Soil modification effects on clay, CEC and organic carbon content using delving

and spading on a sandy texture-contrast soil in the South Australian Mallee

R. E. Tonkin1, D. Davenport2, A. Schapel3

1 Rural Solutions SA, PO Box 469 Murray Bridge, SA, 5253, rebecca.tonkin@sa.gov.au
2 Rural Solutions SA, PO Box 1783 Pt Lincoln, SA, 5606, david.davenport@sa.gov.au
3 Rural Solutions SA, Lenswood, SA, 5240, amanda.schapel@sa.gov.au

Abstract
The landscape of the South Australian Mallee region is dominated by dunes and swales, with the most
frequent soil types being sands and sandy loams overlying clays at variable depth. These sandy topsoils are
frequently low in organic carbon, fertility and water holding capacity, and may be water-repellent (McCord
1995). Adding clay to these soils may increase organic carbon holding potential, increase water infiltration
and water holding capacity, and increase cation exchange capacity (CEC), leading to increased nutrient
availability and efficiency for crops and pastures.
Methods used to add clay to sandy soils include clay sourced from a pit and spread onto the soil surface,
delving clay from below the sand layer up to the surface using a heavy tined implement, and spading clay
either from below the sandy layer or from clay spread onto the surface (Bailey et al. 2010; Davenport et al.
2011) . The deep tillage inherent in delving and spading can also have beneficial effects from breaking up
hard pans and mixing topsoil into deeper layers in the soil that may improve root growth.
This experiment examined the effects that delving and spading had on the properties of a typical shallow
sand over clay soil in the South Australian Mallee. After treatment the soil profile was completely changed
from that of the original soil. Soil texture was altered significantly by the mixing of clay through the sandy
topsoil, with a significant increase in CEC. Organic carbon and nutrient levels changed through the soil
profile. Differences were also apparent between the delving and spading treatments.

Keywords – soil modification, subsoil, clay, sand, delving, spading, soil texture, cation exchange capacity,
organic carbon, carbon sequestration potential

Materials and Methods

The trial was established near Karoonda, South Australia (-35.045246 S,140.090618 E). Soil type was a
coarse, sandy topsoil with a bleached sandy A2 horizon to approximately 30 cm, changing abruptly to a
sandy clay B horizon. (Australian soil type Bleached-Mottled Calcic Brown Chromosol; medium, non-
gravelly, sandy/clay loamy, deep (Isbell 2002).) The paddock has a history of cereal crop/legume pasture
rotations.
The experiment was a randomised block design with 4 treatments (control, delved only, spaded only, and
delved + spaded) and 3 replicates. Each plot measured 12m by 100m, with buffers between treatments and
replicates. Delving for the delve only and delve + spade treatments was undertaken on Feb 24, 2010. The
delved treatment used a purpose built delving machine with four delver tines at 90cm spacing, with the
delving depth adjusted to approximately 50 cm (working depth varies with the clay depth). Spading for the
spade only and delve + spade treatments was undertaken on the 26th March 2010. The spaded treatments
used a 4m wide Farmax spading machine, working to approximately 30-40 cm. The site was then planted to
a wheat crop as per district practice and the crop monitored throughout the season.

Soil samples were taken in March 2011 (1 year after modification) using a trailer-mounted soil corer. There
were 10 sample sites per plot, randomly located, with the cores divided into increments of 0-10, 10-20, 20-30
and 30-40 cm. In the delved treatments, 10 sampling locations were randomly allocated in proportion to the
area modified by delving (30%) and in between the delve lines (70%), designated delve-RP. An additional
10 samples each were taken from along the delve lines (delve-IN) and between the delve lines (delve-OUT).
These samples were analysed separately to compare the differences between the results from proportional
sampling and targeted sampling in the delved plots. This procedure could not be used in the delve + spade
plots due to difficulty locating the delve lines.
Samples were bulked from each plot and analysed for clay, silt and sand content (particle size analysis),
organic carbon (Walkley-Black), pH, phosphorus (Colwell), potassium (Colwell), exchangeable cations,
carbonates, sodium, chloride and boron. A split-plot analysis of variance was used, comparing the control,
spaded, proportionately sampled delved and delve + spade plots. The analysis was re-run using the delve-IN
(in delve lines) and delve-OUT (out of delve lines) samples to compare the results.
Results and Discussion
Clay content
Clay and sand distribution through the soil profile was significantly altered through soil modification. When
the results were analysed using the proportionately sampled soils from the delved plots, the analysis showed
a significant interaction between spading and depth, and between delving and spading. In the control plots,
clay content was low in the 0-10 and 10-20 cm layers (6-7 %), and increased at 20-30 cm (20.3%) and 30-40
cm (26.4%) (see Table 1). In the spaded plots, clay content was higher through the 0-10 and 10-20 cm layers,
demonstrating that spading had distributed clay from the working depth (30cm) throughout the sandy soil.
Delving alone increased mean clay content over all depths compared to the control, but spading or delving +
spading were similar to each other. When the analysis was re-run substituting the delve-OUT samples for the
delve-RP, similar results were obtained except that there was no delve by spade interaction.
In contrast, when the analysis was run using the delve-IN samples, there was a clear 3-way interaction
between soil depth, delving and spading (see Table 1). Clay content increased significantly in the 0-10 and
10-20 cm layers when any soil modification was present. There was a decrease in clay content in the delve +
spade 20-30 cm treatment (probably due to mixing in of sand from the upper layers), but otherwise there
tended to be less changes in clay content in the 20-30 and 30-40 cm layers.

