A method of graphical analysis of chemical data from 120 soil profiles from the West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

Content Partner: Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. Soils in New Zealand are grouped in the genetic classification according to a number of soil-forming factors, such as differences in the material from which the soils are formed. On the West Coast of the South Island there are several groups of soils, and the chemical properties of these groups were compared using computer techniques to produce schematic plots of the data. One hundred and twenty soil profiles representing five groups were used in the comparison, and, in most cases, much more data would be needed to show that there were significant differences between the chemical properties of these groups. Where differences were observed between the plots, they were explainable in terms of the differences in soil-forming factors.