New South Wales

Peter G. Walsh A B D and Geoff S. Humphreys C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Forests NSW, PO Box 273, Eden, NSW 2551, Australia.

B School of Resources, Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.

C Department of Physical Geography, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia.

D Deceased.

E Corresponding author. Email: peterwa@sf.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Soil Research 48(1) 88-99 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR09059
Submitted: 7 April 2009  Accepted: 21 September 2009   Published: 26 February 2010

Abstract

Smectite genesis is generally considered to require an alkaline environment, for in acid environments it is reportedly unstable. This study shows that smectite is forming in an acid, texture-contrast soil in the Pilliga State Forests in north-western New South Wales. Three modes of smectite genesis in the study soil are presented. The first mode involves direct inheritance from the underlying parent rock. The second and third modes involve precipitation of smectite from solution and its deposition from suspension, respectively. While the bulk of the smectite in the study soil is inherited from the transformation of labile primary minerals and rock fragments in the parent rock, restricted drainage coupled with a parent material capable of supplying the elemental constituents of smectite are also important factors in its genesis.


Acknowledgments

The study was partially funded by a postgraduate research grant from Macquarie University, NSW. Thanks to Dr Pat Conaghan for his invaluable assistance with the petrological interpretation and for taking photomicrographs, Forests NSW for permission to work in the Pilliga East State Forest, Mr Tom Bradley for the manufacture of the thin-sections, and the 3 anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.


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