Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

MATHEWS SOILS (MW)
Location and Extent : Mathews soils are found only along Boundary Bay in Delta Municipality where abou t
110 ha of pure map units are classified .
Topography and Elevation : Mathews soils are gently undulating to undulating with slopes between 1 and 3
percent . They occupy the highest locations in the associated landscape and elevations are about 2 m abov e
sea level .
Parent Material and Texture : Mathews soils have developed from medium-textured, stone-free, usuall y
stratified, mixed marine and freshwater deltaic deposits which grade to sand below depths of 1 m or more . Th e
surface texture is usually loam, with some variations to sandy loam or silt loam while the subsurface is either fin e
sandy loam, fine loamy sand or sandy loam . The subsoil varies from silt loam to silty clay loam in the upper par t
to increasingly sandy conditions at greater depths . Saline conditions are encountered at depths of 1 m or more .
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Drainage of Mathews soils varies from moderately poor to poor . They are
moderately pervious and have moderate water holding capacity and slow s u'rface runoff . A groundwater table i s
near the soil surface during most .of the rainy winter months but recedes sufficiently during the summer t o
produce droughty conditions in the latter part of the growing season .
General Soils Description : Mathews soils have a black to very dark brown, friable, granular, cultivated ,
loamy surface about 20 cm thick . It is underlain by about 30 cm of grayish-brown to gray, sandy material whic h
is weakly platy, friable, partially leached and contains common, prominent, yellowish-red to dark brown mottles .
This material grades to thin, alternating sandy and silty bands which are gray or olive-gray and contain som e
brownish mottles . Soil reaction varies from extremely acid in the surface and subsurface to medium acid in th e
upper subsoil, then becoming increasingly more acid with increasing depth . Soil classification is Orthic Humic
Gleysol.
Commonly Associated Soils : Guichon, Benson and Delta soils are usually associated with Mathews soils .
Guichon soils differ from Mathews soils by being saline within 50 to 75 cm of the soil surface while Benson soil s
differ by being both sandy and saline throughout . Delta soils are somewhat more poorly drained than Mathew s
soils and are silty in texture .
Vegetation : All areas of Mathews soils are cleared and cultivated . Rooting depth is generally restricted to
about 75 cm by the high winter watertables .
General Land Use Comments : (1) Mathews soils are suited for most annual crops although perennial s
suffer from high watertables during the winter. Artificial drainage is required for winter watertable control .
Irrigation is beneficial for good productivity during the summer. (2) High watertables and variable soil bearin g
strengths limit Mathews soils for urban and related uses . Basements and other excavations are likely to contai n
water during parts of the year while septic tank operation is severely limited by high watertables . Corrosion of
unprotected, in-ground installations is likely because of saline soil conditions at depth .
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