Structural and Geomorphic Controls on Dryland Salinity and Regolith Distribution in the Critical Zone, North-east Tasmania, Australia.

Abstract:

Salinity occurs in the drier and flatter Australian landscapes because there is insufficient rain to flush salts from critical zone. Changes in land use due to agriculture and urbanisation can accelerate salinity effects, leading to soil and water degradation and threatening infrastructure and ecosystems.

The dominant lithology in the salt affected regions of North-east Tasmania is dolerite. The geochemistry of dolerite regolith has been examined in order to understand the association between salinity and weathered dolerite. The electrical conductivity of 1:5 soil-waters is higher in the more weathered material (maximum 4.9 dS/m). This confirms field observations that highly weathered dolerite can serve as a significant store for salt in the landscape. However, the clay content and salinity varies, depending on the local geomorphic context.

Dolerite weathering on well-drained slopes has favoured the formation of 1:1 kaolinite clays, and sometimes bauxite formation. Kaolinite-bearing regolith can store salt via matrix diffusion processes. However, there are fault-bounded pockets of colluvium and highly-weathered in situmaterial, where the supply of cations has not been diminished and 2:1 montmorillonite clays dominate. These regions have the capacity to store large volumes of salts.

The geomorphology also affects the volume of rain and flux of salt from windblown dust and oceanic aerosols. The chemistry of rainwater from an array of bulk deposition collectors was studied from Spring 2013 to Winter 2014. The average salt flux was 79± 10 kg/ha/yr in the study region, ranging from 170± 12 kg/ha/yr in the north to 42 ± 6 kg/ha/yr inland.

To assist in understanding why salt is found in certain parts of the landscape but not in others, it is essential to model how water moves through the critical zone and geological structures. By exploring the complex interactions of geomorphology and other biophysical parameters the study area has been divided into Hydrogeological Landscape units. Associated conceptual models describe the regolith distribution, how and where salt is stored and how water moves through the critical zone. This multi-disciplinary analysis forms a framework to assist natural resource managers to identify management priorities in North-east Tasmania and in other dolerite dominated landscapes.