LOCATION MARCUM CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Typic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Marcum clay loam - on a one percent slope in an irrigated pear orchard at 37 feet elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described on August 16, 1978, the soil was dry to 6 inches and moist below.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine tubular and interstitial pores; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
A--6 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); gradual wavy boundary. (9 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--16 to 28 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few thin clay films and pressure faces on peds; few fine manganese concretions; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (12 to 16 inches thick)
Bt2--28 to 40 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay, strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) moist; weak fine and medium prismatic structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; many thin clay films and pressure faces on peds; few very fine and fine manganese concretions; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); gradual wavy boundary. (11 to 20 inches thick)
Ck--40 to 43 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few thin clay films on peds; few very fine manganese concretions; slightly effervescent with disseminated lime; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
2Cr--43 to 62 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) siltstone, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) moist; many black (10YR 2/1) manganese stains on fracture faces, many yellowish brown, brownish yellow and strong brown (10YR 5/8, 6/6, 6/8 and 7.5YR 5/8) mottles on fracture faces and in pores; massive; very hard and very firm; many very fine and few fine and coarse tubular pores; slightly effervescent with lime in seams and in a laminar cap 1/2 cm thick discontinuous within the pedon; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Sutter County, California; approximately 1 mile north of Tudor on Highway 99 then 150 feet west into pear orchard; approximately 365 feet south and 120 feet west of the northeast corner of section 4, T. 13 N.; R. 3 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to paralithic contact is 40 to 80 inches. The mean annual soil temperature is 60 degrees to 65 degrees F. The soil temperature is above 47 degrees F. the entire year. The difference between the mean summer and mean winter soil temperature is 30 degrees to 33 degrees F. The soil between depth of 6 and 17 inches is dry in all parts from June to October unless irrigated and is moist in some or all parts from November to May. Reaction is neutral to moderately alkaline.
The A horizon has dry color of 10YR 5/2, 5/3, 4/3, or 7.5YR 5/2 and moist color of 10YR 3/2, 3/3, 7.5YR 3/2.
The Bt horizon has dry color of 10YR 4/4, 5/3, 5/4, 6/3, 6/4, 7/4; 7.5YR 6/4 or 5/6 and moist color of 10YR 3/4, 4/3, 4/4, 5/4; 7.5YR 3/2, 3/3, 4/4 or 4/6. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, clay or silty clay with 30 to 60 percent clay and a weighted average clay content of greater than 35 percent.
The Ck horizon has dry color of 10YR 5/4 or 6/4 and moist color of 10YR 4/3, 4/4 or 5/4.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Gridley, Fagan, Gabino, Los Osos, Sespe, Sween, and Todos series. Fagan soils have slightly acid or medium acid Bt horizons and have slopes of 5 to 50 percent. Gridley, Gabino, Los Osos, Sespe and Sween soils have a lithic or paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Todos soils have colors in 5YR or 2.5YR hue.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Marcum soils are on low terraces and basin rims. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in alluvium from mixed sources deposited over unrelated siltstone. Siltstone is a few inches to many feet thick, is fractured and mottled and is hard in the upper part, but becomes softer with depth. Elevations are 20 to 80 feet. The climate is subhumid with hot dry summers and cool moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 16 to 20 inches. Mean January temperature is 45 degrees F., mean July temperature is 77 degrees F., and the mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees to 64 degrees F. Frost-free season is 260 to 280 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Gridley soil and the Conejo, Oswald, Tisdale, and Subaco soils. Conejo and Tisdale soils are on alluvial fans and terraces, are fine-loamy and lack argillic horizons. Oswald and Subaco soils are on basin rims and in basins and have clay textures throughout.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; very low to low runoff; slow permeability. Some areas are subject to occasional very brief to brief periods of flooding in December to April.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for irrigated cropland to grow orchards, grain, forage and row crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern and southeastern part of the Sacramento Valley. Soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sutter County, California 1983.
REMARKS: The original type location for this series is now under a man made lake. It was classified as a Pachic Argixeroll; however, it lacked sufficient organic matter to be Pachic. This is a change in classification. The new type location represents the concept of the Marcum series.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 2/84.
This soil was described as having a siltstone Cr. In Butte County this same layer underlies Loemstone and Boga soils but was not called paralithic material, but a dense substratum layer. It was crushable and had variable texture. It would not slake in water so could not be called densic materials which do slake. The dense substratum was not weathered rock in the classic sense as applied to paralithic materials. The dense substratum may actually have some silica cementation which is not visible with a hand lens or naked eye.
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL pedon S77CA-101-024 (taxadjunct)