LOCATION ADKINS WA+OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Adkins very fine sandy loam - range. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bw--7 to 24 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (16 to 35 inches thick)
Bk1--24 to 42 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many 5 to 10 mm spheroidal secondary lime aggregates; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 22 inches thick)
Bk2--42 to 60 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; common 5 to 10 mm spheroidal secondary lime aggregates; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Grant County, Washington; about 6 miles southwest of George, 1,080 feet north and 1,820 feet west of the southeast corner of section 4, T. 17 N., R. 23 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to carbonates and the calcic horizon is 24 to 40 inches. These soils are usually dry in all parts between depths of 8 and 24 inches. The mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 56 degrees F. The particle-size control section contains more than 15 percent fine sand and coarser. These soils have a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y. The calcic horizon has an estimated 5 to 15 percent calcium carbonate.
The A horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 dry or moist. It is commonly neutral or slightly alkaline but ranges to very strongly alkaline when irrigated.
The Bw horizon has value of 4, 5, or 6 dry, 3, 4, or 5 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4 dry or moist. It is very fine sandy loam or fine sandy loam. This horizon is neutral or slightly alkaline.
The Bk horizon has value of 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4 dry or moist. It is fine sandy loam or very fine sandy loam. This horizon is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline. Some pedons have a cemented or gravelly substratum at a depth of 40 to 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chedehap, Clems, Crestline, Deschutes, Haybourne, Irrigon, Kecko, Prosser, Rebel, Royal, Sagehill, Scooteney, Vining, and Wiehl series. Chedehap and Haybourne soils have a sandy 2C horizon at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Clems soils lack calcareous material above a depth of 45 inches. Crestline soils are calcareous at a depth of 10 to 20 inches. Deschutes, Prosser, and Vining soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Irrigon and Wiehl soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Kecko soils have a calcic horizon with 15 to 25 percent calcium carbonate at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Rebel, Royal, and Scooteney soils have a solum thickness and depth to lime of less than 24 inches. Also, Royal soils are stratified in the C horizon and Scooteney soils have 20 to 35 percent coarse fragments in the particle-size control section. Sagehill soils have a stratified 2C horizon at a depth of 15 to 30 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Adkins soils are on uplands at elevations of 250 to 2,300 feet. Slopes are 0 to 45 percent. These soils formed in eolian material. They occur in an arid climate with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Mean annual precipitation is 7 to 10 inches. Mean July temperature is 71 degrees F. Mean January temperature is 28 degrees F. Mean annual air temperature is 48 to 54 degrees F. Frost-free season is 150 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Prosser soils and the Quincy, Ritzville, Shano, and Taunton soils. Quincy soils are coarse textured in all parts. Ritzville and Shano soils are coarse-silty. Taunton soils have a duripan at a depth of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Dryland wheat, irrigated cropland, and range. Native vegetation is bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, and needleandthread.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Washington and north-central Oregon; MLRA 7. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Walla Walla County, Washington, 1960.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an ochric epipedon from the surface to 7 inches, a cambic horizon from 7 to 24 inches, and a zone of carbonate accumulation from 24 to 60 inches.
The series is assumed to have over 5 percent calcium carbonate. As mapped some pedons may lack the calcic horizon.