LOCATION BARNHARDT WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic, mesic Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Barnhardt gravelly loam - on a 2 percent northeast facing slope under a coniferous canopy of Douglas-fir at 100 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. All textures are apparent field textures.)
Oi--1 inch to 0; undecomposed needles, leaves, and twigs.
A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic, weakly smeary; many very fine and common fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 20 percent pebbles; NaF pH 10.0; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
Bs1--3 to 9 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic, weakly smeary; many very fine and common fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 25 percent pebbles; NaF pH 10.5; medium acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 18 inches thick)
Bs2--9 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic, weakly smeary; many very fine, common fine, and few medium roots; many very fine irregular pores; 60 percent pebbles; NaF pH 10.5; medium acid (pH 5.8); gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 18 inches thick)
BC--21 to 42 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam, pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic, weakly smeary; common very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots; many very fine irregular pores; 75 percent pebbles; NaF pH 10.5; medium acid (pH 5.8); gradual wavy boundary. (15 to 40 inches thick)
C--42 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic, weakly smeary; few very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 70 percent pebbles; NaF pH 9.6; medium acid (pH 5.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Whatcom County, Washington; about 2 miles southwest of Everson; 250 feet south and 1,900 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. ll, T. 39 N., R. 3 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 54 degrees F. Thickness of volcanic ash influence is 60 inches or more. Thickness of the solum is 8 to 30 inches. These soils are usually moist, but are dry in the moisture control section for 60 to 75 consecutive days following the summer solstice. The particle-size control section has, by weighted average, 50 to 75 percent pebbles and 0 to 5 percent cobbles. Reaction is medium acid or slightly acid throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4 moist and dry. Cultivated areas have an Ap horizon.
The Bs horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry. It is gravelly loam in the upper part and very gravelly loam, very gravelly silt loam or extremely gravelly loam in the lower part.
The BC and C horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and dry. Within the particle-size control section, it is very gravelly loam, very gravelly silt loam, or extremely gravelly sandy loam. Below the control section, it is gravelly loam, extremely gravelly sandy loam, or extremely gravelly loamy sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ahl, Blethen, Heisler, Kickerville, Ogarty, Pickett, Squires, Tunnel, and Vanzandt series in the same family and Kickerville series in another family. Ahl, Ogarty, Pickett, and Squires soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a lithic contact. Blethen and Heisler soils are dry for 45 to 60 consecutive days and Heisler soils are 35 to 60 percent phyllite in the particle-size control section. Kickerville soils are less than 15 percent coarse fragments in the upper part of the particle-size control section and have a 2C horizon that is sand or loamy sand in the fine earth fraction. Tunnel soils have hue of 5YR or 2.5YR in the Bs horizon. Vanzandt soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact with dense glacial till.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Barnhardt soils are on outwash terraces at elevations of 50 to 300 feet. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. The soils formed in volcanic ash, loess, and glacial outwash. Barnhardt soils are in a marine climate with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Snow cover is intermittent. Average annual precipitation is 35 to 50 inches. Mean January temperature is 36 degrees F.; mean July temperature is 62 degrees F.; and the mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F. The frost-free season is 150 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Kickerville soils and the Clipper, Everett, Fishtrap, and Pangborn soils. Clipper soils have mottles within the control section and are coarse-loamy. Everett soils are sandy-skeletal. