LOCATION CARSHAL CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, nonacid, frigid, shallow Typic Xerorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Carshal very gravelly sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The soil surface is covered with 50 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, and 2 percent stones.
A--0 to 2 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
C--2 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots and few fine and medium; common very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 30 percent gravel and 25 percent paragravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Cr--5 to 14 inches; weathered and fractured andesitic tuff; few roots in fractures.
R--14 inches; hard, unweathered andesitic tuff.
TYPE LOCATION: Alpine County, California; on the Toiyabe National Forest about 0.5 mile south of Centerville Flat; approximately 2,100 feet north and 500 feet west of the southeast corner of section 13, T. 9 N., R. 20 E.; USGS Wolf Creek 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 38 degrees 37 minutes 15.8 seconds north latitude and 119 degrees 43 minutes 00.1 seconds west longitude, NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually moist in the moisture control section during late fall, winter, and spring; dry from July through early October for 75 to 90 consecutive days in the four months following the summer solstice; Xeric moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 44 to 47 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature - 59 to 62 degrees F.
Ochric epipedon thickness - 1 to 3 inches.
Depth to bedrock - 4 to 14 inches to a paralithic contact. The paralithic materials below the contact are weathered andesitic rock. Hard, unweathered rock is within 25 inches of the soil surface.
Sodium fluoride pH - 8.5 to 9.0.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 18 to 25 percent; Rock fragments: Averages 35 to 60 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as tuff, tuff-breccia, and andesite.
A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.
C horizon - Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist. Color value 4 or 5 dry or 3 moist are influenced by the dark color of the parent rock.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly sandy loam, very gravelly sandy clay loam, gravelly sandy loam, or gravelly loam.
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent.
Rock fragments: 30 to 50 percent.
Pararock fragments: 15 to 30 percent.
Organic matter content: 0.5 to 1 percent.
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Carshal soils are on mountains. They typically occur on backslope positions. They formed in colluvium and residuum derived from tuff, tuff-breccia, and andesite. Slopes are 30 to 75 percent. Elevations range from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. The climate is subhumid-continental with cold, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 16 to 24 inches, mean annual temperature is 39 to 45 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 40 to 70 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Celeridge, Dogbed, Loope, and Pinew soils. Celeridge, Loope, and Pinew soils have mollic epipedons, argillic horizons, and lithic contacts at depths of 14 to 20 inches. Dogbed soils are very deep, have thick mollic epipedons, and have argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very high surface runoff; moderate permeability (moderately high or high saturated hydraulic conductivity).
USE AND VEGETATION: Carshal soils are used for rangeland, recreation, watershed and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is mainly mountain big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, curl-leaf mountain mahogany, bluegrass, singleleaf pinyon, Sierra juniper, and Jeffrey pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern California, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Range. These soils are not extensive with about 4,100 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 22A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Alpine County (Toiyabe National Forest Area), California, 2006.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 2 inches (A horizon).
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 5 inches to underlying weathered bedrock (Cr layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from the soil surface to 5 inches (A and C horizons).
The revision of October 2003 updated the taxonomic class from Loamy-skeletal, isotic, nonacid, frigid, shallow Typic Xerorthents. The isotic mineralogy class was based solely on the field determined values for sodium fluoride pH. Laboratory data on 15 bar water to clay ratio does not exist to verify the isotic mineralogy class.