LOCATION BLUECANYON OR
Established Series
Rev. AEK/RJO/RWL
04/2019
BLUECANYON SERIES
Landscape--mountains
Landform--mountain slopes; south-facing, narrow, convex backslopes of mountains
Slope--0 to 90 percent
Parent material--colluvium and residuum derived from metasedimentary rock, metavolcanic rock, or sandstone with an influence of volcanic ash in the upper part
Mean annual air temperature--about 5 degrees C
Depth class--shallow to lithic bedrock
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--frigid
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Bluecanyon very gravelly silt loam in an area of rangeland, on a 50-percent, convex, northeast-facing slope at an elevation of 1800 m
A--0 to 20 cm; very gravelly ashy silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) dry, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; common fine and few medium irregular pores; 40 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary
2AB--20 to 33 cm; very gravelly silt loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine and few medium roots; few fine and medium irregular pores; 50 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary
2Bw--33 to 43 cm; extremely gravelly silt loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; few fine irregular pores; 60 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt irregular boundary
2R--43 cm; fractured argillite
TYPE LOCATION: Baker County, Oregon, about 690 m east and 230 m south of the northwest corner of section 7, T. 14 S., R. 37 E.; latitude: 44.3703252, longitude -118.2230242, datum WGS 84 (coordinates estimated from PLSS details)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture--dry 75 to 90 consecutive days in summer
Mean annual soil temperature--about 4 to 8 degrees C
Thickness of mollic epipedon--20 to 40 cm
Depth to lithic contact--25 to 50 cm
Thickness of ash-influenced layers--18 to 25 cm
Estimated properties of layers influenced by volcanic ash
*Ammonium oxalate extractable Al + 1/2 Fe--0.4 to 0.8 percent
*Volcanic ash in 0.02- to 2.0-mm fraction--5 to 15 percent
A horizon
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--2 or 3 moist or dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy silt loam
Clay content--10 to 18 percent
Total rock fragment content--35 to 55 percent
Gravel content--25 to 55 percent
Cobble content--0 to 10 percent
Stone content--0 to 5 percent
Boulder content--0 to 5 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--18 to 25 cm
2AB horizon
Hue--10YR
Value--2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--2 or 3 moist or dry
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam
Clay content--10 to 18 percent
Total rock fragment content--35 to 60 percent
Gravel content--30 to 50 percent
Cobble content--0 to 10 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--10 to 28 cm
2Bw horizon
Hue--10YR
Value--3 or 4 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--3 or 4 moist or dry
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam
Clay content--10 to 18 percent
Total rock fragment content--45 to 75 percent
Gravel content--40 to 70 percent
Cobble content--0 to 10 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--8 to 20 cm
COMPETING SERIES:
Agazziz,
Anatone,
Dipcreek,
Foxol,
Gomine,
Kenypeak,
Laschance,
Little Pole,
Nayrib,
Onaqui,
Rexmont,
Van Wagoner--no volcanic glass
Bocker--10 to 25 cm (very shallow) to lithic contact; no volcanic glass
Falula--secondary carbonate accumulation at a depth of 18 to 30 cm; no volcanic glass
Grink--calcic horizon; no volcanic glass
Hogsby--ustic soil moisture regime
Starglade--10 to 25 cm (very shallow) to lithic contact
Swanner--calcic horizon; no volcanic glass
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--950 to 1960 m
Climate--cold, moist winters; hot, dry summers
Mean annual precipitation--380 to 1290 mm
Mean annual air temperature--3 to 7 degrees C
Frost-free period--45 to 85 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Analulu--moderately deep; volcanic ash influence; on side slopes of mountains
Koski--moderately deep; on side slopes of mountains
Vogel--on forested side slopes of mountains; no mollic epipedon
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Saturation during normal years--none
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, watershed, recreation
Potential native vegetation--bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Idaho fescue, prairie Junegrass, Wyeth buckwheat, common yarrow, biscuitroot, brome, lupine, phlox, serrate balsamroot, mountain big sagebrush
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Oregon; MLRA 9; small extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wallowa County, Oregon; 1998
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon
*Mollic epipedon--zone from 0 to 33 cm
*Cambic horizon--zone from 33 to 43 cm
*Volcanic glass--zone from 0 to 20 cm
*Depth to lithologic discontinuity--20 cm
*Particle-size control section--zone from 25 to 43 cm
08/2018-OSD reformatted to new Soil Survey Region 1 standards. Volcanic glass and ashy modifier added to the A horizon, which reflects the concept as mapped in the Blue Mountains. Samples should be collected from representative sites to confirm the presence of a Vitrandic subgroup feature. Most shallow and very shallow rangeland soils in Eastern Oregon do not recognize significant ash in the surface layer, so the Bluecanyon series stands out as an outlier.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.