Soils of the - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

CASCADE SOILS . (CC)
Location and Extent : Cascade soils occur only in the mountainous areas north of the Fraser River and eas t
of the Hatzic Valley. There are about 5280 ha of soil complexes dominated by Cascade soils ; the complexes are
with Burwell and Cannell soils .
Topography and Elevation : The topography of Cascade soils is steeply to very steeply sloping with slop e
gradients between 15 and 50 percent . Along gullies, the slopes may rise to 80 percent . Elevationally, Cascad e
soils lie between 250 and 700 m above sea level .
Parent Material and Texture : Cascade soils have developed from moderately coarse textured glacial til l
into whose surface has been incorporated some medium-textured, eolian material . Surface and subsurfac e
textures vary from mostly gravelly sandy loam to sandy loam or loam . The subsoils are gravelly sandy loam or ,
sometimes, gravelly loamy sand and are strongly cemented to indurated . The soils are moderately to very stony.
Soil Moisture Characteristics : Cascade soils are moderately well drained . They are rapidly to moderatel y
pervious in the upper 100 cm or so but this changes to slowly pervious in the cemented subsoil . Variabl e
amounts of telluric seepage flows laterally along the surface of the cemented layer during heavy rainfall o r
snowmelt . Water holding capacity and surface runoff are moderate .
General Soil Description : The surface of Cascade soils consists of 10 to 20 cm of organic forest litter ,
reddish brown in colour. This is underlain by about 2 to 5 cm of gray to pinkish-gray, leached, sandy materia l
which, in turn, is underlain by about 80 cm of friabl e . to firm, dusky red to strong brown and dark reddish brown ,
sandy and gravelly material containing between 10 and 20 percent organic matter . Abruptly below this is a
dense, very hard, massive, strongly cemented, olive-gray, sandy to gravelly layer about 50 cm thick whic h
contains many reddish-brown or yellowish-red mottles . Immediately above the cemented layer is a well -
developed, dusky red zone of root concentration about 10 cm thick . Below about 150 cm depth, the cemente d
layer grades into compact, gray, unweathered glacial till . Soil reaction gradually grades from extremely acid i n
the organic surface to medium acid in the unweathered subsoil . Soil classification is Duric Ferro-Humic Podzol.
Commonly Associated Soils : Burwell and Cannell soils are generally closely associated with Cascad e
soils . Burwell soils differ from Cascade soils by being imperfectly drained while Cannell soils differ b y
consisting of soil less than 1 m deep over bedrock . Cascade soils are similar to the Buntzen soils in that the y
have developed from similar soil parent materials, occupy the same elevational range and have the same type o f
soil profile development . They, however, generally have a more strongly cemented layer and contain highe r
amounts of Organic matter in the upper part than do Buntzen soils .
Vegetation : Cascade soils are all forested, mainly by coast Douglas-fir, western hemlock and western re d
cedar. The understory is variable but includes salmonberry and elderberry with moss on the soil surface .
Rooting is unrestricted to about 100 cm depth but is severely restricted below that by the dense, strongl y
cemented layers . A well developed root mat, up to 10 cm thick, is usually present immediately above th e
cemented zone .
General Land Use Comments : (1) Very steep slopes and stoniness make Cascade soils unsuitable fo r
agriculture; urban uses are severely restricted for the same reasons . (2) Forest growth is good . Data from a
limited number of plots indicates that coast Douglas-fir produces between 9 and 12 m 3 of wood/ha/yr. Extra care
should be exercized during harvesting to minimize erosion and also to control and contain seepage along cu t
slopes and road ditches .
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