Soil does matter. Tree plantations, underground cables and farm dams are all damaged by the wrong sort of soil.

Pedologist Rob Fitzpatrick of CSIRO Land and Water will today (12 August) receive the J.A. Prescott Medal for Soil Science for his contribution to soil science.

Dr Fitzpatrick is much in demand from farmers, town planners, the mining industry, as well as industry clients such as telecommunications giant Telstra.

"Telstra's optic fibre cable systems can be damaged by soil shrinkage, by corrosive materials in the soil, or by soil movement," says Dr Fitzpatrick, who is a specialist in soil distribution and the processes which happen in soil. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars can be saved by 'clever' routing of cables, avoiding high-risk areas.

"To start with, the Telstra project involved identifying problem soils, which have the potential to damage cables which are buried in them. These 'problem soils' occur all over Australia. The project resulted in practical information about soil swelling and shrinkage based on soil type, climate, vegetation, mineralogy, and groundwater chemistry.

"Other utilities, such as gas and water providers, can benefit from the same principles," says Dr Fitzpatrick. "The soil classification system which we have developed will be of enormous use, solving practical soil-related problems in Australia and overseas.

"As a result of our cooperation with Telstra, we have developed the Soil Assessment Manual, which has become a standard hand-book for engineers involved in cable-laying."

Dr Fitzpatrick says that his research into the characteristics and distribution of soils has a wide field of applications.

"It has ranged from minesites to land-mines," says Dr Fitzpatrick, "and from mangroves to mineral exploration.

"In South Australia, soil distribution has been of critical importance in planning for the MFP project, especially in the sensitive use of mangrove areas which are of fundamental importance in the coastal ecosystem.

"During our work in the Mt Lofty Ranges, we were able to identify a new iron mineral called schwertmannite, which had previously only been found in laboratory experiments and in acid mine drainage areas. This discovery added considerably to our understanding of soils which can damage tree plantations."

Dr Fitzpatrick has been involved in more than seventy industrial consultancies, including important work on mineral exploration and minesite rehabilitation, sustainable land management, land degradation, and tourism.

Dr Fitzpatrick's research also has a peace-keeping application.

"Iron minerals and soil type assessment have a very important role to play in landmine detection," he says.

Dr Fitzpatrick will be awarded the J.A. Prescott Medal at 3.30 pm, Wednesday 12 August, at the Hawker Centre, at the Waite Institute in Adelaide.

More information from:
Dr Rob Fitzpatrick 08-8303 8511
Rob.Fitzpatrick@adl.clw.csiro.au
Ms Margaret Bryant 08-9383 6215
margaret.bryant@per.clw.csiro.au