LOCATION LONESTAR WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy over medial, glassy over amorphic Typic Vitricryands
TYPICAL PEDON: Lonestar paragravelly sandy loam - forested on a 10 percent southwest-facing backslope at an elevation of 3,040 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. All textures are apparent field textures.)
Oi--3 to 2 inches; needles, twigs, and leaves.
Oa--2 inches to 0; decomposed organic material.
A--0 to 2 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam (volcanic ash), dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine granular structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic, and weakly smeary; many very fine, fine and medium and few coarse roots; many fine irregular pores; moderately acid (pH 6.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bhs--2 to 14 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) paragravelly sandy loam (volcanic ash and cinders), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; many large distinct mottles of dark brown (5YR 3/4), dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine and common medium and coarse roots; common fine irregular pores; 10 percent pebbles and 30 percent pumice; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 14 inches thick)
BC--14 to 18 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loamy sand (volcanic ash), very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; single grain; loose; many very fine, fine, and medium roots; many fine irregular pores; 10 percent pumice; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
C--18 to 28 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loamy sand (volcanic ash and cinders), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many fine irregular pores; 20 percent pebbles (5 to 10 mm) and 30 percent pumice; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick)
2Bwb--28 to 51 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic and weakly smeary; few fine and medium roots; common fine irregular pores; 15 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles, and 15 percent soft weathered pumice; moderately acid (pH 5.8); clear wavy boundary. (20 to 25 inches thick)
3C--51 to 60 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) silt loam, yellow (10YR 7/6) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine irregular pores; strongly acid (pH 5.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Skamania County, Washington on Forest Service Road N816; 2,000 feet north and 1,500 feet west of the southeast corner section 6, T. 7 N., R. 5 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Average annual soil temperature ranges from 42 to 45 degrees F. The upper part of the control section averages 15 to 30 percent pumice fragments and the lower part averages 15 to 25 percent hard rock fragments. Depth to buried soil ranges from 20 to 35 inches.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3 moist, 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 2 to 4 moist and dry. Mottles are none to many and have hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, chroma of 2 to 4 moist. Pumice fragments range from 10 to 35 percent. Organic carbon range from 6 to 35 percent. Reaction is moderately acid or slightly acid.
The C horizon has value of 3 through 5 moist and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and dry. Pebbles range from 10 to 20 percent and pumice from 10 to 35 percent. It is gravelly loamy sand, gravelly sand, loamy sand, gravelly sandy loam, or sand. Reaction is moderately acid or neutral.
The 2Bwb or 2Bsb horizon has value of 3 or 4 moist, 6 or 7 dry, and chroma of 3 to 6 moist and dry. It has 15 to 25 percent rock fragments including from 10 to 20 percent pebbles, 0 to 5 percent cobbles, and 0 to 30 percent weathered pumice fragments. It is gravelly loam, gravelly sandy loam, sandy loam or cindery sandy loam. Reaction is moderately acid or slightly acid.
The 3C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6 moist. It is silt loam, loam or sandy loam and has 0 to 15 percent rock fragments. In some pedons, tuff occurs between 40 and 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Spukwush and Tusip series are in other families. Spukwush and Tusip soils are less than 6 percent organic carbon in the upper part of the spodic horizon and are loamy in the lower part of the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lonestar soils are on ridgetops and backslopes of mountains at elevations of 2,800 to 4,500 feet. Slopes range from 5 to 90 percent. Lonestar soils formed in volcanic ash and pumice over residuum and colluvium from basic igneous rock. The climate is characterized by cool, moist summers and cold, wet winters. Average annual precipitation is 80 to 130 inches including snow cover from November to June. The average January temperature is about 25 degrees F, the average July temperature is about 53 degrees F, and the average annual temperature is 38 to 42 degrees F. The frost-free season is 75 to 95 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Cinnamon, Hatchet, Swift, and Vanson soils. Cinnamon soils are frigid and have a cambic horizon. Hatchet, Swift, and Vanson soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. In addition, Swift soils are frigid.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for timber production, recreation, wildlife habitat, and watershed. Vegetation is mainly western hemlock, Pacific silver fir, Douglas-fir, noble fir and western redcedar, with an understory of red vine maple, huckleberry, lupine, sedges, common beargrass, salal, western brackenfern, Oregon-grape, western hazel, trailing blackberry, western swordfern, vanillaleaf and rose.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West slopes of the Cascade Mountains in northern Skamania and southeastern Cowlitz County, Washington. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Skamania County, Washington, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon from the mineral surface to 2 inches, a cambic horizon with more than 6 percent organic carbon from 2 to 14 inches, and a lithologic change from volcanic ash and pumice to a buried medial soil at 28 inches. The 0 to 40 inch particle-size control section has an estimated moist bulk density of less than 0.90 g/cc, volcanic glass content of 30 to 60 percent, acid-oxalate extractable aluminum plus one-half iron of more than 1 percent. The upper part of the particle-size control section has an estimated 10 to 12 15-bar moisture (dry). The lower part has an estimated 15-bar moisture (dry) of more than 15 percent. Vitricryands feature - less than 12 percent.
Classification changed 6/98 based on revised mineralogy classes in Soil Taxonomy. After more clarification on use of pararock and rock fragments, the family particle-size class should be confirmed. Using guidelines from the NSSH, the upper part of the control section would quality as pumiceous or ashy-pumiceous. The ranges of fragments documented in the R of C corss particle-size class boundaries. The original concept of this series was ashy rather than ashy-pumiceous.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial laboratory data are available for this soil Sample Number R75-108. Field test of NaF pH is less than 9.2 in the A and 3C, 12 in Bhs, 11.5 in C, and 11.0 in 2Bwb.