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Custom Soil Resource Report <br />Playa <br />The generally dry and nearly level lake plain that occupies the lowest parts of <br />closed depressions, such as those on intermontane basin floors. Temporary <br />flooding occurs primarily in response to precipitation and runoff. Playa deposits <br />are fine grained and may or may not have a high water table and saline conditions. <br />Plinthite <br />The sesquioxide-rich, humus -poor, highly weathered mixture of clay with quartz <br />and other diluents. It commonly appears as red mottles, usually in platy, polygonal, <br />or reticulate patterns. Plinthite changes irreversibly to an ironstone hardpan or to <br />irregular aggregates on repeated wetting and drying, especially if it is exposed <br />also to heat from the sun. In a moist soil, plinthite can be cut with a spade. It is a <br />form of laterite. <br />Plowpan <br />A compacted layer formed in the soil directly below the plowed layer. <br />Ponding <br />Standing water on soils in closed depressions. Unless the soils are artificially <br />drained, the water can be removed only by percolation or evapotranspiration. <br />Poorly graded <br />Refers to a coarse grained soil or soil material consisting mainly of particles of <br />nearly the same size. Because there is little difference in size of the particles, <br />density can be increased only slightly by compaction. <br />Pore linings <br />See Redoximorphic features. <br />Potential native plant community <br />See Climax plant community. <br />Potential rooting depth (effective rooting depth) <br />Depth to which roots could penetrate if the content of moisture in the soil were <br />adequate. The soil has no properties restricting the penetration of roots to this <br />depth. <br />Prescribed burning <br />Deliberately burning an area for specific management purposes, under the <br />appropriate conditions of weather and soil moisture and at the proper time of day. <br />Productivity, soil <br />The capability of a soil for producing a specified plant or sequence of plants under <br />specific management. <br />Profile, soil <br />A vertical section of the soil extending through all its horizons and into the parent <br />material. <br />45 <br />