LOCATION AUBERRY CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic Ultic Haploxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Auberry coarse sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
01--1/4 to 0; light grayish brown, annual grass and forb litter; loose when dry, mats weakly when moist.
A1--0 to 7 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coarse sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist, moderate fine and medium granular structure; slightly hard, friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine roots; many fine tubular pores; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
A3--7 to 12 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; slightly more compact and less porous than A1; few fine and medium roots; medium acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
B1t--12 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) heavy sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and medium roots; few fine tubular, common fine interstitial pores; appreciable pore fill and bridging with clay; medium acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
B2t--16 to 35 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) light sandy clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate coarse and very coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, slightly sticky and plastic; few fine and medium roots; few fine tubular pores; common moderately thick clay films; strongly acid (pH 5.3); abrupt smooth boundary.
B3--35 to 42 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) coarse sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and plastic; highly micaceous; few thin clay films; medium acid (pH 5.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 13 inches thick)
Cr--42 to 60 inches; very pale brown peppered with dark gray, strongly weathered parent rock, varied yellowish brown and dark gray moist; granitic rock fabric clearly visible; easily excavated material crushes to loamy coarse sand; neutral (pH 6.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Fresno County, California; approximately 1/2 mile west of New Auberry on the Auberry-North Fork Road in the NW1/4 NE1/4 section 6, T.10S., R.23E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a paralithic contact is 40 to 60 inches. The solum is 30 to 60 inches thick. The mean annual soil temperature at depth of 20 inches ranges from 59 to 65 degrees F. The section between depths of 8 and 24 inches becomes dry between mid-May and mid-June and remains dry until late October or early November. It is moist all of the rest of the year.
The A1 horizon to a depth of 4 to 7 inches is very dark grayish brown, grayish brown, brown or dark brown with moist value of 3 and 1.5 to 3.5 percent organic matter. Below this depth the A1 and A3 horizons are light brownish gray, pale brown, grayish brown or brown with moist value of 3 or 4, and have 0.5 to 1.5 percent organic matter. Moist value of 3 or more than 1 percent organic matter do not occur in the same pedons. It is sandy loam or coarse sandy loam. The horizon usually has weak to strong granular structure but some pedons are massive with slightly hard consistence.
The B2t horizon is grayish brown, light brownish gray, very pale brown, pale brown, light yellowish brown, brown, or strong brown in 10YR or 7.5YR hue. It is loam, clay loam or sandy clay loam and averages 20 to 30 percent clay and 18 to 30 percent very coarse sand and coarse sand. This horizon usually has angular blocky or subangular blocky structure but some pedons are massive. It is slightly acid to strongly acid. Base saturation is 50 to 75 percent in at least the upper 30 inches of the argillic horizon or in all parts.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Butte, Churn, Coombs, Sierra, Willits, and Wisheylu series. Butte soils have a lithic contact of rhyolitic bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches and have less than 18 percent very coarse and coarse sand in the B2t horizon. Churn soils have a B2t horizon thicker than 23 inches, solum thickness greater than 60 inches and lack a paralithic contact. Coombs soils lack a paralithic contact and have 50 to 90 percent rock fragments in the C horizon. Sierra soils have a hue of 2.5YR or 5YR in the B2t horizon. Willita soils are mottled in the B2t horizon, and lack a paralithic contact. Wisheylu soils have a paralithic contact at depth of 20 to 40 inches and have a dark colored B2t horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Auberry soils occur on mountainous uplands and foothills underlain by intrusive acid igneous rocks, principally quartz diorite or grandiorite. They occur at elevations of 400 to 3,500 feet. Slopes range from 5 to 75 percent. The climate is subhumid mesothermal, with warm to hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 15 to 45 inches, a small amount of which occurs as snow. The average January temperature is 41 to 44 degrees F. The average July temperature is 75 to 80 degrees F.; the average July temperature is 75 to 80 degrees F.; and the mean annual temperature is 59 to 64 degrees F. The average frost free season is 150 to 260 days, depending on elevation.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ahwahnee, Coarsegold, Holland, and Tollhouse soils and the competing Sierra soils. Ahwahnee soils have 14 to 18 percent clay in the B2t horizon. Coarsegold soils have a base saturation of more than 75 percent in the upper 30 inches of the argillic horizon. Holland soils occur at higher elevations on cooler sites and have a mean soil temperature of less than 59 degrees F. Tollhouse soils have a mollic epipedon and a paralithic contact above depth of 20 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for winter and spring range and dry summer pasture in places. Vegetation is woodland grass, annual grasses and forbes, and brush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The upper parts of the granitic foothills on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, central and southern Coast Range, and mountains of southern California. The soils are extensive.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Sampled as Auberry in 1978: S78CA-019-002. Pedon is a taxadjunct.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Madera Area, California, 1959.