LOCATION THERMOPYL CA
Established Series
REV: PBF/ET
12/2015
THERMOPYL SERIES
The Thermopyl series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in mixed alluvium. Thermopyl soils are on fan remnants and fan skirts. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 5 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 66 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Cambidic Haplodurids
TYPICAL PEDON: On Gravesumit-Thermopyl complex, 2 to 4 percent slopes at an elevation of about 3,031 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface is covered by approximately 65 percent gravel.
A1 -- 0 to 1 inch; pale brown (10YR 6/3), very gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; strongly effervescent; 55 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary.
A2 -- 1 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3), gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; strongly effervescent; 30 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary.
A3 -- 3 to 6 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3), gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; strongly effervescent; 25 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 1 to 6 inches)
Bw -- 6 to 21 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive parting to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine, fine and medium roots; few strata, 5 to 10 mm thick, of slightly hard, firm, and brittle weakly cemented durinodic material; strongly effervescent; 25 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
Bkqm -- 21 to 27 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/2), moderately cemented and fractured duripan, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; hard, very firm, brittle; very few very fine roots widely spaced in fractures; violently effervescent; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Ckq1 -- 27 to 37 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2), very gravelly loamy sand, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; very few very fine, fine, and medium roots; multiple strata, 5 to 25 mm thick, of hard, very firm, brittle, weakly cemented durinodic material; very slightly effervescent; 45 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary.
Ckq2 -- 37 to 65 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3), very gravelly coarse sand, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; very few very fine, fine, and medium roots; multiple strata, 5 to 25 mm thick, of hard, very firm, brittle, weakly cemented durinodic material; noneffervescent; 55 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8).
TYPE LOCATION: San Bernardino County, California; about 800 feet east and 2,050 feet north of the SW corner of sec. 30, T. 13 N., R. 3 E.; 35 degrees, 11 minutes, 26 seconds north latitude, and 116 degrees, 42 minutes, 42 seconds west longitude; Langford Well 7.5 minute quadrangle; UTM 11S, 0526250e 3894001n (DTM:NAS-C).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture control section - usually dry, moist in some part for short periods during winter and early spring and for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and October following convection storms. The soils have a Typic-Aridic moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 63 to 72 degrees F.
Organic matter: 0 to 0.5 percent
Surface rock fragments: 35 to 75 percent gravel
Control section -
Texture of the fine earth: averages sandy loam; some pedons have thin strata of loamy sand or loamy coarse sand
Rock fragments: 10 to 30 percent
Clay content: 5 to 12 percent
Depth to duripan: 20 to 35 inches
A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry, and 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry, and 3 to 6 moist
Texture of the fine earth: loamy sand or sandy loam
Clay content: 3 to 10 percent
Rock fragments: 25 to 60 percent gravel
Effervescence: slightly to violently effervescent
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline
Bw horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, and 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture of the fine earth: loamy coarse sand or sandy loam
Clay content: 5 to 12 percent
Rock fragments: 5 to 30 percent gravel
Effervescence: very slightly to strongly effervescent
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline
Other features: 0 to 5 percent durinodes, or strata of
weakly to strongly cemented durinodic material
Bkqm horizon
Value: 5 to 8 dry, and 4 to 7 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry, and 3 or 4 moist
Cementation: moderately or strongly cemented
Ckq horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 7 dry, and 3, 5,or 7 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry, and 3, 4 or 6 moist
Texture of the fine earth: coarse sand, loamy sand, or
sandy loam
Clay content: 2 to 12 percent
Rock fragments: 20 to 55 percent gravel
Effervescence: noneffervescent to slightly effervescent
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalence: 1 to 5 percent
Durinodes: 10 to 50 percent as durinodes or strata of
weakly to strongly cemented durinodic material
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series at present.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Thermopyl soils are on fan remnants and fan skirts. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. These soils formed in mixed alluvium from dominantly granitic sources. Elevations are 2,400 to 3,400 feet. The climate is arid with hot, dry summers and warm, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 3 to 7 inches; mean annual air temperature is 61 to 70 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 240 to 340 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Crackerjack (T),
Granitepass (T), and
Gravesumit (T) and
Nasagold (T) soils. Crackerjack soils are on ballenas and are shallow to a cambidic duripan. Granitepass and Nasagold soils are on alluvial fans in similar positions. They do not have a duripan. Gravesumit soils are on adjacent fan remnants. They do not have a duripan, and have a calcic and an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very low through medium runoff; moderately rapid permeability above the duripan and rapid or very rapid permeability beneath the duripan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Thermopyl soils are used for military exercises and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is mainly creosotebush, white bursage, range ratany, winterfat and Indian ricegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mojave Desert of southeastern California. MLRA 30. These soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: PHOENIX, ARIZONA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Bernardino County, California, Fort Irwin Soil Survey Area, 2000. The name is from a local landform.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the profile are:
1. Ochric epipedon -- 0 to 6 inches (A1, A2, and A3
horizons)
2. Duripan -- 21 to 27 inches (Bkqm horizon)
3. Particle-size control section -- 10 to 21 inches (part
of the Bw horizon)
Responsibility for this series was transferred from Davis to Phoenix 12/2015. The last revision to the series was 6/2000. ET
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.