LOCATION GAZELLE CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aquic Haplodurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Gazelle silt loam - on a slope of less than 1 percent under saline meadow pasture at 2,600 feet elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described (7/22/70) the soil was dry above 4 inches and moist below.)
A11--0 to 6 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; few fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent with disseminated lime; strongly alkaline (pH 8.7); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
A12--6 to 11 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) moist; weak thick platy structure parting to moderate thin platy; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent with disseminated lime; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
C1--11 to 20 inches; white (10YR 8/1) silt loam, white (10YR 8/1) moist; moderate thin platy structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine tubular pores; thin coatings of calcium carbonate or silica on some peds; strongly effervescent with disseminated lime and violently effervescent in seams; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (9 to 13 inches thick)
C2--20 to 25 inches; white (10YR 8/1) silt loam, white (10YR 8/2) moist; moderate thin platy structure; very hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; thin coatings of calcium carbonate or silica on some ped faces; strongly effervescent with disseminated lime and violently effervescent in seams; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary.
C3casim--25 to 38 inches; white (10YR 8/1) strongly cemented, thin laminar duripan; white (10YR 8/2) moist; very hard, very firm and brittle; thin indurated continuous laminar seams; thin mat of roots on the surface; few very pale brown (10YR 7/4) bead-like coatings of silica or calcium carbonate on undersides of some platelets; strongly and violently effervescent in seams; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 16 inches thick)
C4--38 to 60 inches; white (10YR 8/1) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; strongly effervescent with disseminated lime; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Siskiyou County, California; about 8 miles southeast of Grenada, California; about 800 feet east and 50 feet south of the northwest corner sec. 32, T. 43 N., R. 5 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The soil is 20 to 40 inches deep to a massive or laminar, strongly cemented or indurated lime-silica duripan. After acid digestion silica cemented laminar plates or seams remain. The mean annual soil temperature is 51 to 57 degrees F.; the mean January soil temperature ls 35 to 38 degrees F.; the mean July soil temperature is 64 to 79 degrees F. The soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. from March 1 to December 20 and more than 47 degrees F. from April to November 25. The soil between the depths of 8 to 20 inches is dry in all parts from August 1 to September 30 and moist in some or all parts the rest of the year. The E.C. ranges from 4 to 6 mmhos/cm and the SAR ranges from 2 to 8. The soil is moderately to very strongly alkaline and is slightly to violently effervescent. The carbonates are mostly disseminated.
The A horizon is gray, light gray, light brownish gray, pale brown, light yellowish brown or very pale brown (10YR 6/1, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4, 7/1, 7/2, 7/3, 7/4; 2.5Y 6/2, 6/4, 7/2). Moist colors are dark grayish brown, brown, gray, grayish brown or pale brown (10YR 4/2, 4/3, 5/1, 5/2, 5/3, 6/2; 2.5Y 4/2, 5/2). It is sandy silt loam with 8 to 18 percent clay.
The C horizon above the duripan ranges from light gray to very pale brown and white (10YR 7/1, 7/2, 7/3, 8/1, 8/3; 2.5Y 7/2, 8/2; 5Y 7/1, 7/2, 7/3, 8/1, 8/2). Moist colors are similar to dry colors and in addition it is gray, light brownish gray, or light olive gray (10YR 6/1, 6/2; 2.5Y 6/2; 5Y 6/1, 6/2). It is sandy loam, loam, or silt loam with 8 to 18 percent clay.
Typically the duripan consists of laminar plates or layers cemented by silica, or lime and silica. In some pedons the duripan consists of durinodes cemented together. It is massive and is very hard or extremely hard when dry.
Below the duripan the substratum is stratified and is quite variable. It ranges from sandy loam to silty clay loam and has up to 15 percent rock fragments in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Henley series in another family. Henley soils have a B2 horizon, fine-loamy control section and more than 13 percent SAR (15 percent ESP) in the upper 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gazelle soils are in basins and on basin terraces and low terraces with slightly undulating or hummocky relief. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in alluvium from basalt, andesite, rhyolite, volcanic dust and metasedimentary rocks. The soil are mapped in areas with small spots of highly saline or saline-alkali slicks that lack vegetation. Some spots have salt crusts in the surface. Elevations are 2,500 to 3,500 feet. The climate is continental and subhumid with warm dry summers and cold moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 10 to 25 inches. Seasonal snowfall is 15 to 24 inches. Mean January temperature s 33 to 36 degrees F.; mean July temperature s 68 to 70 degrees F.; mean annual temperature is 49 to 51 degrees F. Frost-free season is 100 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bonnet, Louie, Pit and Salisbury soils. Bonnet soils have a mollic epipedon, loamy-skeletal control section and lack a duripan. Louie soils have a fine-loamy argillic horizon and are well drained. Pit soils are clayey and have cracks that extend to the surface. Salisbury soils have a mollic epipedon and a fine textured argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained; slow or ponded runoff; moderately rapid permeability above the duripan. The duripan s very slow or limits permeability altogether. There is a water table at or near the surface from December through March in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily for natural saline meadow grazing, and some wild hay. Most meadows have supplemental irrigations during late summer and early fall. Some areas have been drained and planted to permanent pastures. The native vegetation is saltgrass, alkali bluegrass, alkali sacaton, great basin wild rye, sedges and rushes.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Elevated valleys of northeastern Calfornia. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Siskiyou County (Shasta Valley Area), California, 1919.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 11/78.