LOCATION SHOOFLY IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Typic Argidurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Shoofly sandy loam -- on a 1 percent north-facing slope under rangeland at 3,565 feet elevation. (When described on May 20, 1980, the soil was slightly moist above the duripan and dry below. Colors are for air dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 1 inch; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine vesicular pores; 10 percent gravel; surface layer is partially covered with varnished desert pavement; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
AB--1 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium and thick platy structure; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine vesicular pores; 10 percent gravel; mildly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bt--3 to 12 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common thin clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bkqm--12 to 15 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) fractured indurated duripan, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; extremely hard, extremely firm; continuous silica cemented laminations at the top of the duripan; fractures are about 10 inches apart; 20 percent cemented gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
2Bkq1--15 to 34 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) intermittent strongly cemented duripan with variegated extremely gravelly coarse sand between duripan layers; few very fine and fine roots; 55 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); diffuse wavy boundary. (6 to 25 inches thick)
2Bkq2--34 to 60 inches; variegated extremely gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; few very fine roots; 50 percent gravel, 15 percent cobbles, few lime and silica pendants on undersides; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); slightly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Owyhee County, Idaho; about 14 miles south of Grandview; 1,300 feet south and 1,015 feet west of the northeast corner of section 26, T.7 S., R.2 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to duripan - 9 to 14 inches
Average annual soil temperature - 51 to 54 degrees F.
Particle-size control section - 25 to 35 percent clay
Reaction - mildly through strongly alkaline
A horizon
Value - 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma - 2 or 3 dry and moist
Bt horizon
Hue - 7.5YR or 10YR
Value - 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma - 3 or 4 dry and moist
Texture - SICL, CL, C, or GR-CL
Clay content - 30 to 35 percent
Gravel content - 5 to 20 percent
Bkqm horizon
Value - 7 or 8 dry, 5 through 7 moist
Chroma - 1 through 3 dry and moist
2Bkq horizon
Rock fragments - 40 to 75 percent
Cementation (in the upper part) - weak or strong
Texture - GRV-COS or GRX-COS
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cleaver, Laped, Silent, and Spanel series. Cleaver soils have a duripan more than 8 inches thick. Laped soils have hard bedrock at a depth between 20 and 30 inches. Silent soils are moist in the moisture control section in the early summer and are more than 14 inches deep to a duripan. Spanel soils have less than 30 percent clay in the argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Shoofly soils are on piedmont fans and lower dissected fans at elevations of 2,700 to 4,000 feet. Slopes are 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in mixed alluvium from extrusive rocks. The average annual precipitation is 6 to 9 inches. The average annual temperature is 49 to 52 degrees F. The frost-free period is 110 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the McKeeth and Ornea soils. McKeeth and Ornea soils lack a duripan and occur on similar landscape positions as Shoofly soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow or medium runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Shoofly soils are used mainly for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The vegetation in the potential natural plant community is shadscale, bud sagebrush, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Idaho. Shoofly soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elmore County Area, Idaho, 1986.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 3 inches (A and AB horizons)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 3 to 12 inches (Bt horizon)
Indurated duripan - the zone from 12 to 15 inches (Bkqm horizon)
Particle-size control section - the zone from 0 to 12 inches