LOCATION ROCKLY OR+ID+WA
Established Series
Rev. REH/RWL/SBC
09/2019
ROCKLY SERIES
Landscape--Mountains, hills, plateaus, canyonlands
Landform--mountain slopes, hillslopes, ridges, structural benches, canyons
Slope--0 to 120 percent
Parent material--residuum and colluvium derived from basalt with an influence of loess and volcanic ash
Mean annual precipitation--about 460 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 9 degrees C
Depth class--shallow, very shallow
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Rockly very gravelly loam in an area of rangeland
A--0 to 5 cm; very gravelly loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; many very fine pores; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary
Bw1--5 to 15 cm; extremely gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; many very fine tubular pores; 55 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary
Bw2--15 to 23 cm; extremely gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many roots; many very fine tubular pores; 65 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt wavy boundary
2R--23 cm; basalt
TYPE LOCATION: Morrow County, Oregon, about 27 km southeast of Heppner; in the SW1/4SE1/4SW1/4 of section 35, T. 3 S., R. 28 E. Willamette Meridian
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture--usually moist, but dry 60 to 80 consecutive days in all parts between depths of 10 and 30 cm or to a lithic contact
Mean annual soil temperature at lithic contact--8 to 12 degrees C
Depth to bedrock--10 to 30 cm
Thickness of mollic epipedon--10 to 30 cm
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Hue--10YR to 5YR
Particle-size control section--loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam; about 10 to 30 percent clay; 35 to 75 percent rock fragments consisting of gravel, cobbles, or stones
Percentage of surface covered with stones or cobbles--0 to 15 percent
Faint clay films--lining pores in thin layer above bedrock in some pedons
A horizon
Value--2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--2 or 3 moist or dry
Texture--extremely stony loam, very cobbly loam, very gravelly loam, gravelly loam, very stony silt loam, extremely gravelly silt loam
Clay content--10 to 27 percent
Thickness--3 to 13 cm
Bw horizon
Value--2 to 4 moist, 4 or 5 dry
Chroma--2 to 4 moist or dry
Texture--very gravelly, extremely gravelly, very cobbly, extremely cobbly, or very stony loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Clay content--10 to 30 percent
Combined thickness--5 to 36 cm
COMPETING SERIES:
Bodacious--30 to 50 cm (shallow) to a lithic contact (igneous or metamorphic rock)
Bodell--30 to 50 cm (shallow) to a lithic contact (basalt); 10 to 30 percent volcanic glass and 0.4 to 1.0 percent acid oxalate aluminum plus one-half iron (vitrandic feature) in upper 10 to 15 cm
Johntom--5 to 20 percent volcanic glass, and 0.10 to 0.25 percent acid oxalate aluminum plus one-half iron (vitrandic feature) in particle-size control section
Limekiln--18 to 30 cm deep to calcic horizon
Plaskett--35 to 75 percent rock fragments, dominantly channers and flagstones, in particle-size control section; mean annual soil temperature of 13 to 14 degrees C
Sanikara--textures coarser than loam in fine-earth fraction
Venator--30 to 50 cm (shallow) to a lithic contact (shale); 40 to 80 percent rock fragments, dominantly channers, in particle-size control section
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--90 to 1525 m
Climate--cool, wet winters; hot, dry summers
Mean winter air temperature--about -1 to 2 degrees C
Mean summer air temperature--about 16 to 18 degrees C
Mean annual air temperature--about 7 to 11 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--typically 360 to 760 mm, but may range to 310 mm in some areas
Frost-free period--60 to 170 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Ginser--50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to a paralithic contact (clayey sediment); on mountains and foothills
Gwin--argillic horizon; on basalt plateaus
Morrow--50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to a lithic contact (basalt); Bk horizon; on uplands and plateaus
Waha--50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to a lithic contact (basalt); argillic horizon; on foothills, mountains, and canyon walls
Watama--50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to a lithic contact (basalt); Pachic subgroup; on ridges and plateaus
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, water supply
Native vegetation--mainly stiff sagebrush, lomatium, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Oregon, eastern and central Washington, and west-central Idaho; MLRAs 8, 9, 10, and 43C; large extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grant County, Oregon; 1975
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and other features in this pedon
*Mollic epipedon--zone from the surface to a depth of 23 cm
*Depth to lithic contact--23 cm
*Particle-size control section--zone from the surface to a depth of 23 cm
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.