LOCATION DELLEKER CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haploxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Delleker cobbly sandy loam - rangeland and woodland (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
01 & 02--3 to 0 inches; organic mat of fresh pine needles, more decomposed with increasing depth. Abrupt smooth boundary.
A11--0 to 3 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) cobbly sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong fine granular structure; soft, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; many very fine, fine, and medium interstitial pores; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
A3--3 to 13 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; medium acid (pH 6.0); gradual smooth boundary . (3 to 10 inches thick)
B1t--13 to 26 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine and medium roots; many very fine and fine tubular and interstitial pores; common thin clay films line pores; medium acid (pH 6.0); gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 13 inches thick)
B2t--26 to 46 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky, plastic; few fine and medium roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) coatings on faces of peds moist; many thin clay films lining pores and on faces of peds; medium acid (pH 6.0); gradual wavy boundary. (9 to 22 inches thick)
B3t--46 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; many thin clay films lining pores and on faces of peds; medium acid (pH 6.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Plumas County, California, 3 miles northeast of Portola; on Grizzly Valley Road; 1,260 feet east of the W1/4 corner sec. 21, T.23N., R.14E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The soil is moist in some parts between depths of 5 to 15 inches from mid-November until the middle of June and moist in all parts from December through April. Usually it is dry all the rest of the year. The mean annual soil temperature is about 44 to 47 degrees F.. Soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches exceeds 41 degrees F. from April 1 to November 1 and 47 degrees F. from April 15 to November 1. The solum is 40 to 70 inches thick. The soil is slightly or medium acid and nearly constant in reaction with increasing soil depth. The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR. Value is 3 or 4 in a thin A1 horizon and is 6 within several inches depth in the A3 horizon. Moist value is 3 in the A1 horizon and 4 in the A3 horizon. Chroma if 3 or 4 dry and moist. The A horizon is sandy loam or loam and in some pedons is modified with up to 35 percent cobblestones. The B2t horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 4 through 6. It is sandy clay loam or clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Lyonsville and Pausant series. Lyonsville soils have volcanic rock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Pausant soils have thick A2 horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Delleker soils are on undulating to hilly terraces at elevations of 4,800 to 5,800 feet. They formed in waterlaid ashy alluvium. The climate is cool semiarid to subhumid. The mean annual precipitation is about 14 to 24 inches. The average January temperature is about 28 degrees F., average July temperature is about 62 degrees F., and mean annual temperature is about 45 to 47 degrees F. The average freeze-free season is about 50 to 60 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Calpine, Lovejoy, Portola, and Trojan soils. Calpine soils have mollic epipedons and lack argillic horizons. Lovejoy soils have duripans. Portola soils lack argillic horizons and are formed in volcanic tuff. Trojan soils have mollic epipedons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for timber production and some livestock grazing. Natural cover is mainly Jeffrey pine and big sagebrush and bitterbrush with small amounts of perennial grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern California. The soils are inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Plumas County, California, 1973.
REMARKS: The Delleker soils were formerly classified as Noncalcic Brown soils or as Gray Wooded soils.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 8/73.
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.