Table 1: Clay content (%) of modified soils (all means).

Depth (cm) Control Spade Delve-In Delve-Out Delve-RP Delve+Spade
0-10 6.3 13.1 12.5 7.0 8.7 15.0
10-20 7.4 13.2 22.4 9.3 15.5 12.9
20-30 20.3 19.7 22.7 22.0 25.7 15.9
30-40 26.4 24.9 25.1 29.8 27.8 25.7
LSD (P=0.05) value is 5.466 when comparing values with Delve-IN, except when comparing values with the
same soil modification treatments, when LSD = 5.215. LSD value is 5.781 when comparing values with
Delve-OUT, except when comparing the same levels of soil modification (6.034). LSD value is 5.597 when
comparing values with Delve-RP, except when comparing the same levels of soil modification (5.76).

The Delve-IN and Delve-OUT measurements represent the effects of the soil modification within the
specific areas in the delve lines and between the delve lines.

A number of soil characteristics measured correlated strongly with clay content. Sand content was strongly
and negatively correlated with clay % (R2 = -0.99) as expected. Silt content was minimal in this soil. Other
attributes with high positive correlation with clay content were CEC (R2 = 0.93), Boron (R2 = 0.91),
Potassium (Colwell) (R2 = 0.82), Conductivity (R2 = 0.77), and pH (CaCl2) (R2 = 0.75).

The increase in clay content in the 0-10 and 10-20 cm layers of the soil has important implications for soil
use. Water holding capacity, infiltration rate and potential water use efficiency of crops/pastures will be
affected. Erosion risk will be reduced as the texture class changes from sand to sandy loam or loam.

Cation Exchange Capacity

CEC levels showed a 2-way interaction between depth and spade and a separate single effect of delving
when the data was analysed using the proportionately sampled delve plots. Overall, CEC followed the clay
content of the soil, with CEC low in the sandier 0-10 and 10-20 cm, and higher in the 20-30 and 30-40 cm
where more clay was present. Spading increased CEC in the 0-20 cm layers by mixing clay from the lower
layers up through the sandy topsoil. Delving increased CEC throughout (see Table 2).
The effects of the different measurements in the delved plots can also be seen in Table 2.

Table 2: Cation Exchange Capacity (meq/100g) of modified soils (all means).

Depth (cm) Control Spade Delve-In Delve-Out Delve-RP Delve+Spade
0-10 3.55 5.92 5.98 3.79 4.12 8.21
10-20 3.36 4.91 11.33 3.64 7.69 7.74
20-30 8.64 8.76 12.32 8.47 11.95 8.55
30-40 13.89 13.42 13.56 14.56 15.15 13.31
LSD (P=0.05) value is 2.845 when comparing values with Delve-IN, except when comparing same levels of
soil modification (2.67). LSD value is 2.854 when comparing values with Delve-OUT, except when
comparing same levels of soil modification (2.623). LSD value is 3.235 when comparing values with Delve-
RP, except when comparing same levels of soil modification (2.944).

The changes in CEC that can occur through the use of these technologies may have implications for nutrient
management in crops and pastures. Elevating the CEC of sands in the 0-10 and 10-20 layers could be
expected to enhance nutrient holding capacity with potential for increased crop/pasture production.

Organic Carbon
When analysed using the proportional samples from the delved plots, there was a significant interaction
between delving and depth, and between spading and depth. When analysed using samples taken from in
delve lines or out delve lines, OC content showed a 3-way interaction between delving, spading and sample
depth. The means are shown below in Table 3. LSD values vary depending on which samples are used.

