LOCATION SOUTHCAT                OR

Established Series
Rev. EGH-MPK-JVC-JBF
06/2011

SOUTHCAT SERIES

The Southcat series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in eolian material and alluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Southcat soils are on beach plains. Slopes are 0 to 10 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Sodic Haplocambids

TYPICAL PEDON: Southcat gravelly loamy sand--on a 1 percent slope at an elevation of 1,330 meters--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

An--0 to 10 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly loamy sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; few fine irregular pores; 20 percent gravel; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 25 cm thick)

Bwn1--10 to 20 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure parting to moderate very fine subangular blocky; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine vesicular pores; 3 percent gravel; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 15 cm thick)

Bwn2--20 to 25 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine and few medium roots; common fine irregular pores; 5 percent fine gravel; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bn1--25 to 36 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) gravelly loamy sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate thin platy structure; hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; common fine irregular pores; 15 percent fine gravel; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm thick)

Bn2--36 to 48 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate very thin platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel; few thin strata of pumice; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm thick)

Bn3--48 to 66 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; few fine interstitial pores; slightly effervescent; 2 percent fine gravel; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 18 cm thick)

2C1--66 to 104 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; single grain; loose and massive, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine interstitial pores; 2 percent gravel; colors are lithochromic; common thin, 1 to 2 mm thick laminae of loamy sand 2 to 5 cm apart; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 23 cm thick)

2C2--104 to 157 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine interstitial pores; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6).

TYPE LOCATION: Lake County, Oregon; about 8 miles north of the village of Paisley and east of the dune field bordering Summer Lake; approximately 2,150 feet south and 1,800 feet east of the northwest corner of section 15, T. 32 S., R. 18 E.; USGS Loco Lake 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 42 degrees 47 minutes 44 seconds N and longitude 120 degrees 34 minutes 34 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist in the moisture control section in winter and early spring, dry from late spring through fall; typic aridic moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 9 to 10 degrees C.
Depth to base of cambic horizon: 25 to 40 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 2 to 6 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 5 to 15 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as basalt, tuff, and rhyolite.

An horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 8 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 30.

Bwn horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent.
Texture: Sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 8 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 30.

Bn horizons
Value: 5 through 7 dry.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Clay content: 2 to 12 percent.
Texture: Loamy sand, gravelly loamy sand, gravelly sandy loam, fine sand, or sand. Some pedons have thin subhorizons of sandy loam.
Rock fragments: 0 to 30 percent gravel.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 8 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 30.

2C horizons
Value: 4 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Stratified fine sand to gravelly sandy loam.
Salinity (EC): 4 to 16 mmhos/cm.
Sodicity (SAR): 13 to 30.
Other features: Some pedons have a buried A horizon. Some pedons may have thin laminae.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Bienfait series. Bienfait soils are intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative during the summer.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Southcat soils are on beach plains. These soils formed in eolian material and wave-reworked alluvium derived from volcanic rocks. Slopes are 0 to 10 percent. Elevations range from 1,275 to 1,570 meters. The climate is arid and characterized by cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, the mean annual temperature is 7 to 9 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 80 to 110 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Kewake soil. Kewake soils are sandy throughout the particle-size control section, do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons, and are on dunes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat excessively drained; very low surface runoff; high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Southcat soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The historic plant community is shadscale, bud sagebrush, black greasewood, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Indian ricegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Oregon. These soils are moderately extensive. MLRA 23.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lake County (Northern Part), Oregon, 2006.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (An horizon and part of the Bwn1 horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 10 to 25 cm (Bwn1 and Bwn2 horizons).
Sodic subgroup feature - The zone from the soil surface to 100 cm (An, Bwn1, Bwn2, Bn1, Bn2, and Bn3 horizons and part of the 2C1 horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (Bn1, Bn2, and Bn3 horizons and part of the 2C1 horizon).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.