LOCATION SUEY CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, thermic Pachic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Suey silt loam, lemon orchard. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
O--1 inch to 0; annual grass litter.
A11--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; slightly acid (pH 6.5); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
A12--5 to 21 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and few fine roots; common very fine and few medium tubular pores; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 25 inches thick)
A13--21 to 40 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine and common fine and medium tubular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); diffuse wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
C--40 to 80 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) silt loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/2) moist; massive; hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine tubular pores; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0).
TYPE LOCATION: San Luis Obispo County, California; in a non-sectioned area, approximately 1,500 feet north and 5,800 feet east of the southeast corner of sec. 2, T.10N., R.34W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The soil between the depths of 6 and 19 inches is usually moist from the beginning of November to the middle of May and usually dry the rest of the year. Mean annual soil temperature is about 62 degrees to 64 degrees F. Organic matter is more than one percent at a depth of 22 to 30 inches. Base saturation is more than 75 percent in all parts. Clay content ranges from 17 to 25 percent but averages 18 to 20 percent in the 10- to 40-inch control section. Textures are heavy very fine sandy loam or silt loam throughout and are less than 15 percent fine sand and coarser.
The A horizon is dark grayish brown, dark brown, grayish brown, or brown (10YR 4/2, 4/3, 5/2, 5/3; 7.5YR 5/2). It is slightly acid or neutral.
Some pedons have a cambic (B) horizon with colors of brown, reddish brown, or yellowish red (7.5YR 5/4; 5YR 4/4, 5/4, 5/6), or mixed brown and pale brown (7.5YR 5/4 and 10YR 4/3), or mixed brown and pink (7.5YR 5/4 and 7.5YR 7/4). It is slightly acid to mildly alkaline.
The C horizon is yellowish brown, brown, pinkish gray, reddish brown, light reddish brown, or reddish yellow (10YR 5/4; 7.5YR 5/4, 6/2; 5YR 5/4, 6/4, 6/6). It is neutral to moderately alkaline and is noncalcareous.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Crow Hill series. Crow Hill soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches and contain large amounts of diatomaceous earth.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Suey soils are on terraces and hills and have slopes of 2 to 50 percent. They formed in loess deposits at elevations of 300 to 800 feet. The climate is subhumid mesothermal with warm, dry but foggy summers and cool, moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 13 to 18 inches. Average January temperature is about 51 degrees F.; average July temperature is about 63 degrees F.; mean annual temperature is 58 degrees to 59 degrees F. The frost-free season is 330 to 365 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Calodo, Concepcion, Diablo, Lodo, Nacimiento, Tierra, and Zaca soils. Calodo soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 10 to 20 inches. Concepcion, Diablo, Tierra, and Zaca soils have more than 35 percent clay. Also, Concepcion and Tierra soils have a B2t horizon. Lodo soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 4 to 20 inches. Nacimiento soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for lemons, grapes, sugar beets, wheat, avocados and pasture. Natural vegetation is annual grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal foothills of San Luis Obispo County, California. The soils are inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Luis Obispo County, California, Coastal Part, 1977.