Acid sulfate soils of Cairns, Far North Queensland - NQAS

This dataset is an acid sulfate soils map for the Cairns area in the Wet Tropics, Far North Queensland. The mapping covers parts of the Cairns, Gordonvale and Kuranda 1: 50,000 map sheets (9446-1, 8064-2, 8063-1, 8064-3) and was completed in 2009. It shows the presence of, type of, and average depth to acid sulfate soil layers in polygons interpreted as relatively homogenous acid sulfate environments. A combination of soils description, laboratory testing, elevation and geology data, and API (air photo interpretation) was used to construct the map.This mapping is at a nominal scale of 1:50,000 and is restricted to coastal areas below 5m AHD. However, the effective scale of each map polygon varies based on the number of soil description sites within it. This map may be used for strategic land use planning. It is also appropriate for a very general preliminary assessment of acid sulfate hazard at property scale. However, it is not sufficiently detailed for intensive development planning.