Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

BLANEY SOILS .
(BE)
Location and Extent : Blaney soils occur only on the University of British Columbia Research Forest, mainl y
near Blaney Lake . About 90 ha of soil complexes dominated by Blaney soils are mapped . The complexes are
with Marion and Cannell soils .
Topography and Elevation : Hilly to strongly rolling with slopes between 15 and 50 percent is the usua l
topography of Blaney soils . They range in elevation from 350 to 450 m above sea level . Blaney soils usuall y
occur in the mid- and upper slope positions of the landscape while Cannell soils are mostly on the ridges an d
Marion soils on the lower slopes and in the intervening swales .
Parent Material and Texture : Blaney soils have developed from moderately coarse to coarse-texture d
morainal (glacial till) deposits derived mainly from granitic rock . The deposits are usually more than 1 m but les s
than 3 m thick over rock . Surface, subsurface and subsoil textures vary from gravelly loamy sand to gravell y
sandy loam and are very to excessively stony. The soils are strongly cemented below about 60 cm of th e
surface .
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Blaney soils are well to moderately well drained . They are rapidly perviou s
in the upper 60 cm or so but are slowly pervious in the cemented subsoil . They also have low water holdin g
capacity and slow to moderate surface runoff . During and after heavy rain, a temporary, perched watertabl e
develops quickly above the cemented zone and telluric seepage moves laterally along its surface .
General Soil Description : Blaney soils have up to 10 cm of raw to well-decomposed forest litter on th e
mineral soil surface . This is underlain by 2 to 5 cm of light gray, loose, leached sandy material, which, in turn, i s
underlain by a gravelly and sandy zone, about 40 cm thick, which varies in colour from brown and dark reddis h
brown to yellowish-brown and contains between 8 and 12 percent organic matter . It is friable to loose an d
contains scattered, moderately cemented patches, and usually, awell-developed root concentration layer nea r
the bottom. The soil then changes abruptly to massive, strongly cemented, grayish-brown material similar i n
texture to the layer above . The cemented layer continues downward for about 50 cm and then grades graduall y
into softer, grayish-brown soil parent material or overlies bedrock . Soil reaction varies from extremely to ver y
strongly acid throughout . Soil classification is Duric Ferro-Humic Podzol .
Commonly Associated Soils : Marion, Cannell and Eunice soils generally occur in close association wit h
Blaney soils . Marion soils differ from Blaney soils in that they usually lie in topographically lower landscap e
positions and are imperfectly drained . Cannell soils consist of less than 100 cm of soil over bedrock whil e
Eunice soils are composed of 10 cm or more of organic forest floor accumulations over bedrock .
Vegetation : The vegetation of Blaney soils consists mainly of second-growth coast Douglas-fir, wester n
hemlock and western red cedar interspersed with various deciduous species . Rooting depth is restricted t o
about 75 cm by the cemented subsoil and a well defined zone of root concentration (root mat) is usually presen t
immediately above the cemented zone .
General Land Use Comments : (1) Steep slopes, excessive stoniness and coarse textures make Blane y
soils unsuitable for agricultural uses . (2) Road and building construction is difficult due to steep slopes an d
relatively shallow bedrock . Inefficient operation of septic tank disposal fields can be expected due to cemented,
slowly permeable subsoils and steep slopes . (3) Blaney soils produce good forest growth althoug h
droughty conditions are limiting during periods of low rainfall . Estimated productivity of coast Douglas-fir is 9 t o
12 m 3/halyr.
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