LOCATION MEEKS CA NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Humic Dystroxerepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Meeks series - on a southeast convex slope of 30 percent under a cover of mixed conifers at 1951 meters elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
01--0 to 5 cm; litter and duff, mainly from shrubs. (0 to 8 cm thick)
A1--5 to 13 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly loamy coarse sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 5 percent stones and 10 percent gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 18 cm thick)
A2--13 to 33 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loamy coarse sand, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 15 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles, slightly acid (pH 6.5); gradual smooth boundary. (18 to 25 cm thick)
Bw1--33 to 69 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely stony loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive, soft, very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine, medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel and 40 percent cobbles and stones; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (20 to 33 cm thick)
Bw2--69 to 160 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) extremely stony loamy coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, medium and coarse roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 40 percent gravel, 40 percent cobbles and stones; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (66 to 122 cm thick)
Bqm--160 to 185 cm; light gray (5Y 7/1) gravelly loamy coarse sand, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; massive; hard, firm; weakly cemented; very few pores; sand grains have very pale brown (10YR 7/4) films that seem to be silica coatings and bridges; strongly acid (pH 5.5).
TYPE LOCATION: El Dorado County, California; Tahoe Basin; 1/2 mile north of Meeks Bay in Glenridge subdivision; 1/4 mile E of center of sec. 20, T.14N., R.17E., MDB&M.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The umbric epipedon is 10 to 17 inches thick. Depth to the Bqm horizon is greater than 100 cm. Gravel, cobbles, stones and boulders average from 40 to 80 percent by volume of the 25 to 100 cm control section. The mean annual soil temperature is 4 degrees to 7 degrees C. and the mean summer soil temperature is 11 degrees to 13 degrees C. The soils are usually moist between depths of 36 and 155 cm and are dry in all parts of the moisture control section from late June until early October.
0 horizons are 3 to 8 cm thick.
The A horizon has colors of 10YR 4/1, 5/1, 4/2, 5/2, 4/3, 5/3. Moist colors are 10YR 3/2 or 3/3. It is loamy sand or loamy coarse sand. Rock fragments are mainly gravel and average 5 to 30 percent by volume with some cobbles and stones. It is single grain, massive or has weak granular structure. It is slightly to moderately acid. Organic matter ranges from 2 to 8 percent.
The Bw horizon has colors of 10YR 5/2, 6/2, 5/3, 6/3; 2.5Y 5/2, 6/2. It is loamy coarse sand or sand modified by 40 to 80 percent gravel, cobbles, stones, or boulders by volume. It is slightly or moderately acid.
The Bqm horizon is weakly to strongly cemented glacial till and is hard or very hard when dry and firm or very firm when moist. A discontinuous to continuous lamina about 1 to 2 millimeters thick coats the surface of this horizon. It is moderately or strongly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no series in this family at this time.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Meeks soils are on gently sloping to very steep lateral, terminal, and ground moraines at elevations between 1890 to 2670 meters. Slope gradients range from 2 to 70 percent but are mainly less than 30 percent. These soils formed in material weathered from stony to bouldery sandy glacial debris and alluvium derived from mixed but predominately granitic sources. The mean annual precipitation is 580 to 1780 mm. The mean annual temperature is 4 to 8 degrees C., mean January temperature is -3 degrees C., mean July temperature is 16 degrees C. The average frost-free season is < 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cagwin, Celio, Gefo and Tallac soils. Cagwin soils are 50 to 100 cm deep to a paralithic contact and are colluvial. Gefo soils are sandy and on outwash plains. Celio soils are oxyaquic and on outwash plains and flood plains. Tallac soils are Loamy-skeletal and on the same landforms.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Runoff is negligible to low. Permeability is rapid above the cemented horizon and very slow in the cemented horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Timber, range, and water production; native vegetation is mixed conifers and shrubs; principal species are Jeffrey pine, white fir, western white pine, incense cedar, greenleaf manzanita, mountain white thorn, chinquapin and perennial grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated areas of the Sierra Nevada Range, California and Nevada. The soils of this series are of moderate extent. MLRA 22A
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: El Dorado County, Tahoe Basin Area, California, 1970.
REMARKS: The Meeks soils were formerly classified as members of the sandy-skelatal, mixed family of Entic Cryumbrepts. The cryic soil temperature regime was based upon a rule of thumb that 0 horizons are not considered unless the thickness is greater than 3 inches. This concept is not considered to be valid in California and conflicts with Soil Taxonomy. The classification was updated in February 2001 using the Eighth Edition to Soil Taxonomy. This series was formerly classified as sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Entic Xereumbrepts. Competing series were not checked at that time.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
Umbric epipedon - the zone from the mineral surface to 33 cm (A1 and A2 horizons}
Bw horizon - based on increase in chroma, horizon is too sandy for a cambic horizon, the zone from 33 to 160 cm (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Bqm horizon - compacted glacial till with weak silica cementation, the zone from 160 to 185 cm (Bqm horizon)