LOCATION SHORTYORK CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, thermic Ultic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Shortyork gravelly loam - on a southwest facing convex slope of 28 percent under soft chess and wild oats at 475 meters (1,560 feet) elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on August 22, 1979, the soil was dry.)
Ap1--0 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate very fine granular structure; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular and interstitial pores; 15 percent 2 to 8 millimeters gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (18 to 25 centimeters thick)
Ap2--10 to 18 centimeters (4 to 7 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate, medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 15 percent 2 to 8 millimeter gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 15 centimeters thick)
BA--18 to 28 centimeters (7 to 11 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) extremely gravelly clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong very fine granular structure; soft friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many very fine and fine interstitial pores; 50 percent 2 to 25 millimeter gravel and 10 percent 75 to 150 millimeter cobbles; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (10 to 25 centimeters thick)
Bt--28 to 71 centimeters (11 to 28 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; strong angular blocky structure parting to weak fine prismatic; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; continuous distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 40 percent 2 to 50 millimeter gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.1); gradual wavy boundary. (23 to 50 centimeters thick)
C--71 to 200 centimeters; gravel; fractured graywacke and schist; fractures are 0.6 centimeters (1/4 inches) apart.
TYPE LOCATION: Mendocino County, California; on north edge of Simmerley Flat, east of Covelo, California; 150 feet south and 2,150 feet east of the northwest corner or section 2, T.22 N., R.12 W., MDBM.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil between a depth of 20 to 56 centimeters is dry in all parts from June to October in most years and is moist in all parts from November to May.
Soil temperature: 15 to 16 degrees C (59 to 61 degrees F). .
Depth to lithic material with fractures less than 10 centimeters apart: 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Mollic epipedon: 18 to 48 centimeters thick.
Particle size control section (weighted average):
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent
Clay content: 27 to 35 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid
Base saturation (sum): ranges from 75 to 90 percent throughout
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5YR, dry or moist
Value: 4 or 5, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 through 4, 1 through 3 moist
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent
Clay content: 20 to 27 percent
Organic carbon content: 1 to 3 percent
Base saturation: 50 to 75 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral
Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5YR
Value: 4 through 6, 2 through 4 moist, value > 3.5 below 49 centimeters
Chroma: 1 through 4, dry or moist
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent with very gravelly or very cobbly modifiers
Texture of fine earth: clay loam
Clay content: 27 to 35 percent
Base saturation: 35 to 75 percent
Reaction: strongly acid through slightly acid
C horizon:
Texture: gravel
Rock fragments: 95 to 100 percent gravel
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Campbellhills (CA) and Fifield (CA) series. Campbellhills soils are deep to lithic contact with basalt. Fifield soils average 18 to 25 percent clay in the control section and are moderately deep to lithic contact with sandstone.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Shortyork soils are on convex knobs of rolling sideslopes on hills and mountains and have slopes of 8 to 75 percent. The soils formed in material weathered from sandstone, schist, shale and graywacke. Elevations are 457 to 1220 meters (1,500 to 4,000 feet). The climate is subhumid with hot dry summers and cool moist winters. Mean annual precipitation varies from 640 to 1780 millimeters (25 to 70 inches). Mean January temperature is 4 degrees C (40 degrees F); mean July temperature is 22 degrees C (72 degrees F); mean annual temperature varies from 12 to 15 degrees C (54 degrees to 59 degrees F). Frost-free period is 125 to 250 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Tyson, Witherell, Yorktree and Yorkville soils. Tyson and Yorktree soils are mesic. Witherell soils are less than 20 inches deep to lithic material. Yorkville soils are fine.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very high runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, watershed and recreation. Vegetation is annual and perennial grasses and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal mountains of Northern California. The soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 15.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mendocino County, California, Eastern part, 1985.
REMARKS: The depth class was changed to reflect the fracture spacing in the lithic material in February 2008. - ET.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 28 centimeters (Ap1, Ap2, BA horizons)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 28 to 71 centimeters(Bt horizon)
Lithic material - the boundary at 71 centimeters (C layer)
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL Pedon 80P-518, S79CA-045-117. Location 39 degrees North Latitude 46 minutes, 2 seconds, 123 degrees West Longitude, 5 minutes, 53 seconds.