Soils of the Horsefly Area, British Columbia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Caver photo: Cariboo Lake at Keithley Creek - Soils of the Horsefly Area, British Columbia by T.M. Lord Soi1 Survey Unit Land Resource ResearchInstitute Vancouver, B.C. Report No. 32 of the British Columbia Soi1 Survey Land Resource ResearchInstitute Contribution No. 84-11 (Map sheets 93 A/SW and 93 A/NW) Copies of this publication are available from: Map Library Maps B .C. Ministry of Environment Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X5 @ Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1984 Cat. No.: A57-432E ISBN: O-662-1 3206-8 CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. vii PREFACE . ..*..................... viii GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA .............................. Location and extent .................................... : History and resources .................................. 1 Physiography ........................................... 1 Bedrock geology ................................. ..p .... 6 Surficial geology and soi1 parent materials ............ Climate ................................................ 1; Vegetation ............................................. 11 SOILS ........................................................ 15 SOIL SURVEY METHODS AN0 MAPPING PROCEDURES ................. 15 SOIL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FRASER PLATEAU .................... 16 Aleza .................................................. Alix ................................................... :“7 Bednesti ............................................... Chief .................................................. 2 Chimney ................................................ Cinema ................................................. 2’: Deserters .................................. ..i ......... 22 Dominion ............................................... 23 Dragon ................................................. 24 Hawks .................................................. 25 Helena ................................................. 26 Horsefly ............................................... 26 Jumeau ................................................. 27 Keno Lake .............................................. 28 Moffat Lakes ........................................... 30 Rail ................................................... 31 Ramsey ................................................. 32 Ridge Road ............................................. 33 Saxton ................................................. 34 Spokin ................................................. 35 Spout .................................................. Sugarcane .............................................. 3: Tyee ................................................... 38 Williams Lake .......................................... 40 . , . 111 PAGE SOIL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE QUESNEL HIGHLAND .................... 41 Alkali ................................................. 41 Archie ................................................. 42 Art .................................................... 43 Barkerville ............................................ 44 Bearpaw Ridge .......................................... I Captain Creek .......................................... :; Catfish Creek .......................................... 47 .C Dezai ko ................................................ Fontoniko .............................................. 4": Guilford ............................................... 50 Heger .................................................. 51 Helmcken ............................................... 52 Keithley ............................................... 53 Lanezi ................................................. 54 Larghetto .............................................. 55 Lynn ................................................... 55 Ptarmigan .............................................. 56 Rockland ............................................... 57 Spakwaniko ............................................. 57 Spanish Lake ........................................... Torpy River ............................................ 6: Tumuch ................................................. 60 Yanks Peak ............................................. 61 LAND USE ..................................................... 62 Agriculture ............................................ 63 Forestry ............................................... 65 Wildlife ............................................... 65 Recreation ............................................. 66 DERIVED AND INTERPRETIVE MAPS ................................ 67 REFERENCES ................................................... 68 APPENDIX. DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSES OF THE SOILS ............ Aleza soi1 ............................................. :'3 Alix soi1 .............................................. 74 Alkali soi1 ............................................ 75 Archie soi1 ............................................ 76 Art soi1 ............................................... 77 Bearpaw Ridge soi1 ..................................... 78 Bednesti soi1 .......................................... 79 Captain Creek soi1 ..................................... 80 Catfish Creek soi1 ..................................... Chimney soi1 ........................................... ii Cinema soi1 ............................................ 83 Deserters soi1 ......................................... 84 iv PAGE Dezaiko soi1 ........................................... 85 Dominion soi1 .......................................... 86 Dragon soi1 ............................................ Guilford soi1 .......................................... 88 Hawks soi1 ............................................. 89 Heger soi1 ............................................. 90 Helena soi1 ............................................ 91 Horsefly soi1 .......................................... 92 Keno Lake soi1 ......................................... 93 Lanezi soi1 ............................................ 94 Lynn soi1 .............................................. Moffat Lakes soi1 ...................................... is Ptarmigan soi1 ......................................... 97 Rail soi1 .............................................. 98 Ramsey soi1 ............................................ 99 Ridge Road soi1 ........................................ 100 Saxton soi1 ............................................ 101 Spakwaniko soi1 ........................................ 102 Spanish Lake soi1 ...................................... 103 Spout soi1 ............................................. 104 Tyee soi1 .............................................. 105 Williams Lake soi1 ..................................... 106 Yanks Peak soil(1) ..................................... 107 Yanks Peak soil(2) . 108 V LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE TABLES 1. Selected climatic data ............................................. 12 2. Climatic capability classes in interior British Columbia ........... 64 FIGURES 1. Location of the Horsefly map area in British Columbia .............. 2 2. Physiography and drainage in the Horsefly area ..................... 3 3. Generalized bedrock geology ........................................ 7 4. Direction of ice movement in central British Columbia .............. 8 5. Biogeoclimatic zones ............................................... 13 PLATES 1. (a) Gold mining pit, (b) farmland, (c) alpine landscape, (d) old log cabins, (e) organic map unit . 4 II. (a) Typical woodlands, (b) Quesnel Lake, (c) shoreline of Big Lake, (d) subalpine meadows . 5 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Assistance and support were provided by the following agencies and individuals: L. Farstad (retired), former Head, Soi1 Survey Unit, Agriculture Canada, Vancouver, B.C., for direction of the soi1 survey; Paul Christie, who assisted in the field mapping; L. Chan, for conducting much of the laboratory analysis; J. Melzer, for typing the manuscript; G.E. Cheesman, for climate information; R. Annas and R. Coupe, for helpful advice on vegetation; Cartography Section, Land Resource Research Institute, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ont., for providing base maps, for drafting figures, and for preparing the final soi1 maps; Technical Services Unit, Terrestrial Studies, B.C. Ministry of Environment, Victoria, R.C., for drafting and preparing the soil-landform manuscript maps and legends; and Susan Norman, Talisman Projects Inc., who supplied some of the plate illustrations. Pedologists Al Dawson, Neville Gough, and Ivan Cotic of the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Bill Watt of the B.C. Ministry of Forests, and Keith Valentine of the Soi1 Survey Unit, Agriculture Canada, provided advice and much help in the form of soils data from published reports and reports in preparation, and through persona1 communication. Charles Tarnocai, Land Resource Research Institute, reviewed the manuscript and the map legend. Roxy Beale Kuurne organized the resource data and compiled the report while working under contract to the Land Resource Research Institute. vii PREFACE This report and the soi1 maps it contains (map sheets 93 A/SW and 93 A/NW in the National Topographie System) caver about 755 500 ha of land lying east of the Fraser River and east and north of the city of Williams Lake. The report describes the characteristics of the soils and map units and specifies their location and extent. It gives short accounts of the history and natural features of the map area. The soi1 maps show the distribution of the soils. The soi1 survey was undertaken to provide an inventory of land resources through the Canada