LOCATION MERLIN                  OR+CA ID

Established Series
Rev. JSC/AON/SMM/CEG/JTW
02/2022

MERLIN SERIES


Landscape--Lava plateaus
Landform--hills, calderas, plug domes, deflation basins, lava plateaus
Slope--0 to 40 percent
Parent material--colluvium and residuum derived from tuff and basalt, with an influence of volcanic ash in the upper part
Mean annual precipitation--about 381 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 6.7 degrees C
Depth class--shallow
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--frigid
Soil moisture subclass--typic

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, frigid Lithic Argixerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Merlin very cobbly ashy clay loam, rangeland, having 10 percent stones on the surface, at an elevation of 1383 m.

A--0 to 10 cm; very dark brown (7.5YR 2/2) moist extremely stony ashy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/2) dry; weak thin platy structure parting to weak fine granular; hard, firm, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 20 percent indurated basalt gravel, 20 percent indurated basalt cobbles, and 25 percent indurated basalt stones; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary

BAt--10 to 30 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist gravelly ashy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; prominent continuous clay films on surface of peds, faint clay films in pores; 15 percent indurated basalt gravel and 2 percent indurated basalt cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary

2Bt--30 to 48 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist clay, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; common very dark grayish brown coatings in interiors of peds and on faces of some peds; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; extremely firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; prominent continuous clay films on surfaces of peds; faint clay films in pores; 13 percent indurated basalt gravel and 1 percent indurated basalt cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt irregular boundary

2R--48 cm; indurated basalt

TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon; about 3 miles east of the town of Bly; 25 m west and 500 m north of the southeast corner section 31, T. 36 S., R. 15 E.; Willamette Meridian; Campbell Reservoir, Oregon, U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle; latitude 42.4020004 north, longitude 120.9789200 west, datum WGS 84 (coordinates determined with a GPS)

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

*Mean annual soil temperature--5.5 to 8.3 degrees C
*Soil moisture control section--Surface to the lithic contact; dry in all parts for 60 to 90 days in the 4 month period following the summer solstice
*Mollic epipedon--18 to 40 cm thick
*Organic matter content in the mollic epipedon--2 to 4 percent
*Surface fragments--0 to 20 percent stones; 0 to 5 percent boulders
*Depth to indurated bedrock--25 to 50 cm

Present in some pedons
*Paralithic layer above indurated bedrock--2.5 to 10 cm thick

Particle-size control section
*clay content--over 35 percent clay
*may include the BAt transition horizon

A horizons
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--2 or 3 moist and 1 through 3 dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy loam, ashy sandy loam, loam, or clay loam
Clay content--18 to 34 percent
Stone content--0 to 35 percent
Cobble content--8 to 35 percent
Gravel content--1 to 35 percent
Volcanic glass content--5 to 20 percent
Acid oxalate Al+1/2Fe--0.2 to .4 percent
Moist bulk density--1.0 to 1.2 g/cc
15 bar water retention--10 to 15 percent on air dried samples
Reaction--pH 6.1 to 7.8 slightly acid to slightly alkaline
Thickness--5 to 20 cm

BAt horizons
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
Value--3 or 4 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--2 or 3 moist and dry and ranges to 4 at depths of 7 inches or more
Fine-earth texture--ashy clay loam
Cobble and stone content--0 to 10 percent
Gravel content--0 to 30 percent
Clay content--28 to 40 percent
Volcanic glass content--5 to 20 percent
Acid oxalate Al+1/2Fe--0.2 to .4 percent
Moist bulk density--1.0 to 1.2 g/cc
15 bar water retention--10 to 15 percent on air dried
Reaction--6.6 to 7.8 neutral or slightly alkaline.
Thickness--8 to 25 cm
Combined thickness of the A and BAt horizons--greater than 18 cm

2Bt horizon
Hue--7.5 YR or 10YR
Value--3 or 4 moist and 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--3 or 4 moist and dry
Fine-earth texture--clay loam or clay
Cobble and stone content--0 to 3 percent
Gravel content--0 to 25 percent
Clay content--35 to 70 percent
Reaction--6.6 to 7.8 neutral or slightly alkaline
Thickness--8 to 28 cm

COMPETING SERIES:
Alding--surface layer less than 18 cm that meets Vitrandic subgroup criteria; 20 percent or more absolute increase in clay (Pale feature) between the A and 2Bt horizon; mean July temperature less than 16.1 degrees C; mean January temperature less than -2.2 degrees C
Millich--dry for more than 90 days following the summer solstice; mean annual air temperature greater than 7 degrees C

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1155 to 2134 m
Climate--hot dry summers, cold wet winters
Mean annual precipitation--305 to 1065 mm
Mean annual air temperature--4.4 to 7.2 degrees C
Mean July temperature--16.1 to 17.2 degrees C
Mean January temperature-- -3.8 to -2.7 degrees C
Frost-free period--40 to 80 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Choptie--do not have argillic horizons, loam and fine sandy loam B horizons; adjacent ridges and low hills
Klamath--more than 150 cm deep, poorly drained; flood plains
Shanahan--moderately thick ashy mantles that overlie loamy buried soils; adjacent pyroclastic flows

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained; intermittent satiated conditions from the soil surface to the lithic contact in March
Saturated hydraulic conductivity--low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--livestock grazing, wildlife habitat
Vegetation--low sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, buckwheat, bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, Sandberg bluegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Klamath and Shasta Valleys and Basins, Oregon; MLRA 21; Central Rocky and Blue Mountain Foothills, Idaho and Oregon; MLRA 10; extensive.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Klamath County, Oregon, 1944.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon
*Mollic epipedon--A and BAt horizons
*Argillic horizon--2Bt horizon*Lithic Contact--The contact at 48 cm
*Particle-size control section--2Bt horizon
*Vitrandic--the A and BAt horizons meet Vitrandic subgroup criteria

ADDITIONAL DATA:
*NASIS User Pedon ID: 12OR035051

01/2017 This official series description was updated according to SSR01 Technical Note--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.