LOCATION MELOLAND CA+AZ
Established Series
Rev. RPZ/LAB/HCD/ET
11/2015
MELOLAND SERIES
The Meloland series is a member of the coarse-loamy over clayey, mixed (calcareous), hyperthermic family of Typic Torrifluvents. Typically, Meloland soils have light brown and very pale brown, calcareous very fine sandy loam, loamy fine sand and silt loam upper horizons underlain by pink calcareous silty clay at depth of 26 inches that extends to a depth of 71 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over clayey, mixed, superactive, calcareous, hyperthermic Typic Torrifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Meloland very fine sandy loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 12 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky, plastic; common fine roots; violently effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 13 inches thick)
C1--12 to 18 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) loamy fine sand, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable; few fine roots; slightly cross-bedded with streaks of yellowish brown (10YR 5/4); violently effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
IIC2--18 to 26 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, plastic; few fine roots; common fine and very fine rust-stained tubular pores; violently effervescent, slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
IIIC3--26 to 38 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) silty clay, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; moderate medium and thin platy structure; hard, firm, very sticky, very plastic; few fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent, slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 24 inches thick)
IIIC4--38 to 71 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) silty clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate thick platy structure; hard, firm, very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; gypsum efflorescences and rusty stains on horizontal cleavage planes; strongly effervescent, slightly alkaline (pH 7.8). (Many feet thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Imperial County, California; about 3 miles north of Brawley about 125 feet west, 115 feet south of the northeast corner of Tract 93, T.13S., R.14E., SBB&M.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the fine textured strata ranges from 16 to 36 inches. In a few places the soil contains a few coarse fragments. The mean annual soil temperature is about 76 degrees F. The organic matter decreases irregularly with increasing depth. The soils have hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. The upper 16 to 36 inches of the soil averages fine sandy loam that contains less than 18 percent clay and more than 15 percent fine and coarser sand. The sand is dominantly fine. Individual strata range from fine sand to silt loam. Layers below a depth of 16 to 36 inches and down to a depth of 40 inches or more are silty clay loam, silty clay or clay that contain 35 to 55 percent clay. In some places, the fine textured strata have vertical tongues 1/2 to 2 inches wide of soil of texture like that of the overlying horizons. These are fillings in old cracks. The strata throughout the soil are massive or have platy structure due to stratification. The plowed layer may have structure that was formed by tillage. Lime is usually disseminated but both lime and gypsum are in soft bodies or concretions in some places. Generally, the soil ranges from mildly to moderately alkaline, but a few pedons have individual strata that are strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series at this time.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Meloland soils are in nearly level lacustrine basins and flood plains in the deserts at elevations of about 700 feet above to 230 feet below sea level. Slopes are 0 to 1 percent. The average annual precipitation is less than 4 inches and can range from 3 to 7 inches in Arizona; the average January temperature about 50 degrees to 52 degrees F., the average July temperature about 90 degrees F., and the average annual temperature 70 to 75 degrees F. The frost-free period is 250 to 350.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Antho,
Holtville,
Imperial,
Indio, and
Niland soils. Antho and Indio soils lack clay or silty clay textures within the 10- to 40- inch control section. Holtville soils have clayey over loamy textures in the 10- to 40- inch control section. Imperial soils are silty clay or clay to a depth of 40 or more inches. Niland soils are sand in the upper part and clay in the lower part of the 10- to 40-inch control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: The Meloland soils are naturally well drained, but commonly have perched water tables under irrigation. Surface runoff is low or medium; permeability is slow. Tile drains have been used extensively to improve drainage and remove salts in irrigated soils.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in irrigated cropland. Major crops are cotton, sugar beets, alfalfa, barley, carrots, and lettuce. Native vegetation is sparse desert shrubs, principally creosotebush, bursage, jointfir, and mesquite.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Meloland soils are in the Lower Colorado Desert of South-East California and Western Arizona in MLRA 31. They are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: El Centro Area, California, 1918.
REMARKS: Meloland soils would have been classified as Alluvial soils in the modified 1938 yearbook classification system.
Classified according to the Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Ninth Edition, 2003.
Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 11/2015. The last revision to the series was 6/2005. ET
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.