On Tocal we have:

  • Erosional soil landscapes; the uplands and rolling low hills, on Permian sediments which cover much of Tocal. The Tocal landscapes featuring erosional soils are:
    • Kurosols, Chromosols and a few Sodosols. They have an abrupt change in texture between A and B horizon. See site 8 from Hedges paddock for a Kurosol soil and site 16 from Glendarra House paddock to see a Sodosol.
    • Tenosols which are gravelly soils found on ridge crests. See site 7 from Bowkers Gravelly.
  • Alluvial soil landscapes; these soils developed from recent or ancient alluvium on the extensive floodplains built up by the Hunter and Paterson Rivers. The Paterson landscape is on coarse-textured alluvium and Webber's Landscape is on fine-textured alluvium. The Tocal landscape featuring alluvial soils are:
    • Rudosols, see site 1 from Windmill paddock
    • Hydrosols, often puggy and waterlogged. See site 3 from the Top Flat and site 18 from Racecourse paddock
    • Vertosols or cracking clay soils. See site 19 from the Racecourse paddock gilgai and site 5 from Phillips paddock and
    • Chromosols, Kurosols and Sodosols. Site 8 in Hedges paddock is a mix of these categories.
  • Colluvial soil landscapes; soils in these landscapes have developed from parent material that has moved downslope from uphill and ended up in the present landscape. The material that has moved is called colluvium. Tocal has examples of soils that have developed from basaltic colluvial material, the landscapes featuring basaltic colluvial soils are:
    • Chromosols, Kurosols and Sodosols (see site 8)
    • Dermosols, these include basaltic Dermosols on sites 10 and 11 from Calving and Springer paddocks.
  • The Tocal landscape featuring vestigial basaltic soils are:
    • Ferrosols, see site 6 Bowkers Red and part of Dunnings Hill and Sheep paddocks
    • Dermosols in Numeralla and Dunnings Hill paddocks and see site 9 Lucerne paddock and site 2 from Bottom Flat.

Soil-landscape

Cross-section from View paddock to Hill paddock showing the distribution of soils in relation to relief and parent material