LOCATION MCMULLIN OR+CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Ultic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: McMullin gravelly loam - range. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 7 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) gravelly loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; 20 percent fine angular sandstone gravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
Bw--7 to 14 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) gravelly clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; 25 percent fine angular gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.8); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
R--14 inches; fractured hard bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Josephine County, Oregon; east side of Highway 199 along old logging road; 750 feet north of Anderson Creek bridge; about 1,930 feet south and 1,590 feet west of the NE corner of sec. 35, T. 37 S., R. 8 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: In most years, the soil between a depth of 4 inches and the lithic contact is usually continually moist from October or early November until May or June and is usually dry all the rest of the year. The mean annual soil temperature is 47 to 59 degrees F. Depth to bedrock ranges from 12 to 20 inches. The percentage of cobbles ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout the solum. The mollic epipedon is at least 7 inches thick.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR, value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and 3 or 4 dry. It is sandy loam or loam. It is slightly or moderately acid, and has 50 to 75 percent base saturation. In some pedons, it directly overlies bedrock. It has 0 to 25 percent gravel.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR, 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 moist, 4 through 6 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and dry. It is loam or clay loam and has 20 to 35 percent clay and more than 15 percent coarser than very fine sand. It has 15 to 25 percent gravel and cobbles.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: McMullin soils are on uplands (ridges and south-facing slopes in Oregon and north-facing slopes in California). Slopes are 1 to 75 percent. Elevations are 400 to 4,400 feet in Oregon and down to 50 feet in California. The soils formed in material weathered from shale, sandstone, basic igneous and metamorphic rocks. The climate is subhumid, temperate with warm dry summers and cool moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is about 18 to 60 inches. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 55 degrees F, the mean January temperature is 34 to 40 degrees F, and the mean July temperature is 65 to 70 degrees F. The frost-free period is 100 to 235 days in Oregon and up to 330 days in California.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Caris, Medco, McNull, Plaskett, Reliz, Sur, Vannoy, and Voorhies soils. Caris, Plaskett, Sur, and Voorhies soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments. Caris, Medco, McNull, Sur, Vannoy, and Voorhies soils are deeper than 20 inches to bedrock. Reliz soils are on warmer slopes and have a mean annual soil temperature of more than 59 degrees F.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well and somewhat excessively drained; medium to very rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for forage production. Principal plants are Idaho fescue, Lemmon needlegrass, associated shrubs, hardwoods, forbs, and scattered pine. Some areas are dominated by wedgeleaf ceanothus and manzanita.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Oregon, northern California, and near the coast in north-central California. The soils are extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monterey County, California, 1972.
REMARKS: The activity class was added to the classification in March of 2003. Competing series were not checked at that time. - ET