LOCATION ALBERTI CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, thermic, shallow Vertic Rhodoxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Alberti cobbly clay loam, on a western aspect of 42 percent slope at 4,020 feet elevation. (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated)
A--0 to 2 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) cobbly clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; moderate very fine and fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; few cracks 1 to 2 mm wide; 2 percent stones, 15 percent cobbles and 15 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
ABt--2 to 4 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) cobbly clay loam, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2.5/4) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; few fine tubular and interstitial pores; few cracks 1 to 2 mm wide; common thin and few moderately thick clay films in pores and on faces of peds; 2 percent stones, 5 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.2); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bt1--4 to 10 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) cobbly clay, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2.5/4) moist; strong medium prismatic structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine and fine and few medium and coarse roots; few very fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; very few cracks 1 to 3 mm wide; few pressure faces; many moderately thick clay films in pores and on faces of peds; 2 percent stones, 15 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.3); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bt2--10 to 16 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) moist and dry, cobbly clay; strong coarse prismatic structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine, and medium roots; few very fine interstitial and few fine and medium tubular pores; very few cracks 1 mm wide; many moderately thick clay films in pores and on faces of peds; 3 percent stones, 20 percent cobbles and 10 percent pebbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4).
Cr--16 to 22 inches; weathered gabbro rock, few roots in cracks.
R--22 inches; hard gabbro rock.
TYPE LOCATION: Kern County, California; about 1.5 miles south of the town of Bodfish; about 1600 feet south and 300 feet east of the northwest corner of section 24, T.27S., R.32E., MDBM; Latitude 35 degrees, 34 minutes, and 10 seconds north, Longitude 118 degrees, 29 minutes, and 57 seconds west, USGS Lake Isabella South Topographic Quadrangle, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 59 to 63 degrees F. The depth to weathered bedrock is 10 to 20 inches. Depth to hard rock is 20 to 40 inches. The soil temperature is greater than 41 degrees F. from about February 1 to December 15 (300 to 330 days) and is greater than 47 degrees F from about March 1 to December 1 (250 to 290 days). The soils are dry from about June 10 to November 15 (140 to 160 days). The soil is moist in some or all parts for 90 or more days when the soil temperature is greater than 47 degrees F. The reaction is neutral or mildly alkaline. Rock fragments are 15 to 35 percent of the soil and mostly gravel or cobbles with up to 5 percent stones. In dry soil, cracks are 1 to 5 mm wide from the surface to 25 cm or more. A few pressure faces were observed but intersecting slickensides were absent..
The A horizon has dry colors of 2.5YR 4/6, 3/6, 3/4; 5YR 3/3, 3/4, 4/3; 7.5YR 4/2, 4/4. Moist colors are 2.5YR 3/6, 3/4; 5YR 3/2, 3/3, 3/4; 7.5YR 3/2, 3/3, 3/4. Textures are cobbly clay loam, gravelly loam or gravelly clay loam. Organic matter is 0.5 to 1 percent.
The Bt horizon has dry colors of 2.5YR 3/3, 3/4, 3/6, 4/4, 4/6; 10R 4/4. Moist colors are 2.5YR 3/4, 2.5/4, 3/6; 10R 3/4. Textures are cobbly clay, cobbly clay loam or gravelly clay.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family at this time.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Alberti soils are on hills. Slopes are 5 to 60 percent. The soils formed mainly from gabbro, diorite and basic igneous rock. Elevations are 2,600 to 5,200 feet. The climate is arid with hot dry summers and cool moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 13 inches. The mean annual temperature is 56 to 62 degrees F. The frost-free season is 170 to 210 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Erskine (T), Haight (T), and Tweedy soils. All of these soils have less than 35 percent clay throughout.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Alberti soils are used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat and occasionally for homesite development. Typical vegetation is juniper, yucca, wild oats, needlegrass and a few scattered digger pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alberti soils occur near the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains in southeastern California. The series is not extensive in MLRA 18.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Northeastern Kern County, California, 2005.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon.
Ochric epipedon - zone from 0 to 2 inches (A)
Argillic horizon - zone from 4 to 16 inches (Bt1, Bt2)
Coarse fragments reduce the amount of cracking.
Short cracks less than 30 cm long and 2 to 8 mm wide and some pressure faces were observed in the lower Bt horizon when dry. Cobbles interrupt the cracks. The series borders on the Vertic subgroup.