LOCATION TRANQUILLITY CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Sodic Haploxererts
TYPICAL PEDON: Tranquillity clay, saline-sodic, wet - on a nearly level slope of less than 1 percent in a cultivated fallow field at 172 feet elevation. (Colors are for air dry soil unless otherwise stated). When described April 22, 1986, the soil was dry from 0 to 6 inches and moist below.)
Ap1--0 to 6 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; strong coarse subangular blocky structure, extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent, carbonates disseminated; calcium carbonate equivalent is 3 percent; electrical conductivity is 2.6 decisiemens per meter; sodium adsorption ratio is 14; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
Ap2--6 to 16 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure, very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent, carbonates disseminated and segregated as few fine irregularly shaped concentrations; calcium carbonate equivalent is 4 percent; common fine irregularly shaped gypsum crystals; gypsum content is less than 1 percent; electrical conductivity is 8.7 decisiemens per meter; sodium adsorption ratio is 24; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 18 inches thick)
Bknssyz1--16 to 31 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure, very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; common intersecting slickensides; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated and segregated as common fine threads; calcium carbonate equivalent is 4 percent; common fine irregularly shaped gypsum crystals; gypsum content is 1 percent; electrical conductivity is 10.7 decisiemens per meter; sodium adsorption ratio is 28; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (14 to 16 inches thick)
Bknssyz2--31 to 48 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) clay; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; massive, hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine tubular pores; common intersecting slickensides; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated and segregated as common fine threads; calcium carbonate equivalent is 4 percent; common fine irregularly shaped gypsum crystals; gypsum content is 2 percent; electrical conductivity is 10.9 decisiemens per meter; sodium adsorption ratio is 29; few fine prominent, recent brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist, irregularly shaped masses of iron accumulation; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (15 to 19 inches thick)
Bknyz--48 to 65 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; massive, hard, firm, sticky and very plastic; few very fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated and segregated as common fine threads; calcium carbonate equivalent is 4 percent; common fine irregularly shaped gypsum crystals; gypsum content is 6 percent; electrical conductivity is 12.6 decisiemens per meter; sodium adsorption ratio is 33; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary
TYPE LOCATION: Fresno County, California; approximately 3 miles south of the community of Mendota and 142 feet south of Jensen Avenue; approximately 142 feet south and 1,550 feet west of the northeast corner of section 19, T. 14 S., R. 15 E., MDB&M; Latitude 36 degrees 42 minutes 16 seconds north and Longitude 120 degrees 22 minutes 26 seconds west; USGS Tranquillity Topographic Quadrangle, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Unless irrigated, vertical cracks, when dry, extend from the surface and range from 0.5 to 2 inches wide at a depth of 20 inches. The cracks usually close from December thru April for 100 to 151 consecutive days. Intersecting slickensides occur in some horizon or horizons below a depth of 16 inches, just below the modified Ap horizons. The mean annual soil temperature is 63 to 66 degrees F.
The Ap horizon has color of 5Y 4/1, 5/1, 5/2; 2.5Y 5/2, 5/3, 5/4, 6/2, 6/3 or 6/4. Moist color is 5Y 4/1, 4/2, 4/3, 4/4; 2.5Y 4/2, 4/3 or 4/4. Organic matter is 0.5 to 2 percent. Texture is clay or silty clay. Linear extensibility percent is 9 to 15. Calcium carbonate equivalent is 1 to 4 percent. Gypsum content is 0 to 3 percent. Electrical conductivity is 0 to 15 decisiemens per meter. Sodium adsorption ratio is 4 to 25.
The B horizon has color of 5Y 5/2, 6/1, 6/2; 2.5Y 5/2, 6/2, 6/3 or 6/4. Moist color is 5Y 5/1; 2.5Y 4/2, 4/3, 4/4, 5/2 or 5/3. Organic matter content is 0.1 to 1 percent. Texture is clay or silty clay. Linear extensibility percent is 6 to 15 to a depth of at least 50 inches and is 3 to 14 below 50 inches. Calcium carbonate equivalent is 2 to 5 percent. Gypsum content is 0 to 8 percent. Electrical conductivity is 2 to 15 decisiemens per meter. Sodium adsorption ratio is 8 to 50. Most horizons above 40 inches have a sodium adsorption ratio greater than 13 for 6 or more months in most years. Electrical conductivity, sodium adsorption ratio and gypsum content are affected by agricultural practices and the depth to a high water table.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alcapay and Chinapoint (T) series. Alcapay soils (MLRA 17), in nearly level basins, have mean annual precipitation of 14 to 16 inches and have 10YR color hues. Chinapoint (T) soils (MLRA 19), on hills and terraces near the coast of California, have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches and have 10YR color hues.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tranquillity soils are on fan skirts. Slope is 0 to 1 percent. Elevation is 135 to 360 feet. These soils formed in alluvium derived dominantly from calcareous sedimentary rock. The climate is arid with hot dry summers and cool, somewhat moist winters. Fog is common in the winter. The mean annual precipitation is 7 to 8 inches. Mean January temperature is about 44 degrees F; mean July temperature is about 81 degrees F; mean annual temperature is 62 to 64 degrees F. The frost-free season is 220 to 250 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Calflax, Ciervo, Lillis and Tachi series. Calflax soils, on fan skirts, have a fine-loamy particle-size control section. Ciervo soils, on fan skirts, do not have intersecting slickensides. Lillis soils, on fan skirts, have a very fine particle-size control section and B horizons that have electrical conductivity of 8 to 50 decisiemens per meter. Tachi soils, on flood plains on basin floors, have a very fine particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; runoff is high; very slow permeability. A high water table is at a depth of 4 to 6 feet or greater.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for irrigated crops such as cotton and wheat. They are also used for wildlife habitat and recreation on the west edge of the Mendota Wildlife Management Area. Vegetation on wildlife management areas consists primarily of timothy, watergrass and saltbush (Atriplex spp.).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: San Joaquin Valley, California. The series is of large extent. MLRA 17.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fresno County, California, 2002. Tranquillity soils are named after the Tranquillity USGS Topographic Quadrangle and the community of Tranquillity.
REMARKS: Previously mapped as Oxalis series in the Soil Survey of the Mendota Area, California, Series 1940, No. 18.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data sample numbers S86CA019-001 (3123-3127) for this official series typical pedon. Another characterization data sample number is S87CA019-013 (1470-1477) for a taxonomic unit. Other NSSL data sample numbers include S85CA019-002 (5357-5362). Reference sample numbers S81CA019-006 (827434-827436), S82CA019-003 (837804-837805) and S82CA019-005 (837806-837808) are not available online from the NSSC laboratory.