LOCATION WOODSEYE CA+OR
Established Series
Rev. CMR/CBG/RWK
09/2025
WOODSEYE SERIES
The Woodseye series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from metamorphic rocks. Woodseye soils are on gently sloping to very steep mountainside slopes. The mean annual precipitation is about 65 inches (1650 mm) and the mean annual temperature is about 40 degrees F (4 degrees C).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Humic Lithic Dystroxerepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Woodseye very gravelly sandy loam-mixed shrubs. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.)
Oi--0 to 1 inch (0 to 3 cm); leaf litter and duff (0 to 2 inches (0 to 5 cm) thick).
A1--1 to 8 inches (3 to 20 cm); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very gravelly sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; weak very fine and finer granular structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; 55 percent gravel (40 percent angular rock fragments 1/2 to 3 inches in size); moderately acid (pH 5.7); gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm) thick)
A2--8 to 15 inches (20 to 38 cm); brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly light loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; 65 percent gravel (50 percent angular rock fragments 1/2 to 3 inches in size); slightly acid (pH 6.3); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 7 inches thick)
C--15 to 20 inches (38 to 51cm); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) extremely gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and plastic; few fine and medium roots; 90 percent gravel (75 percent angular rock fragments 1/2 to 3 inches in size); slightly acid (pH 6.3); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches 0 to 15 cm) thick)
R--20 to 25 inches (51 to 64 cm)--hard metasedimentary rock, few medium and coarse roots in cracks that are more than 4 inches (10 cm) apart.
TYPE LOCATION: Placer County, California; 1 mile west of Cisco Grove; 700 feet southeast of microwave relay station on Cisco Butte, in the NW1/4 of the SE1/4 of sec. 30, T.17N., R.13E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 cm). The umbric epipedon is 10 to 16 inches thick (25 to 40 cm). The base saturation is less than 50 percent throughout the profile. Angular rock fragments less than 3 inches (75 mm) in size range from 35 to 95 percent throughout the profile. The mean annual soil temperature just above bedrock is between 40 and 46 degrees F (4 to 8 degrees C). The mean summer soil temperature for pedons with O horizons is 49 to 53 degrees F (9 to 12 degrees C), and 59 to 62 degrees F (15 to 17 degrees C) for pedons without O horizons. These soils are usually continually moist, but are dry throughout from about the later part of July until the later part of September.
The A horizon has colors of 10YR 4/1, 3/2, 3/3, 4/2 or 4/3. It is coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, or light loam and is modified by 35 to 70 percent angular gravel.
The B horizon, when present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5 moist, 4 to 5 dry and chroma of 2 to 4 moist and dry. It is sandy loam or loam with 18 to 27 percent clay. It has 35 to 80 percent rock fragments.
The C horizon has colors of 10 YR 5/3, 4/3, 6/3, 6/4, 6/6 or 7.5YR 5/4 or 5/6. It is sandy loam, loam or heavy loam and is modified by 50 to 95 percent angular gravel.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Hardtil (MLRA 22A) series. Hardtil soils average less than 18 percent clay in the control section and mean annual precipitation of 20 to 45 inches (505 to 1150 mm).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Woodseye soils are on side slopes of mountains. Slopes are 2 to 90 percent. They are at elevations of 6,000 to 9,000 feet (1815 to 2725 m) in California and 3,000 to 5,500 feet (910 to 1665 m) in Oregon. Underlying bedrock is consolidated metasedimentary or metavolcanic rocks. The climate is characterized by cool moist winters and hot, dry summers. Mean annual precipitation is typically 50 to 80 inches (1270 to 2030 mm) most of which occurs as snow, but may range to 100 inches (2540 mm) in high winter rainfall interior mountains of Curry County, Oregon. Average January temperature is 25 degrees F (-4 degrees C); average July temperature is 64 degrees F (18 degrees C); mean annual temperature is 38 to 46 degrees F (3 to 8 degrees C). Frost-free season is about 25 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Althouse,
Jayar,
Smokey, and
Tinker soils. Althouse, Jayar, and Smokey soils have an ochric epipedon. Althouse soils are deep to bedrock. Jayar and Smokey soils are moderately deep to bedrock. Tinker soils are moderately deep to a duripan.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is mainly huckleberry oak, green leaf manzanita, whitehorn and scattered junipers, jeffrey pine and lodgepole pine. In Oregon, douglas-fir, white fir, tan oak, canyon live oak, golden chinkapin, and incense cedar are included.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The mountainous areas of northern California and the Klamath Mountains Province of southern Oregon. The soils are of small extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Josephine County, Oregon, 1979.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features include:
Umbric epipedon - the zone from 1 to 15 inches (3 to 38 cm) (A1 and A2 horizons)
Particle-size control section - the zone from 11 to 20 inches (28 to 51 cm).
09/2025--Competing series checked and updated. Woodseye soils are mapped in MLRAs 5 and 22A and should be examined for separation into two series based on the different mean annual precipitation in the two groups.-JBB
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.