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KEYNOTE ADDRESS: A New State Soil for Western Australia

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Monday, July 21, 2025
11:00 AM - 11:12 AM

Overview

Noel Schoknecht | Murdoch University


Speaker

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Dr Noel Schoknecht
Senior Research Associate
Murdoch University

A New State Soil for Western Australia

Abstract

After the first edition of the Australian Soil Classification (ASC) was published in 1996 each state and territory decided to select an ASC Order or Suborder/Order to be the characteristic soil for their jurisdiction.
For most jurisdictions the choice was obvious - Vertosols in Queensland, Kandosols in the Northern Territory, Calcarosols in South Australia, Chromosols in New South Wales, Sodosols in Victoria and Ferrosols in Tasmania.
Western Australia (WA) wanted a deep sand to be the characteristic soil, but at the time there was not a Soil Order specifically for sands (they were called Tenosols at that time which was a real grab bag of soil types), so the second choice of Chromosols (like NSW) was chosen.
In the latest edition of the Australian Soil Classification a new deep sandy Soil Order - the Arenosols - has been added. The Arenosols Soil Order incorporates the most widespread and abundant soils in Australia. They occur extensively in inland arid areas, in and adjacent to waterways, near to the coast (especially in the west), but are also present in many other parts of Australia. It is by far the most common Soil Order, by area, in WA.
It was clear that the time was right to adopt this new Order as the Western Australian State soil.
A proposal was put to the WA Branch of Soil Science Australia in Feb 2025 to adopt Arenosols as the state soil, and the idea was enthusiastically supported.
The decision to change has been made. What better occasion than the Second Global Conference on Sandy Soils to announce this change?

Biography

Dr Noel Schoknecht has worked in soil mapping, land capability assessment and soil classification for over 40 years in both Australia and overseas. For 15 years he chaired the National Committee on Soil and Terrain, the peak inter-governmental committee dealing with soil matters. For 20 years he managed the soil survey program in Western Australia and in 2021 he co-edited, with Mr Bernie Powell, the publication of the 3rd edition of the Australian Soil Classification. Although now retired from government, he takes an active role in soil mapping and soil management issues in Cambodia and is active in supporting the work of the Australian Soil Science Society.
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