LOCATION PERKINS                 CA

Established Series
Rev. WRR/DJL/WBS/DJE/SBS/DWB/AEC
03/2018

PERKINS SERIES


The Perkins series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from mixed rock sources. Perkins soils are on terraces and have slopes of 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 24 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 62 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Mollic Haploxeralfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Perkins loam - on a west facing slope of 1 percent under annual grasses at an elevation of 142 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described on June 14, l984, the soil was slightly moist below 20 inches.)

A--0 to 5 inches (0 to 13 cm); brown (7.5YR 5/4) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; massive; very hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 2 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)

Bt1--5 to 13 inches (13 to 33 cm); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine, fine and medium tubular pores; common thin clay films lining pores; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 21 inches thick)

Bt2--13 to 23 inches (33 to 58 cm); yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine and fine and many medium tubular pores; common thin clay films on ped faces and lining pores; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 17 inches thick)

Bt3--23 to 35 inches (58 to 89 cm); yellowish red (5YR 5/6) loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine, fine and medium and few coarse tubular pores; common thin clay films on ped faces and lining pores; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 6.8); gradual smooth boundary. (12 to 18 inches thick)

Bt4--35 to 47 inches (89 to 119 cm); yellowish red (5YR 5/6) loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine and few medium tubular pores; common thin clay films on ped faces; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual smooth boundary. (12 to 25 inches thick)

Bt5--47 to 58 inches (119 to 147 cm); yellowish red (5YR 5/6) loam; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine and few medium tubular pores; common thin clay films lining pores; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 11 inches thick)

BC--58 to 66 inches (147 to 168 cm); yellowish red (5YR 5/6) sandy loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine pores; 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 25 inches thick)

C--66 to 72 inches (168 to 183 cm); yellowish red (5YR 4/6) very cobbly sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine pores; 35 percent cobbles; 20 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 7.2).

TYPE LOCATION: Yuba County, California; Beale AFB, about 0.5 miles southwest of Capehart Housing, about 3,400 feet south and 1,150 feet east of the northwest corner of section 6, T.14 N., R.6 E., Camp Far West Quad. 39 degrees 5 minutes 32 seconds north latitude, 121 degrees 21 minutes 15 seconds west longitude, NAD83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 61 degrees F to 68 degrees F and the soil temperature remains above 47 degrees F at all times. The 6 to 17 inch soil moisture control section is dry in all parts from May 15 to October 31 and moist in all parts from November 15 to May l.

The A horizon has dry color of 10YR 5/6, 5/4, 5/3, 5/2, 4/3; 7.5YR 3/4, 4/6, 5/4, 5/2, 4/4, 4/2; or 5YR 5/6 and moist color of 10YR 3/4, 3/3, 3/2; 7.5YR 3/4, 3/3, 3/2; 5YR 3/3, 3/4, or 3/6. Texture is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam or loam and gravel ranges from 1 percent to as much as 35 percent. In untilled areas the organic matter is 1.5 to 7 percent in the upper 4 inches, but decreases to less than 1 percent 7 to 10 inches below the surface. The A horizon is hard or very hard and is massive in some or all parts. It is medium acid to neutral. Some pedons have a gradual or diffuse boundary between the A horizon and the Bt horizon.

The Bt horizon has dry color of 7.5YR 4/4, 5/6; 5YR 6/4, 5/6, 5/4, 4/6, 4/8; 2.5YR 5/6, 5/4, 4/6 or 4/4 and moist color of 5YR 5/4, 4/6, 4/4, 3/6, 3/4; 2.5YR 4/4, 4/6, 3/6 or 3/4. The upper part of the horizon has dry color of 7.5YR 5/6, 5/4 or 3/4 and moist color of 4/6, 4/4 or 3/4. Texture is loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, gravelly loam, gravelly clay loam, gravelly sandy clay loam, or very gravelly sandy clay loam and averages 25 to 35 percent clay and 5 to 35 percent gravel. The horizon has weak prismatic, moderate or strong angular or subangular blocky structure. It is neutral to medium acid and base saturation is 75 to 100 percent. Some pedons have 35 to 50 percent gravel and 5 to 15 percent cobbles below a depth of 40 inches.

The BC or C horizon has dry color of 7.5YR 4/6; 5YR 5/6 or 4/6 and moist color of 7.5YR 4/6, 3/4; 5YR 4/6, 3/4; or 2.5YR 3/6. This horizon is stratified with textures of clay loam, loam, sandy clay loam or sandy loam or their gravelly, cobbly very gravelly or very cobbly equivalents with 10 to 30 percent clay and 5 to 65 percent coarse fragments. Some thin individual strata are relatively gravel free. Reaction is slightly acid to neutral.

Some pedons lack BC or C horizons.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bellyspring, Coarsegold, Hicksville, Olashes, Pleasanton, Redsluff and Rescue series. Bellyspring soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to paralithic sandstone bedrock. Coarsegold soils have a lithic or paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Hicksville soils lack 5YR and 2.5YR hues. Pleasanton soils have less than 25 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon. Redsluff soils have less than 10 percent clay and greater than 60 percent rock fragments in the C horizon. Rescue and Olashes soils lack rock fragments in the Bt horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Perkins soils are on terraces. Slope is 0 to 30 percent but usually have slopes of less than 9 percent. Elevation is 50 to 1,700 feet. They formed in alluvium from a variety of rock sources, including sedimentary, granitic, and metamorphosed acid- igneous rock. The climate has hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 14 to 43 inches. Average January temperature is 45 to 52 degrees F., average July temperature is 71 to 80 degrees F., and the mean annual temperature is 58 to 65 degrees F. The freeze-free season is 230 to 310 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Auburn, Cometa, Corning, Cortina, Churn, San Joaquin, and Sorrento soils. Auburn soils lack an argillic horizon and have in some part a lithic contact at a depth of less than 20 inches. Cometa and Corning soils have more than 35 percent clay and have an abrupt A-Bt horizon boundary. Cortina soils lack an argillic horizon and have more than 35 percent rock fragments. Churn soils have 50 to 75 percent base saturation in the argillic horizon. San Joaquin soils have a duripan. Sorrento soils have a mollic epipedon.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability. Some areas are subject to rare or occasional flooding.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for growing field crops, citrus, olives, pasture, small grain, hay and range and home site development. Dominantly, plants are naturalized grasses and forbs. The principal native plants are live oak, California sagebrush, blue oak, valley oak, and shrubs.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sacramento Valley and intermountain valleys of southern California. The series is extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sacramento County (Sacramento Area), California, 1946.

REMARKS: This revision represents a change in the type location from Sacramento Co. which no longer has any Perkins soil. The Ojai Series as mapped in the Ventura SSA has been inactivated and correlated to Perkins.
Edits to description and competing series section updated for use in Butte Co.
2017 edits are from SDJR projects-AEC


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.