LOCATION TOLLHOUSE CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Entic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Tollhouse coarse sandy loam - native shrubs and naturalized grass. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
01--thin, scattered litter of dried grass parts and shrub leaves.
All--0 to 11 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coarse sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; common fine and few medium roots; about 15 percent of volume is fine rock fragments; slightly acid (pH 6.3); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 14 inches thick )
A12--11 to 18 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coarse sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; few fine and medium roots; about 15 percent of volume is fine rock fragments; medium acid (pH 6.0); abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Cr--18 to 24 inches; very pale brown and white with dark flecks, weathered quartz diorite; rock fabric clearly visible; crushes to very coarse sand; grades to unweathered rock.
TYPE LOCATION: Fresno County, California; 2-1/4 miles (airline) NE of town of Auberry; near the center of SW 1/4 of sec. 34, T.9S., R.23E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a paralithic contact of weathered rock is 5 to 20 inches. The mean annual soil temperature just above the rock is 54 degrees to 59 degrees. The soil temperature is not below 47 degrees at any time or is not below 47 degrees after the middle of February. Soil below a depth of about 8 inches usually is continuously dry from late May or in June until about November and is moist all the rest of the year. The soil profile is coarse sandy loam or sandy loam. Coarse and very coarse sand make up 20 to 50 percent of the soil material finer than 2mm. Clay content is less than 18 percent. Rock fragments, mostly as 2 tx 5mm. mineral grains, make up 5 to 35 percent of the soil volume. The soil is neutral to medium acid.
The A horizon is grayish brown to very dark grayish brown (10YR 5/2, 5/3, 4/1, 4/2, 3/2, 2.5Y 5/2) when dry and very dark gray to very dark brown (10YR 3/1, 3/2, 3/3, 2/2) when moist. It has 1.5 to 5 percent organic matter and 75 to 100 percent base saturation. This horizon has weak to moderate granular or weak subangular blocky structure.
In most pedons the A horizon rests directly on the weathered rock. In other pedons there is a C or AC horizon. Such horizons are grayish brown to very pale brown (10YR 5/2, 6/3, 6/4, 7/3, 2.5Y 5/2).
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Chehulpum series. Chehulpum soils have more than 18 percent clay in the particle size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tollhouse soils are strongly sloping to very steep and are in mountainous areas at elevations of 2,000 to about 8,000 feet. They formed in residuum weathered from granite and closely related coarse crystalline rocks. Rock outcrops are common to many. The climate is subhumid mesothermal with warm dry summers and wet cold winters. Mean annual precipitation is 10 to 35 inches. Snow is infrequent and soon melted. Average January temperature is about 40 degrees to 50 degrees., average July temperature is 70 degrees to 78 degrees., and the mean annual temperature is 52 degrees to 57 degrees. The freeze-free season is about 140 to 225 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Auberry, Ahwahnee, Crafton, Crouch, Kitchen Creek, La Posta, Mottsville and Sheephead soils. Auberry and Ahwahnee soils lack some of the properties of a mollic epipedon and the mean soil temperature is above 59 degrees. Crafton and La Posta soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Crouch soils have 50 to 75 percent base saturation and lack a paralithic contact at depths of 40 inches or less. Kitchen Creek soils have an argillic horizon. Mottsville soils are sandy and lack a paralithic contact. Sheephead soils have a base saturation of 50 to 75 percent.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively or excessively drained; rapid to very rapid runoff; moderately rapid or rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for wildlife, watershed, and limited grazing. Principal native plants are a chaparral of whitethorn, manztnita, California laurel, interior live oak, and California buckeye. Some naturalized grasses and forbs in some locations.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Intermediate elevations of the Sierra Nevada and mountains of the southwestern part of California. The soils are extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fresno County (Eastern Fresno Area) California, 1959.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 12/76.