OC content dropped well below the control level in the 0-10 cm layer in the modified soils, but was
increased significantly in the 10-20, 20-30 and 30-40 cm layers (refer Tables 3 and 4). This appears related
to the degree of mixing of the A1 and A2 soil layers, with the largest decrease in spaded soil. This is
probably due to the strong mixing action of the spader which dilutes the organic carbon from the top 0-10 cm
through the deeper soil layers. The 10-20, 20-30 and 30-40 cm layers increased in OC, whether delved or
spaded (see Tables 3 and 4). OC content decreased with depth in all treatments but soil modification reduced
the amount by which it was decreased compared to the control (Table 5).

Table 3: Mean OC content (% of soil sample) for all treatments.

Depth (cm) Control Spade Delve-In Delve-Out Delve-RP Delve+Spade
0-10 0.543 0.367 0.423 0.383 0.450 0.320
10-20 0.207 0.280 0.253 0.223 0.253 0.300
20-30 0.177 0.200 0.250 0.200 0.190 0.207
30-40 0.150 0.167 0.200 0.197 0.177 0.177
LSD (P=0.05) value is 0.049 when comparing values with Delve-IN, except when comparing same levels of
soil modification (0.04795). LSD value is 0.05576 when comparing values with Delve-OUT, except when
comparing same levels of soil modification (0.05477). LSD value is 0.0533 when comparing values with
Delve-RP, except when comparing same levels of soil modification (0.04748).

Table 4: Mean OC content as % of control values at each depth.

Depth (cm) Control Spade Delve-In Delve-Out Delve-RP Delve+Spade
0-10 100 68 78 71 83 59
10-20 100 135 122 108 122 145
20-30 100 113 141 113 107 117
30-40 100 111 133 131 118 118

Table 5 shows the OC content as a percentage of the 0-10 cm control value. The majority of the carbon in
the unmodified soil is in the 0-10 cm layer with much lower values in the 10-20cm layer. This is in contrast
to the modified soils where the carbon in the 0-10 cm layer appears to have been distributed through the 10-
20 and 20-30 cm layers.

Table 5: Mean OC content as % of 0-10 cm control.

Depth (cm) Control Spade Delve-In Delve-Out Delve-RP Delve+Spade
0-10 100 68 78 71 83 59
10-20 38 52 47 41 47 55
20-30 33 37 46 37 35 38
30-40 28 31 37 36 33 33

These measurements show what has happened 1 year after soil modification. Theoretically OC content is
positively correlated to soil clay content (Baldock and Skjemstad 1999; Sanderman et al. 2010) and therefore
higher clay content can result in higher OC levels in soils. An analysis of South Australian soil data by
Schapel (2010) has demonstrated this correlation exists across the agricultural soils of South Australia. There
is potential for the OC content in clay modified soils to increase further over time as the crop/pasture system
stabilises with the new soil. Other measurements taken from this site indicate that root density, dry matter
production, and crop yield are significantly increased in the modified plots (Tonkin 2011) due to the changes
in water and nutrient availability. This results in higher crop and root residues in the soil, adding to the
organic matter in the soil that will load the increased potential for carbon retention until a new equilibrium is
reached.

Conclusions
Modifying the sandy topsoil by adding clay using delving, spading or a combination of delving and spading
resulted in changes to the soil texture, CEC and OC content. Spading or spading + delving produced the most
significant changes, with clay content in the 0-10 and 10-20 cm layers double that of the control. Delving
alone changed the soil in a pattern related to the delver tines, with samples taken in the delve line different to
those taken between delve lines. CEC increases corresponded to the increases in clay content in the soil. OC
content decreased in the 0-10 cm layer of soil with soil modification, but increased in the 10-20 and 20-30
cm layers, most likely as a result of the mixing process. OC content is likely to increase further in the
modified soils over time as the soil reaches a new C equilibrium. Overall, soil modification using delving
and/or spading has the potential to alter shallow sandy soils overlying clays to a significant degree. Erosion
potential is reduced as a result of the texture change from sand to sandy loam or loam in the topsoil. Water
repellence is overcome by the addition of the clay, and water holding capacity increased. The increase in
CEC in the infertile sandy topsoil allows greater nutrient holding capacity in the upper soil layers where it is
needed by crops and pastures. The changes in clay content, CEC and OC content may allow improved root
growth to deeper levels in the soil, improving the capacity of crops and pastures to find nutrition and water,
and leading to improved productivity.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Mr Nick Wood for allowing this trial to take place on his land, the
Karoonda and Districts Agricultural Bureau for project support, the Government of South Australia
Department of Environment and Natural Resources for funding support, Woolworths Landcare for funding
support, John Field Statistical Consulting for statistical assistance, Mr Tim Dunstan of DUNSTANag for
assistance with delving and spading and Mr Roger Groocock for technical advice.

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