LOCATION GOLDMOUNTAIN            CA

Established Series
PBF/RLR/JTW
01/2020

GOLDMOUNTAIN SERIES


The Goldmountain series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum and colluvium from metasedimentary sources. The Goldmountain soils are on mountain slopes. Slopes range from 9 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 480 millimeters and the mean annual air temperature is about 8.5 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Pachic Haploxerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Goldmountain very gravelly loam, on an east facing, linear, 25 percent slope under western juniper, pinyon pine, Jeffrey pine, Wyoming big sage and annual grasses at an elevation of 2,091 meters (6,860 feet). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface is covered by approximately 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles.

A1 -- 0 to 18 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very gravelly loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and very fine roots throughout; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary.

A2 -- 18 to 31 centimeters; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) extremely gravelly loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine, medium and coarse roots throughout; 50 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizons is 25 to 75 centimeters)

Bw1 -- 31 to 41 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) extremely gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine, medium and coarse roots throughout; 50 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.7); clear smooth boundary.

Bw2 -- 41 to 51 centimeters; brown (10YR 4/3) extremely gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and medium roots throughout; 60 percent gravel and 20 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of B horizons is 20 to 60 centimeters)

R -- 51 centimeters; metasedimentary rock.

TYPE LOCATION: San Bernardino County, California; 440 meters (1,440 feet) west and 550 meters (1,800 feet) south of the NE corner of section 18, T. 2 N., R. 2 E.; 34.2600806 degrees latitude, -116.809222 degrees longitude, WGS84; UTM Zone 11, 517564e, 3791011n; U.S.G.S. Quad: Big Bear City, California.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature: 8 to 12 degrees C.
Soil moisture control section: Usually dry in all parts from late May or early June until late November or early December, and usually moist in some or all parts the rest of the year.

Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 50 or more centimeters
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent in the upper 50 centimeters
Surface rock fragments: 40 to 65 percent; with 35 to 60 percent gravel and 5 to 25 percent cobbles
Depth to lithic contact: 50 to 100 centimeters

Control section
Rock fragments: 50 to 75 percent gravels and cobbles
Clay content: range is between 15 and 27 percent

A horizons
Dry color: 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/2, 4/3, 5/3
Moist color: 10YR 2/2, 3/2, 3/3
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, sandy loam
Clay content: 15 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 65 percent gravels and cobbles
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral

Bw horizons
Dry color: 10YR 3/3, 4/3, 4/4, 5/3, 5/4
Moist color: 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 3/4, 4/3
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, sandy loam
Clay content: 15 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 50 to 75 percent gravels and cobbles
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral

COMPETING SERIES:
Dehlinger soils: clay loam textures in the B horizon and are formed in colluvium or alluvium from basalt, andesite, tuff or a combination of them.
Demox soils: less than 18 percent clay throughout and are formed in colluvium or alluvium from basalt, andesite, tuff or a combination of them.
Doble soils: formed in mixed alluvium with less than 16 percent clay.
Drit soils: do not have a lithic contact within 100 centimeters.
Gamboa soil: 100 to 150 centimeters to a lithic contact.
Hannarocks soils: 50 to 100 centimeters to a paralithic contact of granitic rock.
Langrell soils: formed in glaciofluvial deposits.
Murken soils: soil colors with a hue of 7.5YR or 5YR and are formed in colluvium and eolian deposits from basalt, andesite, tuff or a combination of them.
Packard soils: do not have a lithic contact within 100 centimeters and are formed in alluvium.
Plumas soils: have 10 to 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section and a mean annual precipitation of 889 millimeters.
Raster soils: have 45 to 70 percent stones and cobbles in the subsurface and are formed in colluvium or alluvium from volcanic rocks.
Watterson soils: have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the upper part of the A horizon.
Wrentham soils: have silt loam or silty clay loam textures in the Bw horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: mountains
Landform: mountain slopes
Slopes: 9 to 50 percent
Parent material: mixed residuum and colluvium from metasedimentary sources
Elevations: 2050 to 2,450 meters
Climate: subhumid mesothermal with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters with some snow
Mean annual precipitation: 400 to 560 millimeters
Mean annual air temperature: 8 to 10 degrees C.
Frost-free season: 100 to 135 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Canyonspring soils: are 25 to 50 centimeters to a paralithic contact and are on slightly higher position of mountain slopes.
Deadmansridge soils: do not have a lithic contact within 100 centimeters and are on similar landscape positions.
Deadpan soils: have an argillic horizon and are on slightly lower positions on toeslopes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURADTED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; moderate saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Goldmountain soils are used for recreation, watershed and wildlife habitat. Some areas are used for homesites. The present vegetation is mainly western juniper, pinyon pine, Jeffrey pine, Wyoming big sage and annual grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Inland mountain ranges of Southern California Coastal Plains and Mountains. MLRA 19. These soils are of small extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino County, California, 2004.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the profile are:

Mollic epipedon: the zone from 0 to 51 centimeters (A1, A2, Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Lithic contact: at a depth of 51 centimeters (R horizon)
Particle-size control section: the zone from 25 to 51 centimeters

The name is from a mountain peak in the soil survey area.

ADDITIONAL DATA:

User Site ID: 2004CA071033
User Pedon ID: ca777-6874-46-F

Classified using the Twelfth Edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2014)


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.