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Soils of Southeast Vancouver Island, Duncan-Nanaimo Area

by Jungen, J.R., P. Sanborn, P.J. Christie, eds.; co-published with Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Government of BC

188 pages; black coil; catalogue #98-0009; ISBN 0-7718-8478-8; US$17.50, C$24.00, EUR15.60, £10.90

This report contains detailed information on the soil resources of the coastal plain from Nanoose Bay to Shawnigan Lake.

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about this document (preface and acknowledgements) introduction  table of contents catalogue info

About this document (preface)

Soils of Southeast Vancouver Island, Duncan-Nanaimo Area was initiated through special Treasury Board funding and administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Surveys and Resource Mapping Branch, Ministry of Environment provided supervision, correlation, laboratory and cartographic services. The objectives included mapping soils and agriculture capability at a scale of 1:20 000 for regional and municipal planning, Agriculture Land Reserve fine tuning, corridor development and resource planning, assessment and management.

This report contains detailed information on the soil resources of part of southeastern Vancouver Island and describes the results of a detailed soil survey of the coastal plain from Nanoose Bay to Shawnigan Lake. The report also contains a general description of the area with information on history and present land use, geology, surficial deposits, climate and native vegetation.

The high priority given by the Agricultural Land Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food provided strong impetus for the project.

This report contains detailed information on the soil resources of the coastal plain from Nanoose Bay to Shawnigan Lake. The report also contains a general description of the area with information on physiography surficial deposits, climate and vegetation.

A total of 19 soils maps at a scale of 1:20 000 make up the survey area. Other available derivative maps include:
1. Land Capability for Agriculture
2. Agricultural Soil Management Groups
3. Surface Soil Erosion Potential
4. Irrigation Water Requirement
5. Soil Constraints for Septic Tank Effluent Absorption

The following derivative maps can be produced for special requests:
1. Soil Drainage
2. Soil Suitability for Raspberries
3. Soil Sensitivity for Acidification
4. Soils Susceptible to Inundation and/or High Water Tables

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge all those who assisted in the field mapping and report compilation; in particular A. Burdett, T. Hilborn, T. Ovanin and P. Philip.

V. Osborne and staff, Soils Laboratory, Ministry of Environment, Kelowna provided the physical and chemical analysis. L. Houston, M. Botting and staff, Thematic Mapping Unit, Surveys and Resource Mapping Branch, Ministry of Environment, Victoria, and D. Bush, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Kelowna, supplied the cartography. Special recognition to B. Webb for word processing of the manuscript.

A. Green, Agriculture Canada, Vancouver, is specially acknowledged for field correlation between this survey and the concurrent Gulf Islands survey.

The positive guidance provided by the editorial committee under the chairmanship of B. Loule is greatly appreciated.

Introduction

The initial soil survey of the east coast of Vancouver Island was completed in 1959 (Day, 1959). A reconnaissance biophysical soil survey for all of Vancouver Island, begun in the mid 1970s did not re-survey the coastal plain, but rather incorporated the earlier Information. These small scale surveys, while valuable for broad scale planning, were not designed to meet present day requirements for solving complex land use problems. Some of these requirements are: (i) accurate agricultural capability ratings for updating or fine tuning the Agriculture Land Reserves; (ii) municipal and regional district planning; (iii) detailed technical soil information for the Ministries of Agriculture and Food, Environment, Municipal Affairs, and the British Columbia Assessment Authority.

To meet these needs a survey of the Duncan-Nanaimo area at a scale of 1:20 000 was initiated. Field work for the project was conducted during the summers of 1980, 1981, by a team of soil surveyors. Land classification was carried out in accordance with the Terrain Classification System (E.L.U.C. Secretariat, 1976), Canadian System of Soil Classification, 1978, and provisional edition of Land Capability Classification for Agriculture in British Columbia, 1983. Further details of methodology are discussed in Chapter 2.

Soils of Duncan-Nanaimo Map Area includes the coastal plain as well as isolated hills and lower slopes of adjacent mountains. The map area encompasses 76,500 ha and is bounded by Georgia Strait on the east, and the steep mountainous terrain of the Vancouver Island Mountains on the west.

Preliminary soil and agriculture capability maps (scale 1:15 840) were produced at the end of each field season. Final soil and agricultural capability maps are available at a scale of 1:20 000. Field information was collected on standardized soil description forms, as outlined in Describing Ecosystems in the Field (Resource Analysis Branch, 1980). This information, along with laboratory analyses are entered in the British Columbia Soil Information System (BCSIS).

The report is divided into four chapters. Chapter One contains general information relevant to the area and describes briefly the geology, parent materials, climate, and vegetation of the surveyed area. Chapter Two provides information on soil classification, field procedures and soil legend development. Chapter Three provides the guidelines and parameters used for describing the individual soils while Chapter Four presents the descriptions of the individual soils.

Table of Contents

Preface
Summary
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Plates
List of Tables
How to use the soil report
Introduction

Chapter One: General Description of the area
    1.1    Location
    1.2    History and Present Land-Use
    1.3    Physiography
    1.4    Geology
    1.5    Pleistocena History and Surficial Deposits
    1.7    Native Vegetation

Chapter Two: Soil Classification and Mapping Methodology
    2.1    Soil Classification
    2.2    Field Procedures and Map Compilation
    2.3    Soil Legend Development

Chapter Three: Guidelines for Soil Descriptions
    3.1    Introduction
    3.2    Guidelines to Soil Descriptions
          3.2.1    Landscape Picture and General Comments
          3.2.2    Soil Landscape Cross-Section
          3.2.3    Landscape Characteristics
          3.2.4    Typical Soil Profile
          3.2.5    Soil Characteristics
              3.2.5.1    Soil Physical Properties
              3.2.5.2    Soil Chemical Properties
          3.2.6    Soil Phases and Variants
          3.2.7    Inferred Soil Properties

Chapter Four: Soil Descriptions
    4.1    Introduction
          Arrowsmith (AR) Soils
          Beddis (BD) Soils
          Bellhouse (BH) Soils
          Bowser (BO) Soils
          Brigantine (BE) Soils
          Cassidy (CA) Soils
          Chemainus (CH) Soils
          Comlaken (CN) Soils
          Corydon (CR) Soils
          Cowichan (CO) Soils
          Crofton (CF) Soils
          Dashwood (DW) Soils
          Deerholme (DE) Soils
          Denman Island (DA) Soils
          Dougan (DN) Soils
          Fairbridge (FB) Soils
          Flewett (FT) Soils
          Galiano (GA) Soils
          Hillbank (HT) Soils
          Hollings (HO) Soils
          Kaptara (KP) Soils
          Koksilah (KH) Soils
          Kuleet (KT) Soils
          Maple Bay (MY) Soils
          Metchosin (MT) Soils
          Mexicana (ME) Soils
          Mill Bay (MB) Soils
          Parksville (PA) Soils
          Qualicum (QU) Soils
          Quennell (QL) Soils
          Quinsam (QN) Soils
          Royston (RN) Soils
          Rumsley (RY) Soils
          Salalakim (SL) Soils
          Saturna (ST) Soils
          Shawnigan (SH) Soils
          Tolmie (TL) Soils
          Miscellaneous Land Types

Selected Bibliography

Glossary of Terms

Appendix A: Climate Data

Catalogue Information