LOCATION GRAZER                  CA

Established Series
Rev: PGN/MAV/KDA
01/2023

GRAZER SERIES

The Grazer series consists of deep, well drained, soils on hills and mountains. These soils formed in material weathered from marine calcareous shale. Slope is 8 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 62 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Typic Haploxeralfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Grazer silty clay loam - on a south facing slope of 16 percent under soft chess, red brome, rattail fescue and other annual grasses. The elevation is 2,930 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described on May 23, 1984 the soil was moist below 6 inches.)

A1--0 to 4 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; slightly effervescent, carbonates disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)

BA--4 to 11 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; strong medium and coarse angular blocky structure; hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular and interstitial pores; few thin pressure faces; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 7 inches thick)

Btk1--11 to 23 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; strong coarse prismatic structure; very hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine and many fine roots; few very fine and common fine tubular pores; many thick pressure faces; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminatedand segregated as few fine soft masses; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (11 to 16 inches thick).

Btk2--23 to 34 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist, has some white lime specks dry and moist; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; many thick pressure faces; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated and segregated as few fine soft masses; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 14 inches thick).

BC--34 to 47 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist, has specks of dark gray (N4/0) weathered shale fragments; weak coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; no roots; few very fine and fine tubular pores; many thick pressure faces; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (11 to 15 inches thick).

Cr1--47 to 72 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4), dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) strongly weathered shale, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4), yellowish red (5YR 5/6) and greenish gray (5GY 5/1) moist; abrupt wavy boundary. (20 to 30 inches thick).

Cr2--72 to 80 inches; weathered shale.

TYPE LOCATION: Fresno County, California; approximately 1.3 miles south southwest of Ciervo Mountain (peak), 1.8 miles north of Arroyo Hondo; approximately 100 feet east and 400 feet south of the northwest corner of section 17, T. 17 S., R. 13 E., MDB&M; Latitude 36 degrees, 27 minutes, 24 seconds north and Longitude 120 degrees, 35 minutes, 19 seconds west; USGS Ciervo Mountain Quadrangle, NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a paralithic contact of marine calcareous shale is 40 to 60 inches. The moisture control section of 7 to 21 inches is moist from January 1 to May 1 and dry from June 1 to October 15 in most years. The soil temperature is above 47 degrees F from February 15 to December 15. The mean annual soil temperature is 59 to 65 degrees F.

The A horizon has color of 10YR 6/1, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4; 2.5Y 6/1 or 6/2. Moist color is 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/2, 4/3; 2.5Y 4/2, 4/4 or 5/4. Organic matter content is 0.8 to 2 percent. Clay content is 30 to 40 percent. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

The Btk horizon has color of 10YR 5/6, 6/1, 6/2, 6/4; 2.5Y 5/2, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4 or 7/2. Moist color is 10YR 4/2, 4/3, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4or 2.5Y 4/2. Organic matter content is 0.7 to 1 percent. Texture is silty clay or clay. Clay content is 40 to 55 percent and it contains at least 8 percent more total clay than the A horizon. BA and BC transitional horizons occur in most pedons and have properties similar to the Bt horizon.

The Cr horizon consists of weathered marine calcareous shale.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Dibble and Ryer series. Dibble soils (MLRA 15, 18), on uplands, have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches and reaction of medium acid to neutral. Ryer soils (14, 17), on terraces, are deeper than 60 inches and reaction of the A horizon is medium acid to neutral.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Grazer soils are on hills and mountains. Slope is 8 to 50 percent. Elevation is 1,240 to 4,000 feet. These soils formed in material weathered from marine calcareous shale. The climate is semiarid with hot dry summers and cool moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 9 to 18 inches. Mean January temperature is 46 degrees F; mean July temperature is 81 degrees F; mean annual temperature is 58 to 63 degrees F. The frost-free season is 190 to 250 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Belgarra, Borreguero, Exclose, Gewter, Getrail, and Monvero soils. Belgarra soils on erosional fan remnants on mountains, have a gypsic horizon and do not have a paralithic contact. Borreguero soils, on mountains, have a paralithic contact at a depth of 10 to 20 inches and have a loamy particle-size control section. Exclose soils, on mountains, do not have a paralithic contact and have a fine-loamy particle-size control section. Gewter soils, on hills, have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 30 inches and reaction of extremely acid to moderately acid. Getrail soils, have intersecting slickensides and have a mesic soil temperature regime. Monvero soils, on dune fields on mountains, have a sandy particle-size control section.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high or very highrunoff; slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and upland wildlife habitat. The vegetation is soft chess, red brome, filaree, baccharis,pine bluegrass and narrowleaf goldenbush.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils are in the Diablo Range of the California Coast Ranges. They are moderately 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 Tumey soils in the unpublished report, Soil Survey of Western Fresno, 1967. They are being differentiated by not having wide cracks upon drying and having an argillic horizon. This series is often found on the Kreyenhagen and Panoche Formations.

ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL lab data pedon sample number S84CA-019-011 (1856-1857) for the typical pedon and S86CA-019-046 (1216-1217).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.