LOCATION QUINTO CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Lithic Mollic Haploxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Quinto gravelly sandy loam - eroded, on a south-facing slope of 62 percent, under California buckwheat, California sagebrush, red brome, and wild oats at an elevation of 600 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. When described on June 16, 1981, the soil was dry to 12 inches and slightly moist below.)
A--0 to 6 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel 2 to 30 mm in size; 2.4 percent organic matter; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bt--6 to 17 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few thin clay films bridging sand grains; 15 percent rounded gravel 25 to 75 mm in size; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
R--17 inches; sandstone conglomerate bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Merced County, California; approximately 11 miles west southwest of the city of Gustine, in Quinto Creek Canyon, 2,200 feet southeast of the Merced County-Stanislaus County boundary, 200 feet upslope (north) from Quinto Creek; 2,600 feet east and 900 feet south of the northwest corner of section 11, T. 9 S., R. 7 E.; MDB&M; Latitude 37 degrees, 10 minutes, 18 seconds north and Longitude 121 degrees, 10 minutes, 14 seconds west; USGS Crevison Peak Topographic Quadrangle, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a lithic contact is 10 to 20 inches and is extremely variable over very short distances. Some pedons have a paralithic contact at a depth of 10 to 18 inches which occurs above the lithic contact. About 25 to 50 percent of the original surface horizon has been lost through erosion. The moisture control section is moist throughout from about November 15 to May 1 and dry throughout from about June 1 to October 15 most years. The soil temperature is below 47 degrees F. from January 1 to February 15. The mean annual soil temperature is 59 degrees to 66 degrees F. Rounded or angular rock fragment content, mainly as gravel, is 15 to 35 percent throughout the profile and varies considerably over short distances.
The A horizon has color of 5YR 5/4; 7.5YR 4/6, 5/4; 10YR 5/3, 5/4, 6/3 or 6/4. Moist color is 5YR 3/4; 7.5YR 3/4 or 10YR 3/3, 3/4. Organic matter content is 1 to 3 percent. Clay content is 10 to 20 percent. Cobble content is 0 to 3 percent. Reaction is slightly acid or neutral.
The Bt horizon has color of 5YR 5/3, 5/4, 5/6; 7.5YR 5/3, 5/4, 6/4; 10YR 5/4, 6/3 or 6/4. Moist color is 5YR 3/3, 3/4, 4/4, 4/6; 7.5YR 3/4, 4/4, 4/6, 5/4; 10YR 4/3 or 4/4. Organic matter content is less than 1 percent. Clay content is 20 to 35 percent. Cobble content is 0 to 7 percent. Reaction is slightly acid to slightly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Raggulch (T),
Saltos (T),
Stonyford and
Strahle (T) series. Raggulch soils (MLRA 17), on dissected terraces, are well drained, have slope of 5 to 30 percent and have hue color of 10YR and 2.5Y. Saltos soils (MLRA 15), on hills and mountains, are moist throughout for only 60 consecutive days. Stonyford soils (MLRA 15, 18), on mountains, have mean annual precipitation of 25 to 60 inches, formed in material weathered from basic igneous rocks and related tuff breccia with a lithic contact of metamorphosed basalt. Strahle soils (MLRA 18), on hills and mountains, formed mainly on volcanic and granitic rocks and have a lithic contact of hard, fractured andesitic rock and is moist in all parts for about 115 consecutive days.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Quinto soils are on mountains. Slope is 30 to 75 percent. These soils occur mostly on southern aspects. Elevation is 500 to 4,540 feet. These soils formed in material weathered from conglomerate or fractured sandstone dominantly from the
Franciscan and
Quiensabe Formations. The climate is subhumid with hot dry summers and cool moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 10 to 24 inches. Mean January temperature is about 46 degrees F.; mean July temperature is about 79 degrees F.; mean annual temperature is 56 to 63 degrees F. Frost-free season is 190 to 240 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Contra Costa,
Fifield,
Franciscan,
Gonzaga,
Honker, and
Millsholm soils. Contra Costa, Fifield, Franciscan, Gonzaga, and Honker soils, on mountains, are 20 to 40 inches to a lithic contact. Millsholm soils, on mountains, do not have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; high or very high runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for livestock grazing. Vegetation is California buckwheat, California sagebrush, red brome, wild oats, and other annual grasses and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils are in the Diablo Range in the California Coast Ranges. They are moderately extensive. MLRA 15.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Merced County, California 1984.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included with and mapped as rough stony land in the Los Banos Area, series 1939 report.