LOCATION NARLON CA
Established Series
Rev. TCM/JBB
08/2024
NARLON SERIES
The Narlon series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in old eolian deposits over clayey marine deposits. Narlon soils are on marine terraces and have slopes of 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 415 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 14 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, isomesic Typic Albaquults
TYPICAL PEDON: Narlon soils in an area of Narlon loamy sand on a 2 percent slope facing south elevation of 122 meters under a cover of annual and perennial grasses, forbs and low chaparral. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 5 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loamy sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak thick platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 cm thick)
A2--5 to 38 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots; many roots on a few soil joints; many very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; small reddish brown sandy iron concretions 2 to 5 cm in diameter make up 2 percent of soil mass; strongly acid (pH 5.3); gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 30 cm thick)
E1--38 to 58 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) loamy sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; many medium faint mottles of pale brown (10YR 6/3); massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial, common very fine, few fine tubular pores; small reddish and larger yellowish concretions 4 to 40 cm in diameter make up 8 percent of soil mass; strongly acid (pH 5.3); gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 25 cm thick)
E2--58 to 81 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) loamy sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and few very fine tubular pores; strongly acid (pH 5.5); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 25 cm thick)
2Bt/E--81 to 89 cm; relic rounded column tops and irregular lumps of degrading B2 horizon 4 to 40 mm diameter, brown (10YR 4/3) sandy clay loam, moist; with continuous moderately thick clay films in bridges, 40 percent of soil mass; remainder of soil is light gray to white (10YR 7/2, 8/1) loamy sand with weak skeletal column tops and very few thin clay bridges in places; strongly acid (pH 5.5); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 10 cm thick)
2Btg1--89 to 127 cm; gray (5Y 5/1) clay, dark gray (5Y 4/1) moist; many medium prominent yellowish red, reddish yellow and reddish brown mottles, dark reddish brown, strong brown, dark red, and light olive brown moist; moderate coarse columnar structure; very hard, extremely firm, very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots on exterior of peds; few very fine tubular pores; continuous moderately thick clay films on faces of peds and clay nearly fills all pores, some clay films are dusky red (10R 3/2); few distinct slickensides; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); diffuse smooth boundary.
2Btg2--127 to 170 cm; olive gray (5Y 5/2) sandy clay, mottles as above, but olive hues more dominant; moderate coarse prismatic structure; very hard, extremely firm, very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots on faces of peds; clay films as above; very few irregularly shaped pockets and joints with very abrupt boundary filled with white sand similar to A2 horizon; few slickensides as above; very strongly acid (pH 5.0);. (15 to 40 cm thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Barbara County, California; Vandenberg Air Force Base; 0.9 mile southwest on New Mexico Street from 13th Street, 270 feet south of railroad track. USGS topographic quadrangle: Surf, California. WSGS84 34.7098611 latitude and -120.5548889 longitude; UTM Zone 10, 3843470.67 meters N and 723755.14 meters E NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature: Isomesic temperature regime, bordering on isothermic. Mean annual soil temperature at 50 cm is 14 degrees C, and the difference between mean summer and mean winter soil temperature is less than 6 degrees C.
Soil moisture: Aquic moisture regime. In most years the A1 and A2 horizons are saturated to within 10 to 25 cm of the surface from about January through March. These horizons become dry sometime between May and July and remain dry until November or early December.
Diagnostic Feature(s):
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 38 cm
Lithologic discontinuity: 81 to 170 cm
Aquic conditions: 38 to 170 cm
Redox concentrations: 38 to 170 cm
Durinodes: 5 to 58 cm
Redox depletions of chroma two or less: 89 to 170 cm
Albic horizon: 38 to 81 cm
Interfingering of albic materials: 81 to 89 cm
Slickensides: 89 to 170 cm
Argillic Horizon: 89 to 170 cm
Particle size control section weighted average:
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral
Clay content: 40 to 50 percent
A horizons:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 2 to 3 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Texture: loamy sand, sandy loam, loam
Clay content: 3 to 16 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 5
Organic matter content: less than one percent
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid
E horizons:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 6 to 7 dry, 4 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 3 dry, 2 to 3 moist
Texture: loamy sand
Clay content: 2 to 8 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid
2E/Bt and 2Bt horizons:
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR, 2.5Y, 5Y
Value: 4 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3 dry, 1 to 6 moist
Mottle Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR, 5YR, 2.5YR, 10R
Mottle Value: 3 to 6
Mottle Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: sandy clay, clay, sandy clay loam
Clay content: 25 to 50 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral
COMPETING SERIES:
Aborigine soils: are very poorly drained with greater than 1000 mm of precipitation per year and are found in concave to linear positions similar landforms
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: marine terraces
Landform: marine terraces
Parent material: old eolian deposits over clayey marine deposits
Slope: 0 to 30 percent
Elevation: 10 to 350 meters
Mean annual precipitation: 380 to 570 millimeters
Mean January temperature: 12 degrees C
Mean July temperature: 16 degrees C
Mean annual air temperature: 13 to 14 degrees C
Frost-free season: 275 to 355 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Arnold soils: are somewhat excessively drained, are 100 to 150 cm deep to a paralithic contact of sandstone and are found on linear positions of hills and old sandy marine terraces further inland
Briones soils: are somewhat excessively drained, are 50 to 100 cm deep to a paralithic contact of sandstone and are found on linear and convex positions on hills and old sandy marine terraces further inland
Marina soils: are somewhat excessively drained, have lamellae, and are found on relict sand dunes on marine terraces of similar or lower elevations
Oceano soils: are somewhat excessively drained, have lamellae, and are found on relict sand dunes on marine terraces of similar or lower elevations
Santa Ynez soils: are moderately well drained and found on linear to concave positions on foot slopes and stream terraces
Tangair soils: are somewhat excessively drained, have greater than 20 percent durinodes throughout the particle size control section, and are on linear positions of similar landforms
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly to poorly drained. Temporary shallow ponds in swales in wet winters; A horizons are saturated in the winter and spring of most years. Slow to medium runoff. Very slow permeability in the 2Bt horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for range; mostly in military reservation, woodland, and homesites. Vegetation consists of annual grasses and forbs, and low brush in the south and woodland in the north.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central California Coast Ranges, MLRA 15. Only along the ocean in south and central California; Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey Counties. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monterey County, California, 1972.
REMARKS:
Particle Size Control Section for this pedon: 81 to 131 cm
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon 0 to 38 cm
Lithologic discontinuity: 81 to 170 cm
Aquic conditions: 38 to 170 cm
Redox concentrations: 38 to 170 cm
Durinodes: 5 to 58 cm
Redox depletions of chroma two or less: 89 to 170 cm
Albic horizon: 38 to 81 cm
Interfingering of albic materials: 81 to 89 cm
Slickensides: 89 to 170 cm
Argillic Horizon: 89 to 170 cm
The Narlon soils were formerly classified as Planosols.
The activity class was added to the classification in February of 2003. Competing series were not checked at that time. - ET
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 11/72.
The temperature regime and classification were updated in August 2024 using the Thirteenth Edition of Soil Taxonomy during the initial mapping of Vandenberg Space Force Base. This series was formerly classified as fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Albaquults.
ADDITIONAL DATA:
NASIS User Pedon ID: 08CA672002
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.