LOCATION WASIOJA CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Haploxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Wasioja fine sandy loam, fallow grain field.
(Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine and very fine interstitial and common medium and few very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
A1--6 to 19 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fine sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and common very fine and fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); gradual irregular boundary. (10 to 14 inches thick)
A2--19 to 26 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fine sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; very hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular and many very fine interstitial pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--26 to 32 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common fine tubular pores; common moderately thick clay films on faces of peds and continuous thin clay bridges connect mineral grains; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
Bt2--32 to 44 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine tubular and few very fine interstitial pores; continuous thin clay bridges between mineral grains, and few moderately thick clay films on faces of peds; more compact and brittle than the Bt1 horizon; about 1 percent gravel; slightly effervescent in soil mass and strongly effervescent with lime in filaments and coatings; thin coating of lime on faces of most peds; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual irregularboundary. (9 to 14 inches thick)
BCt--44 to 55 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; massive; very hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine tubular and common very fine interstitial pores; many thin clay bridges between mineral grains; about 1 percent gravel; strongly effervescent with lime coatings in seams and slightly effervescent in soil mass; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual irregular boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
C--55 to 74 inches; yellow (10YR 7/6) loamy sand, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) moist; massive; hard, very friable; many very fine interstitial pores; about 25 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) weakly cemented heavy loamy sand aggregates that are veryhard dry; violently effervescent, with lime in the entire mass; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Barbara County, California; approximately 2.75 miles south and 0.5 mile west of Cuyama; 1.5 miles east on Foothill road from intersection of Bell Road to entrance of 3L Ranch; NE1/4, NW1/4, section 2, T.9 N., R.26 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is about 60 degrees F. and the soil temperature usually is below 47 degrees F. from late January until late February. The soil between depths of about 5 and 15 inches is usually dry all of the time from about May 10 until January 1 and is moist in some or all parts all the rest of the year. Some pedons have less than 2 percent rock fragments in the A, B, and C horizons. Pedons with more rock fragments usually have both cobblestones and gravel. Cobblestones range up to 15 percent of the A and Bt horizons and up to 30 percent of BC or C horizons. Gravel makes up to 20 percent of the A and Bt horizons and up to 50 percent of the BC or C horizons.
The A horizons is 10YR 5/3, 5/4, 6/2, 6/3, 6/4. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam or loam and has less than 18 percent clay. In most pedons this horizon is massive and hard or very hard throughout. In some pedons this horizon has weak or moderate structure. This horizon is slightly acid to moderately alkaline and becomes more alkaline with increasing depth. It is calcareous in the lower part in some pedons. The A-Bt horizon boundary is abrupt or clear.
The Bt horizon is 10YR 5/3, 5/4, 5/6, 6/3, 6/4, 6/6 and 7/4. It is clay loam, loam, or sandy clay loam and averages 20 to 25 percent clay. This horizon has weak to moderate angular or subangular blocky structure in most parts and in some pedons is massive in the lower part. It is slightly or moderately alkaline. In some pedons disseminated and segregated carbonates are usually present in some part but are lacking in the upper half of the horizon.
The C horizon is variable as to texture. Many pedons have coarse stratification and the texture is loamy sand, sandy loam, loam or sandy clay loam. Some strata are very cobbly.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Accelerator, Arbuckle, Blasingame, Boga, Borden, Bressa, Creviscreek(T), Esparto, Fallbrook, Loemstone, Montpellier, Nodhill, Pomo, Ramona, Sesame, Snelling, Tivy(T), and Wyman series. Each of these soils have a xeric moisture regime and are moist for more than 90 continuous days when the soil temperature is above 47 degrees F. Accelerator soils have a paralithic contact at 40 to 60 inches. Boga soils are 60 to 80 inches deep to a dense substratum and do not have carbonates in the argillic horizon. Blasingame, Bressa, and Tivy soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Creviscreek and Pomo soils are not calcareous in the argillic horizon. Fallbrook, Montpellier, Ramona, and Wyman soils have hue redder than 10YR in the Bt horizon. Loem stone soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to a dense substratum, Nodhill soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to weakly cemented sediments. Snelling soils lack free lime in the soil profile. Sesame soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Wasioja soils are on smooth alluvial fans, fan remnants, and dissected terraces at elevations of 800 to 4,500 feet. Gradients are 0 to 50 percent. They formed in alluvium that averages medium texture, is more or less gravelly and cobbly, and is derived from sedimentary, metasedimentary and mixed rock sources. The climate is semiarid with hot dry summers and cool, somewhat moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 7 to 12 inches and snow is quickly melted. Average January temperature is about 43 degrees F., average July temperature is about 75 degrees F., and mean annual temperature is 58 to 60 degrees F. The freeze-free season is 175 to 300 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kettleman, Panoche, and Pleasanton soils. Kettleman and Panoche soil lack Bt horizons and are calcareous throughout. Pleasanton soils lack free lime in the profile.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; negligible to high runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for grazing and for growing dryland small grain and some irrigated field crops on the smoother slopes. Vegetation in uncultivated areas is an open cover of annual grasses, forbs, low shrubs, and a few juniper trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cuyama Valley in south-central California, MLRA 17. The soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Santa Barbara County, California, 1973.
REMARKS: Classification considerations are a massive and hard or very hard surface and the soils have a xeric bordering on aridic moisture regime. Might be Xeralfic Haplargids and they will need further studies.
The activity class was added to the classification in January of 2003. Competing series were not checked at that time. - ET
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon - 26 to 55 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Particle-size control section - upper 20 inches of argillic horizon (Bt1 and part of Bt2 horizon)