LOCATION GETRAIL CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Aridic Haploxererts
TYPICAL PEDON: Getrail clay-on a north facing slope of 32 percent under soft chess, wild oat, rattail fescue, tomcat clover filaree, pine bluegrass and blue oak. The elevation is 1,920 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described May 1, 1984 the soil was slightly moist 8 to 20 inches and moist below 20 inches)
A--0 to 4 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong medium angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; no slickensides; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bss1--4 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong coarse prismatic structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; few very fine tubular pores; vertical and intersecting slickensides; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary.
Bss2--15 to 24 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; 59 percent clay content; vertical and intersecting slickensides; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bss1 and Bss2 is 18 to 25 inches).
Bss3--24 to 36 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine medium and coarse roots; 60 percent clay content; vertical and intersecting slickensides; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 14 inches thick).
C--36 to 43 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium and coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few medium and coarse roots; few very fine tubular pores; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
Cr--43 to 48 inches; soft clayey shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Fresno County, California; approximately 5 miles west southwest of Lillis Ranch, 900 feet south of Cantua Creek; approximately 2,550 feet east and 1,950 feet north of the southwest corner of section 4, T. 18 S., R. 13 E., MDB&M; Latitude 36 degrees, 23 minutes, 25 seconds north and Longitude 120 degrees, 33 minutes, 45 seconds west; USGS Ciervo Mountain Topographic Quadrangle, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a paralithic contact of marine clayey shale is 40 to 60 inches. The moisture control section of 7 to 21 inches is moist from December 1 to June 1 and dry from July 1 to September 15 in most years. The soil temperature is above 47 degrees F from April 15 to October 15. The mean annual soil temperature is 56 to 58 degrees F. Cracks, when dry, are 1.5 inches wide at the surface and 0.5 inch wide at 20 inches. Vertical and intersecting slickensides occur in the B horizon.
The A horizon has color of 10YR 4/4, 5/3, 5/4 or 2.5Y 5/4. Moist color is 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/3 or 2.5Y 4/4. Organic matter content is 2 to 3 percent. Clay content is 45 to 60 percent.
The B horizon has color of 10YR 4/4, 5/3, 5/4 or 2.5Y 5/4. Moist color is 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/3, 4/4; 2.5Y 4/4 or 5/4. Organic matter content is 0.3 to 2 percent. Clay content is 45 to 60 percent.
The C horizon has color of 10YR 3/4, 4/4, 5/4 or 2.5Y 6/4. Moist color is 10YR 4/3 or 2.5Y 5/4. Organic matter content is 0.1 to 0.3 percent. Clay content is 50 to 55 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Brubeck, Doten, Gerlach, Horsecamp, Manogue, Moroni and Waspo soils. Brubeck soils (MLRA 23), on plateaus, are 20 to 40 inches to a lithic contact. Doten soils (MLRA 26, 28B), in alluvium and lacustrine sediments on lakeplains, alluvial flats and low lake teraces, are deeper than 60 inches. Gerlach soils (MLRA 23), on alluvial fans, are deeper than 60 inches. Horsecamp soils (MLRA 23), are on plateaus, and are 40 to 60 inches to a lithic contact of hard basalt rock. Manogue soils (MLRA 26), are on hills, plateaus and pediments, are 40 to 80 inches to highly weathered andesite in alluvium and colluvium and have Bkss horizons with a depth to carbonates from 10 to 20 inches. Moroni soils (MLRA 28A), are on alluvial fans and colluvial slopes, and are deeper than 60 inches. Waspo soils (MLRA 10, 26), are on side slopes and pediments formed in mixed pedisediment and residuum weathered from tuff, have 5 to 15 percent tuffaceous gravel and have a frost-free season of about 100 days.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Getrail soils are on mountains. Slope is 15 to 40 percent. Elevation is 1,640 to 4,849 feet. The soils formed in material weathered from marine clayey shale. The climate is subhumid with hot dry summers and cool moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 13 to 24 inches. Mean January temperature is 46 degrees F; mean July temperature is 80 degrees F; mean annual temperature is 55 to 61 degrees F. The frost-free season is 180 to 220 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Atravesada, Domengine, Grazer, Lilten and Vernado soils on mountains. Atravesada soils are less than 20 inches deep to serpentine and have an argillic horizon. Domengine soils are 20 to 40 inches deep, have a fine-loamy particle-size control section and have a cambic horizon. Grazer soils have an argillic horizon, and a thermic soil temperature regime. Lilten soils have a thermic soil temperature regime and have carbonates. Vernado soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 25 to 35 inches and have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very high runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The vegetation is soft chess, wild oat, rattail fescue, tomcat clover, filaree, pine bluegrass and blue oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils are in the Diablo Range, near Cantua Creek in the California Coast Ranges. They are not extensive. MLRA 15.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fresno County, California, 1985. Name is coined.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly mapped as Cima in the unpublished report, Soil Survey of Western Fresno, 1967. They are being differentiated by having a xeric moisture regime, and having wide cracks when dry and slickensides.