DERIVATION:

Gneisses and schists of Lewisian age, acid, basic and intermediate composition.

TYPES OF PARENT MATERIALS MAPPED:

Glacial drift
Shattered rock in situ
Morainic deposits

COLOUR:

Yellowish brown in subsoil.

TEXTURE:

Generally coarse sandy texture with low silt content (around 10%), but basic parent materials are finer with up to 30% silt (sandy loam to sandy silt loam).

DOMINANT LAND USE:

Rough grazing with some permanent pasture.

LANDFORMS:

Rugged undulating to irregular rocky terrain with hummocky valley moraines in localised areas.
Slopes range from gentle to steep. Some mountainous terrain.

SOIL CHEMISTRY:

Variable acidity and base saturation, the more basic the rock type the higher the pH and base saturation.

SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:

Potential rooting depth 30 to 50cm depending on depth to induration or to bedrock. Weak structural development in subsoil.

LOCHINVER ASSOCIATION : NO NAMED SERIES