Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

BUNTZEN SOILS
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Plate 12 Glacial till covered landscape
west of Stave Falls . Buntzen soils occur on
the tops and slopes of the undulations while
Steelhead soils are usual in the depressions
and intervening swales . Note the excellent
leader growth of the young Douglas -
fir in the foreground.
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Location and Extent : Buntzen soils are common on the lower mountain slopes north of the Fraser River ,
particularly west of the Hatzic Valley to Howe Sound . There are about 750 ha of pure map units and a furthe r
13830 ha of soil complexes dominated by Buntzen soils . The complexes are mainly with Steelhead soils ; lesse r
areas are with Carmen . Stave and Kenworthy soils .
Topography and Elevation : The topography of Buntzen soils is mostly strongly to very steeply sloping o r
moderately rolling to hilly. Slopes are mainly between 15 and 30 percent but can vary from 10 to 50 percent .
Buntzen soils are located between 200 and 500 m above sea level and usually occupy the mid and uppe r
slopes of the uneven landscape .
Parent Material and Texture : Moderately coarse to medium-textured glacial till is the parent material o f
Buntzen soils There usually is some silty eolian material incorporated into the upper 20 to 30 cm . Surface an d
subsurface textures are loam or sandy loam containing moderate amounts of gravel and stones . The subsoil i s
strongly cemented . gravelly sandy loam . Few to common, hard, spherical concretions are usually present in th e
upper 60 m or so of soil .
r Soil Moisture Characteristics : Buntzen soils are moderately well drained . They are rapidly pervious in th e
upper 100 cm but this decreases abruptly to slow below that . Water holding capacity is moderate . Latera l
telluric seepage is common along the surface of the compact . cemented, subsoil layers during and after heavy
rain and during snowmelt .
General Soil Description : The surface of Buntzen soils usually consists of 10 cm or less of raw to well -
decomposed, coniferous forest litter which is underlain by a discontinuous gray . leached . sandy layer up to 4
cm thick . This, in turn . is underlain by about 75 cm of friable . loamy soil which ranges from dark reddish brown i n
the upper part to dark brown and yellowish-brown in the lower part . It contains between 6 and 12 percen t
organic matter and common to few, hard reddish, spherical concretions . At about 75 to 100 cm depth . a dense .
hard, cemented . sandy loam layer occurs which is dark grayish brown, massive or coarsely platy and contain s
many yellowish-red to dark red mottles . A zone of root accumulation and concentration is evident on top of thi s
layer. Below about 120 to 150 cm, transition occurs to massive . slightly softer . grayish-brown, unweathere d
glacial till soil parent material . Soil reaction of the organic surface is extremely acid while the upper mineral soi l
is very acid . This grades to moderately acid below about 100 cm . Soil classification is Duric Ferro-Humic
Podzol.