This map is one of a series of soil landscape maps that are intended for all of central and eastern NSW, based on standard 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 topographic sheets. Soil Landscapes of the Newcastle 1:100 000 Sheet covers the greater Newcastle area, the northern extent of Lake Macquarie and the urban centres of Maitland and Raymond Terrace; the broad Hunter Floodplain and the rural townships of Paterson and Clarencetown occur in the northern and central areas of the sheet.;
The map provides an inventory of soil and landscape properties of the area and identifies major soil and landscape qualities and constraints. It integrates soil and topographic features into single units with relatively uniform land management requirements. Soils are described in terms of soil materials in addition to the Great Soil Group and Northcote classification systems.