LOCATION LICKSKILLET OR+ID+WA
Established Series
Rev. AON/TDT/RWL
02/2025
LICKSKILLET SERIES
Landscape--hills, canyonlands, mountains
Landform--canyon slopes and mountainsides; benches, shoulders of plateaus, hillslopes, and ridgetops
Slope--0 to 120 percent, but commonly 40 to 70 percent
Parent material--stony colluvium mixed with loess and rock fragments derived from basalt and rhyolite; some pedons in north-central Washington have a minor amount of glacial till
Mean annual precipitation--about 255 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 9 degrees C
Depth class--shallow to lithic contact
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime-aridic (torric)
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--xeric
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Lithic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Lickskillet very stony loam in an area of rangeland
A--0 to 10 cm; gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak thin platy structure parting to weak fine granular; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 20 percent gravels; neutral (pH 6.9); clear wavy boundary
BA--10 to 23 cm; gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; weak and moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 25 percent basalt gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt wavy boundary
Bw1--23 to 33 cm; very gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 30 percent basalt gravel and 20 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary
Bw2--33 to 48 cm; extremely gravelly clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 40 percent basalt gravel and 25 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary
2R--48 cm; basalt
TYPE LOCATION: Sherman County, Oregon, about 60 m downslope from road in the NE1/4SW1/4NW1/4 of section 6, T. 4 S., R. 15 E.; Sinamox 7.5' USGS Quad; Latitude 45.2534130 Longitude -120.9882850, WGS84 Datum; (Coordinates determined from PLSS description)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 12 degrees C
Soil moisture--The soil is dry for one-half to three-fourths of the time when the soil temperature is above 5 degrees C; dry for minimum of 90 consecutive days.
Thickness of mollic epipedon--20 to 40 cm
Depth to lithic contact--30 to 50 cm
Secondary carbonates-- coatings on undersides of rock fragments, extend into cracks in underlying rock
Particle-size control section
*Weighted average clay--18 to 35 percent
*Total fragments--35 to 85 percent
A horizon
*Hue--10YR, 7.5YR
*Value--4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
*Chroma--2 or 3 dry or moist
*Fine-earth texture--loam, sandy loam, silt loam
*Clay--10 to 27 percent
*Sand--30 to 75 percent
*Organic matter--1.0 to 2.0 percent
*Total fragments--5 to 70 percent, dominantly stones and cobbles
*Gravels--0 to 50 percent
*Cobbles--0 to 50 percent
*Stones--0 to 40 percent
*Reaction--pH 6.1 to 8.4 (slightly acid to moderately alkaline)
*Combined thickness of A and BA horizons, or AB horizon (where present)--20 to 40 cm
Bw horizon
*Hue--10YR, 7.5YR
*Value--4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
*Chroma--2 to 4 dry or moist
*Fine-earth texture--loam, silt loam, clay loam, sandy loam
*Clay--18 to 35 percent
*Sand--25 to 60 percent
*Organic matter--0.5 to 1.5 percent
*Total fragments--35 to 85 percent
*Gravels--5 to 70 percent
*Cobbles--0 to 60 percent
*Stones--0 to 20 percent
*Reaction--pH 6.6 to 8.4 (neutral to moderately alkaline)
*Combined thickness of Bw horizons--10 to 45 cm
Some pedons have a Bk horizon or a thin Btk or Bt horizon with clay films on some rock fragments, in pores, and extending into fractures in the bedrock.
COMPETING SERIES:
Aldax--lacks a cambic horizon; averages less than 18 percent clay in particle-size control section
Bakeoven--10 to 25 cm to lithic contact (basalt)
Borid--somewhat excessively well drained; less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section
Couleedam--averages less than 18 percent clay in particle-size control section; 35 to 60 percent granitic rock fragments
Cox--averages less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section
Hendap--less than 18 percent clay in particle-size control section; 40 to 70 percent granitic rock fragments; 1 to 10 percent calcium carbonate equivalent throughout
Kelsidar--lacks a cambic horizon, 25 to 40 cm to paralithic contact
Puderbaughridge--influence of volcanic ash in the upper part
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--60 to 1375 m
Climate--hot, dry summers; cool, moist winters
Mean annual precipitation--typically 230 to 360 mm, but ranges to 510 mm on south-facing slopes in MLRA 43C
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 14 degrees C
Frost-free period--80 to 200 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Bakeoven--occurs on benches, hills, plateaus, and canyon slopes
Cantala--occurs on plateaus; fine-silty
Condon--occurs on plateaus; fine-silty
Currant--occurs on hillslopes; fine-silty
Gem--occurs on uplands; fine family
Morrow--occurs on plateaus; fine-silty
Redcliff--occurs on hills; 50 to 100 cm to lithic contact; on hills
Ruckles--occurs on hills and canyon slopes; clayey-skeletal
Starbuck--occurs on hillslopes and benches; loamy
Walla Walla--occurs on hills; coarse-silty
Wrentham--occurs on north-facing canyon slopes; moderately deep
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage--well drained
Saturation during normal years--none
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--moderately high to high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--dominantly livestock grazing; some watershed, recreation, and wildlife habitat
Potential native vegetation--bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Thurber needlegrass, western yarrow, Wyoming big sagebrush
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution--Eastern Oregon, eastern and north-central Washington, southern Idaho; MLRAs 6, 8, 10, and 43C
Extent--large extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sherman County, Oregon; 1961
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and other features in this pedon
*Mollic epipedon--0 to 23 cm
*Cambic horizon--23 to 48 cm
*Depth to lithic contact--48 cm
*Particle-size control section--25 to 48 cm
Site Surface Fragments Range
*Gravels--0 to 50 percent
*Cobbles--0 to 50 percent
*Stones--0 to 40 percent
5/2024--This official series description was updated according to SSR01 Technical Note 11-Content and Format of Official Series Descriptions (revised 12/2015). Most of the changes were in formatting; no major technical changes were made.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.