LOCATION DAPHNEDALE CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Daphnedale stony loam - range (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 7 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) stony loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; few very fine tubular pores; stones and cobbles on surface make up about 40 percent by volume; mildly alkaline (pH 7.5); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
A2--7 to 12 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine interstitial pores; few very fine tubular pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.5); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--12 to 18 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) cobbly clay loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; few very fine tubular pores; few moderately thick clay films on peds and in pores and common moderately thick clay films as bridges; 15 percent cobbles; mildly alkaline (pH 7.5); gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 7 inches thick)
Bt2--18 to 25 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) cobbly clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine interstitial pores; few very fine and fine tubular pores; common moderately thick clay films on peds and in pores and many moderately thick clay films as bridges; 15 percent cobbles; mildly alkaline (pH 7.5); gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
C--25 to 35 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and medium roots; few very fine interstitial pores; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; few thin clay films as bridges; 3 inch diameter krotovina filled with A and B material; mildly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 11 inches)
Cr--35 inches; soft sedimentary tuff.
TYPE LOCATION: Modoc County, California; about 7 miles south of Davis Creek; 1585 feet southeast of dirt road in the southeast l/4 of the northeast l/4 of sec. 24, T. 44 N. R. 13 E. Quad Location (7.5 mintere series).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 49 to 53 degrees F. It is above 41 degrees F.
from mid March through late November. The soil between depths of 4 and 12 inches is dry in all parts from mid July to mid October and is moist in some part all the rest of the year. It is moist in all parts from mid December to mid April. The mollic epipedon is 11 to 17 inches thick. Depth to a paralithic contact is 20 to 40 inches. The textural control section averages from 35 to 45 percent clay.
The A horizon color is 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/2, 4/3 or 5/2, 5/3 or 5/4 and 10YR 2/2, 2/3, 3/2, or 3/3 moist. Textures are stony sandy loam, stony loam, stony clay loam, sandy loam and loam. This horizon is soft or slightly hard and is neutral or mildly alkaline.
The Bt horizon color is 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/2, 5/2 or 4/3; 7.5YR 4/2 and 10YR or 7.5YR 2/2, 3/2, 3/3, or 3/4 moist. It is clay loam, cobbly clay loam, or clay. This horizon has subangular or angular blocky structure. It is hard or very hard and is neutral or mildly alkaline. Organic carbon content is less than 0.6 percent in the lower part.
The C horizon colors is 10YR or 7.5YR 4/2, 4/3, 5/3 dry and 10YR or 7.5YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/3 moist. It is clay loam sandy clay loam or loam. This horizon is mildly or moderately alkaline, The substratum consists of soft tuff low in ash content or old calcareous lake deposits.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Keating, Midvale (T), and Ramo series. Keating and Ramo soils are influenced by loess. Keating soils have a lithic contact of fractured greenstone. Ramo soils are deeper than 60 inches to bedrock. Midvale soils have silica and iron cementation within 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Daphnedale soils are on terraces. Slopes are 2 to 50 percent. These soils formed in Plio- Pleistocene lake deposits, mainly of the Alturas formation, composed of basic igneous rocks, diatomite, tuff and pyroclastic material. Elevations are 4200 to 4800 feet. The climate is cool semiarid mesothermal with warm dry summers and cold snowy moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 10 to 16 inches. Average January temperature is 27 to 30 degrees F.; average July temperature is 67 to 70 degrees F.; mean annual temperature is 46 to 50 degrees F. The frost-free period is 80 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ager, Bieber, Casuse, Delma and Longcreek soils. Ager soils are clayey and have cracks that open and close once each year and have slickensides. Bieber soils have a duripan at a depth of 8 to 20 inches. Casuse soils have ochric epipedons, have a paralithic contact at depths of less than 20 inches and are high in ash or pumice. Delma soils have an aridic moisture regime and have a paralithic contact at depths of less than 20 inches. Longcreek soils are underlain by hard bedrock at depths of 10 to 20 inches and have over 35 percent rock fragments in the Bt horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium or rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing, dryland pasture, dryland hay and small areas of irrigated hay on the flatter slopes. Vegetation is western juniper, rabbitbrush, giant wildrye, bluegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, bottlebrush squireltcih, mountain big sagebrush and cheat grass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Valleys of the Modoc Plateau in north-eastern California and south-central Oregon. The soils are moderately extensive. MLRA is 21.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Modoc County (Alturas Area), California, 1974.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon- the zone from 0 to 12 inches (A1, A2)
Argillic horizon- the zone from 12 to 25 inches (Bt1, Bt2)
Paralithic contact- the boundary at 35 inches (Cr)