LOCATION KUHL WA+OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Kuhl very stony silt loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. All textures are apparent field textures)
A1--0 to 2 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very stony silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium platy and moderate medium granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; many very fine and fine irregular pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
A2--2 to 6 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very stony silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common roots; many fine tubular pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
A3--6 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) stony silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common roots; many fine tubular pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 7 to 16 inches)
Bw--11 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) stony silt loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common roots; many very fine tubular pores; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
R--15 inches; basalt. Many feet thick.
TYPE LOCATION: Adams County, Washington; 1,080 feet west and 450 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 2, T.20N., R.36E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The average annual soil temperature at the surface of the bedrock ranges from 47 degrees to 55 degrees F. They are usually moist but are dry in all parts between depths of 4 and 12 inches for 70 to 90 days following the summer solstice. Depth to bedrock is 10 to 20 inches. Coarse fragments in the control section average 10 to 35 percent and may be pebbles, cobbles or stones. Soil texture is loam or silt loam. Soil reaction is neutral or mildly alkaline and in some pedons there is free carbonate accumulation on the bottom of rock fragments and in cracks of the bedrock.
The A horizon has value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist or dry.
The Bw horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist and chroma of 3 or 4 dry or moist. It is loam or silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Godde, Iron Mountain, Soaplake, Stukel and Yakus series. Godde and Soaplake soils have an aridic moisture regime. Iron Mountain soils are somewhat excessively drained and are dry for less than 70 days. Stukel soils lack B2 horizons, formed in residual material weathered from tuff and diatomite and are dry for more than 100 days following the summer solstice. Yakus soils have coarse sandy loam to light sandy clay loam B2 horizons and formed in residuum from gneiss, schist and granite bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kuhl soils occupy gently undulating basalt plateaus and steep canyon slopes at elevations of 500 to 2,500 feet. Slopes are 0 to 65 percent. They formed in mixed loess, alluvium, and colluvium from mostly basic igneous rocks. The climate is characterized by warm dry summers and cool winters. The average January temperature is 29 degrees F.; the average July temperature is 72 degrees F. and average annual temperature is 48 to 51 degrees F. The average annual precipitation is 12 to 18 inches. Frost-free season is 110 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Anders, Benge, Chard and Walla Walla soils. Anders soils are on plateaus. Benge and Chard soils are on terraces. Walla Walla soils are on hills. All of these soils are all deeper than 20 inches to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to very rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for domestic livestock grazing. The principal vegetation is bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, Sandberg bluegrass and small shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon and eastern Idaho.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sherman County, Oregon, 1964.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are a mollic epipedon from the surface to 11 inches, a cambic horizon from 11 to 15 inches and a lithic contact at 15 inches. The particle-size control section is the zone from 10 inches to the lithic contact (part of the A3 and the Bw horizons).