LOCATION FLAMEN CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Calcic Pachic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Flamen loam, under irrigated cultivation, with a slope of 0 to 2 percent at an elevation of 370 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described 2/2/93 the soil was moist throughout.)
Ap1--0 to 7 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; few very fine and few fine tubular pores; slightly acid (pH 6.5); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Ap2--7 to 17 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Btk--17 to 28 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; few thin clay films lining pores and on ped faces; slightly effervescent, carbonates disseminated; slightly acid (pH 6.5); gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Btkq--28 to 43 inches; mixed matrix 50 percent light brown (7.5YR 6/4) loam between furrows from ripper and 50 percent pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) loam within furrows from ripper, brown 7.5YR 4/4 and brown 7.5YR 4/2) moist respectively; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; few thin clay films lining pores and on ped faces; 10 percent coarse subangular strongly cemented fragments of a duripan displaced by mechanical ripping from the underlying horizon; slightly effervescent, carbonates disseminated and strongly effervescent, carbonates segregated as common fine filaments; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
2Btqkm1--43 to 63 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) strongly lime and silica cemented duripan with fine fractures that are 5 to 10 inches apart, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; massive; few very fine roots in fractures; many moderately thick clay films in fractures and common thin clay films lining pores; strongly effervescent, carbonates segregated as common fine seams and filaments; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 30 inches thick)
2Btqkm2--63 to 72 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) strongly lime and silica cemented duripan, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; strongly effervescent, carbonates segregated as common medium seams and filaments.
TYPE LOCATION: Tulare County, California; about 3 miles southwest of Exeter; about 2112 feet west and 528 feet south of the center of Section 20, T. 19 S., R. 26 E., MBD&M; Latitude 36 degrees, 15 minutes, 35 seconds north and Longitude 119 degrees, 11 minutes, 15 seconds west; Exeter Quadrangle.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature: 64 to 67 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon: 20 to 40 inches thick.
Depth to duripan: 40 to 60 inches.
Ap Horizons--10YR 4/1, 4/2, 5/2, 5/3; 10YR 3/1, 3/2, 3/3 moist.
Clay: 18 to 27 percent.
Coarse fragments: 0 to 15 percent duripan fragments that are displaced from the underlying layer.
Carbonates: Noneffervescent to slightly effervescent.
Reaction: Slightly acid to neutral.
Btk Horizons--10YR 3/2, 4/2, 4/3, 5/3, 5/4, 6/4 and 7.5YR 4/2, 5/2, 5/3, 6/2, 6/4; 10YR 2/2, 3/2, 3/3, 4/3, 4/4 and 7.5YR 3/2, 4/2, 4/3, 4/4 moist.
Texture: loam, sandy loam or clay loam.
Clay: 18 to 30 percent in the surface layer, and 18 to 30 percent in the lower part. The clay increase relative to the upper and lower Ap is always less than 20 percent.
Coarse fragments: 0 to 15 percent duripan fragments that are displaced from the underlying layer.
Reaction: Slightly acid to moderately alkaline (this high variability is due to applications of soil amendments related to farming).
2Btkqm horizon--10YR 5/3 and 7.5YR 6/2, 6/3; 10YR 3/3, 3/4 and 7.5YR 3/2, 3/3 moist.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Colpien(T-CA) and Pleito soils in the same family and Linne and San Benito soils that lack activity classes. All these soils lack duripans.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Flamen soils are on stream terraces. They formed in alluvium derived mainly from granitic rock. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Elevations are 260 to 550 feet. The climate is semiarid with hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The average annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches. The mean annual temperature is 62 to 65 degrees F. The frost-free season is 250 to 300 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Colpien soils, and the Exeter, Fresno, Grangeville, Lewis, Nord, and San Joaquin soils. Colpien, Grangeville and Nord soils lack duripans. Exeter, Fresno, Lewis, and San Joaquin soils lack mollic epipedons and have duripans within 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; low or moderate runoff; moderate permeability above the duripan and slow permeability in the duripan.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for irrigated crops and orchards growing grapes, cotton, alfalfa, corn silage, wheat and stone fruits. It is also used for dairy and cattle production and building site development.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The southern part of San Joaquin Valley, California. Flamen soils are not extensive in MLRA-17.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tulare County, West Part, California, 1999.
REMARKS: The name is coined. The duripan fragments in the soil are displaced from the underlying duripan and are not remnants of a removed horizon.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
1.0 Mollic Epipedon--The zone from the surface to a depth of about 28 inches (Ap1, Ap2 and Btk horizons).
2.0 Cambic horizon--The zone from a depth of 17 to about 28 inches. (Btkq horizon).
3.0 Duripan--The zone from a depth of 43 to over 60 inches. (2Btqkm horizons). Some pedons have a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick silica laminar cap on the duripan.