Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

LIVINGSTONE SOILS (LV)
Location and Extent : Livingstone soils occur only in the Langley Valley in the vicinities of Langley an d
Milner. There are about 170 ha of pure map units and 440 ha of soil complexes dominated by Livingstone soils .
The complexes are mainly with Murrayville, Cloverdale and Summer soils .
Topography and Elevation : Topographically, Livingstone soils vary from very gently to gently sloping o r
gently undulating with slopes between 1 and 5 percent . Elevations range between 15 to 25 m above sea level .
Parent Material and Texture : The parent material of Livingstone soils is moderately coarse-textured, ston -
free, littoral deposits, usually between 30 and 100 cm thick, which overlie fine-textured marine deposits .
Surface textures are loam or sandy loam, subsurface textures are loamy sand or sand and the subsoil varies
from clay to heavy clay .
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Livingstone soils are imperfectly to moderately poorly drained . They are
rapidly to moderately pervious in the surface and subsurface, changing to slowly pervious in the clayey subsoil .
They have moderate to low water holding capacity and slow surface runoff . Perched watertables develop abov e
the very slowly permeable subsoil during rainy periods and lateral seepage occurs at these times .
General Soil Description : Livingstone soils have a black to very dark gray, friable, cultivated, loam y
surface about 20 cm deep which contains about 15 percent organic matter. This is abruptly underlain by abou t
10 cm of reddish-gray or gray, leached, friable, sandy material which, in turn, is underlain by about 20 cm o f
reddish-brown, friable to firm, moderately structured, sandy material containing weakly cemented clods . Thi s
zone also contains many, prominent, strong brown mottles . Underlying this is a clayey layer about 10 cm thic k
which is gray to light gray, very firm, vertically cracked, partially leached, and contains many, prominen t
reddish-brown to yellowish-red mottles . Under this is a gray, clayey layer about 40 cm thick which is very firm
when moist and hard when dry, has strong, prismatic structure and contains many well-defined clay flows an d
prominent, yellowish-red mottles . Below about 100 cm, this clay enriched layer grades to greenish-gray ,
massive, clayey soil parent material containing a few, brown mottles . Soil reaction ranges from very strongly aci d
in the surface to slightly acid in the upper part of the clayey subsoil . Soil classification is Gleyed Sombric Humo -
Ferric Podzol.
Commonly Associated Soils : Summer, Cloverdale and Murrayville soils are usually closely associate d
with Livingstone soils . Summer soils differ from Livingstone soils by being imperfectly drained ; also also contai n
strongly cemented subsurface layers . Cloverdale soils differ by lacking the sandy overlay and are clayey to th e
surface . Murrayville soils are texturally similar to Livingstone soils but are imperfectly drained and lack the well -
defined, black surface layer .
Vegetation : Almost all areas of Livingstone soils are cleared and cultivated . The small, scattered, remainin g
uncleared areas support western red cedar, western hemlock, cottonwood and red alder, understoried b y
hardhack, sedges, skunk cabbage and other moisture tolerant species . Rooting is mainly restricted to th e
upper 60 cm by the dense subsoil and perched watertables .
General Land Use Comments : (1) Livingstone soils are moderately well suited for agricultural use .
Artificial drainage should be installed to control the perched watertables during the winter . Irrigation i s
beneficial during dry summers after the watertables disappear. (2) Urban uses of Livingstone soils are limite d
by high water tables, and variable bearing strengths of the underlying clay . Water is likely in basements an d
other excavations during the winter months and septic tank effluent disposal is severely impeded by the dense ,
slowly permeable subsoil and high watertables . (3) Livingstone soils appear moderately suited for tree specie s
such as western red cedar. Estimated potential mean annual increment of this species is about 6 .5 to 8 m3/ha .
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