LOCATION CHILDS CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Pachic Ultic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Childs gravelly loam - range. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
A11--0 to 5 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) very gravelly loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; strong very fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine roots and pores; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
A12--5 to 16 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) very gravelly loam, black (10YR 2/1) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
A3--16 to 24 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) very gravelly loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; few thin discontinuous clay films in pores; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
B1t--24 to 31 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) very gravelly light clay loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly plastic and slightly sticky; few very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; few moderately thick continuous clay films in pores; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
B2t--31 to 50 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) very gravelly clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) moist; massive; hard, firm, slightly plastic and slightly sticky; few very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; common moderately thick continuous clay films in pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 25 inches thick)
Cm--50 to 64 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) very gravelly light clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) with common medium distinct mottles of strong brown (7.5YR 4/5) moist; massive; very hard, firm, slightly plastic and slightly sticky; few roots; common very fine pores; weakly cemented, does not slack in water; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Tehama County, California on Wilson Lake Rd. about 1/2 mile east of Highway 36. Near the SE corner of the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of sec. 30, T. 29 N. R. 5 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is 45 inches or more to the bottom of the Bt horizons, and mean annual soil temperature ranges from 43 to 47 degrees F. The soils are usually dry for more than 60 consecutive days during the summer months.
The A horizon colors are dry in the 10YR hue and have values of 4 or 5 and chroma of 1. Moist hue also is 10YR, values are 2 or 3 and chroma is 1. Texture ranges from gravelly loam to cobbly loam; structure from strong granular in the A11 to structureless (massive) in the lower A horizons. Consistence is friable to very friable and reaction is strongly acid to medium acid. In places the A11 horizon is very thin because of erosion.
The Bt horizon colors are in the 10YR hue with values of 5 to 6 dry and 3 to 4 moist and with values increasing with depth. Chromas are 1 or 2. Texture ranges from very gravelly light clay loam to very gravelly clay loam and the horizons have weak structure or are massive. Consistence is slightly sticky and slightly plastic and reaction is medium acid in the upper B horizons and neutral or slightly acid below.
The Cm horizon usually is weakly cemented but is moderately cemented in places; mottles are distinct or faint and the layer is slowly permeable.
COMPETING SERIES: The Hapgood, Snag and Windy are similar soils. The Hapgood soils are very gravelly and cobbly, lack Bt horizons and are slightly acid. The Snag soils have less than 35 percent clay in the control sections and the Windy soils are very stony and are underlain by bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Childs soils are on gently sloping fans around the edges of mountain meadows or in meadows that have been drained by erosion. The alluvium is mostly outwash from basic igneous rocks. Elevations are 4,000 to 6,000 feet and air drainage generally is slow. The climate is humid microthermal, with mean annual precipitation of 45 to 60 inches, and with cool dry summers and cold wet winters. Mean annual temperature is about 42 to 45 degrees F, average January temperature about 32 degrees F, and average July temperature about 63 degrees F. The frost-free season is about 60 to 80 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Childs soils are in the same general areas as the Chummy soils in wet meadows, the forested Lyonsville soils with argillic horizons, the very gravelly Nanny soils and the Windy soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, permeability of the soil is moderate but it is slow through the substratum. Runoff is medium and erosion commonly is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for summer range. The forage is low quality and includes sedges and forbs with sparse perennial grasses in places.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Drained meadows at high elevations in the Cascade Range and in other mountainous areas in northern California. The soils are not extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tehama County, California, 1962.
REMARKS: The Childs series was formerly classified in the Brunizem group.
The activity class was added to the classification in February of 2003. Competing series were not checked at that time. - ET
Last revised by the state on 8/68.