LOCATION BITTER CA
Established Series
Rev. YHH/ET
04/2015
BITTER SERIES
The Bitter series consists of deep, well trained soils that formed in material weathered from granitic, gneiss, schist, limestone and quartzite alluvium. Bitter soils are on dissected fan terraces and have slopes of 2 to 20 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 5 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 63 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Bitter extremely gravelly sandy loam, desert rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted). The surface has a well-developed pavement of pebbles. The pebbles have a well-developed desert varnish on exposed surfaces. Ninety percent of surface is covered with pebbles, with few cobbles and stones.
A1--0 to 0.5 inch; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak thick platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common fine and medium vesicular pores; 75 percent pebbles and cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 1 inch thick)
A2--0.5 to 2.5 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thick platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common fine and medium vesicular pores; 50 percent pebbles and cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bt1--2.5 to 5 inches; reddish yellow 5YR 6/6) very gravelly sandy clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and coarse roots; few fine tubular and interstitial pores; common thin clay films on faces of peds and in tubular pores; 45 percent pebbles and cobbles; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
Bt2--5 to 16 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) very gravelly sandy clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak very fine, fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky ant slightly plastic; few fine and coarse roots; few fine tubular and interstitial pores; common thin clay films on peds and in pores; 45 percent pebbles and cobbles; slightly effervescent, moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 18 inches thick)
C1--16 to 24 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) very gravelly loamy sand, pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) moist; massive; hard, very friable; common very fine and fine roots; common fine interstitial pores; 50 percent pebbles and cobbles; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
2C2k--24 to 60 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) very gravelly loamy sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; common very fine and fine roots; common fine interstitial pores; 75 percent pebbles and cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3).
TYPE LOCATION: San Bernardino County, California; 300 feet south of trail, in the NE 1/4 of NW 1/4 sec. 17, T. 19 N., R. 9 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum is 10 to 30 inches. The estimated mean annual sol temperature ranges from about 59 to 68 degrees F. The soils are usually dry for 6 months or more during most years, mainly during the spring, summer and autumn; and are low in organic matter. The soil is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline and is calcareous throughout. Fine salt and gypsum segregations occur in the B2t and C horizons in some pedons, but are not diagnostic of the series.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 6 or 7 dry, 4 to 5 moist, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is gravelly or very gravelly sandy loam or gravelly or very gravelly loam.
The B2t horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 4 through 6. t is gravelly or very gravelly loam, heavy sandy loam, sandy clay loam or clay loam and averages more than 35 percent coarse fragments by volume, mostly pebbles and cobbles.
The C horizon has hue of 10 YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is very gravelly loamy sand, or very gravelly or very cobbly sand that may have thin strata of very gravelly sandy loam. Lime coatings are on the pebbles and cobbles in the Cca horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bitter Spring, and
Pinaleno series in the same family. Bitter Spring soils have solum thickness of 5 to 10 inches. Pinaleno soils are noneffervescent in the A and upper Bt horizons and are slightly acid to mildly alkaline to a depth of 12 inches.
Chuckawalla,
Cristobal and
Pinamt soils have temperatures warmer than 72 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bitter soils are on dissected old fans, between the low more recent fans and the toe slopes of steep and very steep hills and mountains at elevations of 2,500 to 3,600 feet. Slopes are dominantly 2 to 15 percent but range from 2 to 20 percent. The soils formed in mixed alluvium derived from granite, gneiss, schist, limestone and quartzite. The climate is arid. Estimated precipitation is 4 to 7 inches. Mean annual temperature is between 59 and 64 degrees F. Average January temperature is about 39 to 42 degrees F, and average July temperature is about 80 to 84 degrees F. The frost-free season is about 200 to 260 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Arizo,
Cajon,
Cave,
Bluepoint,
Nickel and
Rillino soils and
Blackmount soils. Arizo, Cajon and Bluepoint soils lack an argillic horizon. Cave soils lack an argillic horizon and are shallow to a strongly cemented pan. Nickel and Rillino soils lack an argillic horizon and have a calcic horizon. Blackmount soils are sandy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well trained; medium runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is creosotebush, white bursage, cacti, Spanish dagger, desert trumpet, spiny horsebrush, Mormon tea, and Plantain.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern San Bernardino County and southeastern Inyo County, California in MLRA 30. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kingston-Amargosa Area, Parts of Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California, 1979.
REMARKS: OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 10/85. The activity class was added to the classification in January of 2003. Competing series were not checked at that time. - ET
Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 4/2015. The last revision to the series was 1/2003. ET
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.