Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Location and Extent : Ladner soils occurMainly in Delta Municipality. Lesser areas are found in Richmon d
Municipality and In the Serpentine-Nicomekl Valley . There are about 1220 ha of pure map units and 450 ha of soi l
Complexes dominated by Ladner soils . The complexes are mostly with Delta and Guichon soils .
Topography and Elevation : The topography of Ladner soils varies from level to gently undulating wit h
slopes less than 2 percent . Land levelling has occurred in some areas . Elevations vary from 1 to 3 m above se a
. -~ - level .
parent Material and Texture : Ladner soils have developed from moderately fine and some fine-textured .
stone-free . mixed marine and freshwater deltaic deposits which are underlain by sandy materials at depth s
below 100 cm or more . Surface textures are mostly silty clay loam with variations to silt loam, subsurfaces are
usually silty clay and subsoil textures range from silty clay loam to silt loam . Below about 120 cm, textures
erne sandier and saline conditions are usually encountered . The deposits below about 75 cm usually als o
in substantial amounts of compounds high in sulphur:
Plate 28 A view across an area o f
Ladner soils on the lowlands of Delta Municipality.
Potatoes, in the foreground . and
corn, oats and pasture in the middle dis -
tance, are being produced on these nearly
level soils .
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Ladner soils are moderately poorly to poorly drained . They are moderatel y
to slowly pervious and have high water holding capacity and slow surface runoff . High watertables are usual
ring the winter and surface pending is common during and after heavy rains . The watertable usually recede s
to 100 cm or more during the summer .
General Soil Description : Ladner soils generally have a very dark gray. firm, silty to clayey, cultivate d
surface layer between 15 and 20 cm thick. it is underlain by 5 to 10 cm of grayish, partially leached, very firm .
silty to clayey material containing common, reddish-brown mottles . This, in turn, is underlain by a clayey laye r
about 30 cm thick which is grayish-brown . very firm and plastic . has strong . prismatic structure and contain s
many reddish or brownish mottles. Well-developed clay flows in pores and root channels and on ped surface s
are also present . This clay enriched layer grades to about 40 cm of gray or dark gray, massive, silty materia l
containing a few, reddish or yellowish mottles . Gradual change then occurs to dark gray or olive-gray, saline .
massive, silty material (with a few, thin, sandy lenses) containing common, yellow mottles and hard, reddish o r
brownish tubules around old root channels. Surface and subsurface soil reaction is variable depending o n
management practises but is usually very strongly or stronf; , , ow about 50 cr hanges to extremel y
acid . Soil classification is Humic Luvic Gleysof
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