Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

BOOSEY SOILS (BY)
Location and Extent : Boosey soils occupy a few, small areas on the uplands in the western half of the ma p
area, mainly in Surrey and Delta Municipalities . There are about 35 ha of pure map units and 15 ha of soi l
complexes dominated by Boosey soils . The complexes are mainly with Bose and Heron soils .
Topography and Elevation : Boosey soils are depressional to gently undulating with most slopes less tha n
5 percent . Elevations range from 20 to 100 m above sea level .
Parent Material and Texture : The parent material of Boosey soils consists of 30 to 160 cm of gravell y
marine lag or glaciofluvial deposits overlying mostly glacial till and sometimes, glaciomarine sediments .
Gravelly sandy loam or gravelly loamy sand are the usual surface textures . These grade to gravelly loamy san d
or gravelly sand in the subsurface . The underlying compact, glacial till is gravelly sandy loam while th e
glaciomarine deposits are silty clay loam . The upper part of the soil is usually moderately stony .
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Boosey soils are poorly drained . They are rapidly pervious in upper sand y
and gravelly layers but this changes to slowly pervious in the underlying glacial till and glaciomarine deposits .
Water holding capacity is low and surface runoff is slow . Boosey soils are often accumulation areas for runof f
and seepage from higher, adjacent land and watertables perch above the compact, subsoil materials . During
periods of heavy, prolonged rain surface ponding is common .
General Soil Description : Boosey soils usually have 5 cm or less of mostly deciduous forest litter on the soi l
surface . This is underlain by about 20 cm of friable, very dark brown, gravelly material enriched with organi c
matter that grades to about 50 to 100 cm of grayish-brown, loose, gravelly soil containing common, yellowish -
brown mottles . Below this a clear to abrupt change to compact, grayish-brown glacial till or glaciomarin e
deposits containing yellowish-brown mottles occurs . Soil classification is Rego Humic Gleysol .
Commonly Associated Soils : Bose and Heron soils are usually closely associated with Boosey soils . Bos e
soils differ from Boosey soils by being well to moderately well drained . Heron soils have similar drainage as
Boosey soils but are sandy rather than gravelly in the upper part .
Vegetation : Some areas are cleared and used mostly for pasture and forage . Uncleared areas support mainly
red alder, black cottonwood and some maple and birch with a relatively dense shrubby understory and som e
moss on the soil surface . Rooting depths are limited to between 50 and 100 cm by perched watertables an d
compact subsoil layers .
General Land Use Comments : (1) Use for agriculture is limited by poor drainage, low water holdin g
capacity and stoniness . Some areas with adequate outlets can be improved by artificial drainage . Irrigation i s
required to alleviate droughty conditions during most growing seasons . (2) Poor drainage and perche d
watertables make construction difficult during wet periods . Septic tank effluent disposal fields are severel y
restricted by high, perched watertables and slow subsoil permeability . (3) Boosey soils are moderately suite d
for western red cedar. Estimated potential wood production by this species is 6 to 8 m 3/ha/yr.
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