LOCATION ETSEL CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Lithic Xerorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Etsel gravelly loam--on a south facing slope of 55 percent under chamise, manzanita and ceanothus at 3,400 feet elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated).
A1--0 to 3 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel by volume; slightly acid (pH 6.3);clear smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick).
A2--3 to 7 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few roots; common very fine tubular pores; 35 percent gravel and 10 percent angular cobbles by volume; moderately acid (pH 6.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick).
R--7 inches; fractured and hard, slightly weathered, fine grained sandstone and shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Mendocino County, California; about 250 feet southwest of the crest of Horse Pasture Ridge; NW1/4 section 34 (projected), T. 21 N., R. 11 W. Thacher Ridge Quadrangle
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock ranges from 4 to 14 inches. The soils are usually moist all of the year except they are dry from June until sometime in October. The mean annual soil temperature just above the bedrock is between 50 and 59 degrees F. Rock fragments average 35 to 55 percent in the control section but range from 15 to 65 percent. The soils are slightly to strongly acid and acidity usually increases slightly with depth.
The A horizon is 10YR 7/4, 7/2, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4, 5/2, 5/3, 5/4; 7.5YR 7/4, 6/4, 6/3, 6/2, 5/2, 5/4 4/3, 4/2. Moist color is 10YR 5/4, 4/2, 4/3, 4/4, 3/3, 3/4, 2/2, 3/2; 7.5YR 3/2, 3/3, 3/4, 4/2, 4/3, 4/4, 4/6, 5/4. Texture is loam or sandy loam and is gravelly or very gravelly.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Flybow (ID) and Randcore (OR) soils. Flybow and Randcore soils have mean annual soil temperatures that are less than 53 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Etsel soils are on mountains. Slopes are 15 to 85 percent. Elevation is 1,000 to 6,000 feet. The soils formed in material weathered from sandstone, shale, and schist. Up to 25 percent of the surface is rock outcrop. The climate is characterized by warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 30 to 70 inches. Mean January temperature is about 40 degrees F; mean July temperature is about 70 degrees F; mean annual temperature ranges from 45 degrees to 57 degrees F. Frost-free season is 90 to 250 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Los Osos, Madonna, Parrish, Sanhedrin, and Sheetiron soils. Los Osos, Madonna, Parrish, Sanhedrin, and Sheetiron soils are all more than 20 inches deep to rock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; low to high runoff; moderate to moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for watershed, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Vegetation is open to moderately dense chaparral consisting of chamise and several species each of manzanita, ceanothus, scrub oak, and tan oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coast ranges and Klamath Mountains of northwestern California and the Sierra Nevada. The series is moderately extensive. MLRAs 5 and 15.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mendocino National Forest Area, California, 1971.
REMARKS: These soils without cambic horizons were formerly included in the Maymen series. Series is revised to original concept of depth to rock of 4 to 14 inches.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (A1 and A2 horizons).
Lithic contact - the boundary at 7 inches (R).