LOCATION CHOLLAWELL CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Xeric Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Chollawell gravelly loamy coarse sand - on a 17 percent southeast slope at 3,260 feet elevation under filaree, red brome, and schismus grass vegetation. Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described on May 13, 1981, the soil was very slightly moist below 19 inches. Surface coverage of rock fragments: 20 percent gravel.
A1--0 to 2 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loamy coarse sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 22 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A2--2 to 19 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loamy coarse sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 24 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)
Bt1--19 to 35 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; common thin clay films bridging mineral grains; 22 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bt2--35 to 54 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; few thin clay films bridging mineral grains; 23 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual wavy boundary. (12 to 30 inches thick)
C--54 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0). (0 to 30 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Kern County, California. About 11 miles east of the town of Lake Isabella and 1 1/4 miles east-southeast of Nicolls Peak: 600 feet northwest of main dirt road and 25 feet northwest of faint road; about 1,100 feet west and 400 feet north of the southeast corner section 36, T.26S., R.34E. Woolstalf Creek, Quadrangle; lat. 35 degrees 37 minutes 02 seconds N and long. 118 degrees 16 minutes 31 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: These soils are usually moist in some part for about 120 days when the soil temperature is above 8 degrees C. The mean annual soil temperature is 59 to 64 degrees F. Coarse fragments are mainly gravel, but some cobbles, stones, and boulders are present in some areas. Reaction is neutral or mildly alkaline.
The A horizon has color of 10YR 5/3 or 6/3. Moist color is 10YR 3/2, 3/3, or 3/4. Textures are loamy coarse sand or sandy loam. The A horizon contains 5 to 35 percent gravel. Traces of cobbles, stones, and boulders are present in some areas. Clay content is 4 to 12 percent. The surface 16 inches of soil averages 0.3 to 0.6 percent organic carbon. The sand:clay ratio for this section is 7:1 to 15:1.
The Bt horizon has color of 10YR 5/3, 5/4, 6/4; or 7.5YR 5/4 and moist color of 10YR 3/3, 3/4, 4/3; or 7.5YR 3/4. Textures are coarse sandy loam, or sandy loam. Some pedons have a texture of loamy coarse sand in part of the horizon. The fine earth fraction of the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon averages coarse sandy loam or sandy loam with 10 to 18 percent clay. The Bt horizon contains 5 to 35 percent rock fragments. The Bt horizon contains 5 to 35 percent gravel and 0 to 20 percent cobbles. Traces of stones and boulders are present in some areas.
The C horizon has color of 10YR 5/4, 6/3, or 6/4 and moist color of 10YR 3/3, 3/4, or 4/3. Textures are loamy coarse sand, coarse sand or coarse sandy loam. Clay content is 1 to 10 percent. The C horizon contains 10 to 60 percent rock fragments. The C horizon contains 10 to 35 percent gravel, 0 to 35 percent cobbles, and 0 to 10 percent stones and boulders.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adelanto, Cowspring (T), Hoffman (T), and Lucerne. Adelanto has a mean soil temperature of 65 to 71 degrees F. Cowspring and Hoffman soils are moderately deep to weathered granite. Lucerne soils lack mollic colors in the A horizon and have a buried Bt horizon with a texture of sandy loam or sandy clay loam.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chollawell soils are on alluvial fans and dissected fan terraces with slopes of 2 to 30 percent. They formed in granitic alluvium or mixed granitic and metasedimentary alluvium. Elevations range from 2,500 to 4,500 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 6 to 9 inches and the mean annual temperature is 55 to 61 degrees F. The frost-free period is 175 to 250 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Whitewolf series. The Whitewolf soil is sandy throughout and lacks an argillic horizon. It usually occurs along drainageways and in depressions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow or medium runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is mainly burrobush, red brome, filaree, rubber rabbitbrush, and staghorn cholla, with scattered junipers and Joshua trees in some areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Valleys in the southern Sierra Nevada Range in California. These soils are of small extent in MLRA 29.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kern County, California, Northeastern Kern Area Soil Survey 1989.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to about 19 inches (A1, A2)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 19 to 54 inches (Bt1, Bt2)
ADDITIONAL DATA: National soil survey lab reference sample #027548.