Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

MURRAYVILLE SOIL S
Location and Extent : Murrayville soils occupy scattered, upland areas, mainly in the Langley Valley and o n
Bowen Island . There are about 35 ha of pure map units and 740 ha of soil complexes dominated by Murrayvill e
soils . The complexes are with Livingstone, Berry, Bose, Sunshine and Milner soils .
Topography and Elevation : The topography of Murrayville soils varies from gently undulating to moder -
ately rolling with slopes up to 15 percent . Elevations are between 15 and 40 m above sea level in the Langley
Valley but rise to over 100 m on Bowen Island .
Parent Material and Texture : Murrayville soils have developed from about 50 to 100 cm of moderatel y
coarse to medium-textured, stone-free littoral or fluvial deposits that overlie fine-textured marine sediments .
Surface textures are loam or fine sandy loam while subsurface textures vary from loamy fine sand to sandy loam .
The texture of the underlying marine sediments varies from clay to silty clay .
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Murrayville soils are mostly imperfectly drained with some moderately wel l
drained inclusions . They are moderately pervious in the surface and subsurface layers but this decreases to
slowly pervious in the clayey subsoil . These soils have moderate water holding capacity and slow surfac e
runoff . Perched watertables above the dense subsoil are usual during the winter and other times of prolonge d
rain .
General Soil Description : Murrayville soils have up to about 5 cm of organic forest litter on the soil surface .
This is underlain by a dark reddish brown, friable, loamy layer about 20 cm thick that contains scattered, fine ,
spherical concretions . This layer grades to about 50 cm of dark brown to dark yellowish brown, very friable, fin e
sandy material containing few to common, reddish mottles in the lower part . This, in turn, is underlain, ofte n
abruptly, by about 10 cm of olive-brown, firm, blocky, partially leached, clayey material containing common ,
brownish or yellowish mottles . Under this is about 50 cm of olive-gray, very firm, prismatic structured, dense ,
clayey material slightly enriched with eluviated clay, and containing few to common clay skins and flows as wel l
as common to many, prominent, yellowish-red mottles . Below about 130 cm, massive, clayey, olive-gray ,
unweathered marine sediments occur containing common, reddish mottles . Soil reaction varies from strongly t o
moderately acid in the upper 70 cm, then gradually increases to neutral below about 100 cm (1 :1 HAD) . Soi l
classification is mostly Gleyed Humo-Ferric Podzol, with some Luvisolic Humo-Ferric Podzol present where
subsoil eluvial clay enrichment is greater than usual .
Commonly Associated Soils : Berry, Milner, Livingstone, Sunshine and Bose soils often occur in clos e
association with Murrayville soils . Berry and Milner soils differ from Murrayville soils by lacking the loamy t o
sandy surface and subsurface textures ; they are silty instead . Livingstone soils have textures similar to
Murrayville soils but are moderately poorly to poorly drained and have black surfaces . Sunshine soils differ b y
having sandy surface, subsurface and subsoil textures and are well to moderately well drained . Bose soils have
gravelly surface and subsurface textures .
Vegetation : Most Murrayville soil areas are cleared and cultivated . Uncleared areas support, among others ,
black cottonwood, coast Douglas-fir, western red cedar, red alder, vine maple, blackberry, thimbleberry ,
salmonberry, bracken and grass . Rooting is mainly restricted to the zone above the dense subsoil, usuall y
about 90 cm, but some roots penetrate to in excess of 100 cm .
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