Almost every landscape in New Zealand has a complexity of soils. This is the result of prolonged depositing of airborne or alluvial soil, erosion by rivers and streams, and the subsequent re-sorting and depositing at new locations. This has left a topographic pattern ranging from steep slopes to flat terraces of various ages, with associated differences in soil qualities. This part of the Rangitīkei River has sedimentary-derived hills (background), high terraces with a deep loess cover, lower terraces (bottom left) with a thin loess cover, and Recent soils on the flood plain adjacent to the river.
Using this item
Massey University
Reference:
Les Molloy, Soils in the New Zealand landscape: the living mantle. Lincoln: New Zealand Society of Soil Science, 1988, plate 6.2
Photograph by Quentin Christie
© New Zealand Society of Soil Science
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