Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

WHATCOM SOIL S
Plate 42 A typical undulating to rolling
landscape in which Whatcom soils dominate
. Sometimes the ridges are Nicholso n
soils and generally, the depressions are either
Scat or Albion soils .
Location and Extent : Whatcom soils are one of the dominant soils of the uplands of the map area . Th e
largest areas are in Matsqui, Langley and Maple Ridge Municipalities with lesser areas in Surrey and Missio n
Municipalities . Small areas also occur near Gibsons and northwest of Sechelt . About 3090 ha of pure map unit s
and 17940 ha of complexes dominated by Whatcom soils are mapped . The complexes are mostly wit h
Nicholson, Scat . Albion . Bose and Sunshine soils .
Topography and Elevation : The topography of Whatcom soils generally varies from undulating to moder -
ately rolling with slope gradients from 2 to 15 percent ; along gullies and in other small areas the gradients ma y
exceed 60 percent . Whatcom soils usually occupy the slopes and commonly the ridges of the uneve n
landscape . Elevations range from 20 to 150 m above sea level .
Parent Material and Texture : Whatcom soils have developed from moderately fine to fine glaciomarin e
r -Fr--
deposits, capped in some areas by up to 50 cm of medium-textured aeolian material . The wind-blown cappin g
is most prevalent in the eastern part of the map area . Surface and subsurface textures are silt loam while th e
subsoil grades to compact, dense, silty clay loam or silty clay . Occasional stones and gravel are usually present
in the glaciomarine material .
L Soil Moisture Characteristics : Whatcom soils are moderately well to well drained . They are moderatel y
pervious in the surface and subsurface ; this decreases to slowly pervious in the compact subsoil . They also
have high water holding capacity and slow to moderate surface runoff, depending on the steepness of th e
slopes . Temporary. perched watertables develop above the compact, dense subsoil during periods of heav y
_ precipitation and lateral seepage occurs in this zone during these periods .
}0
197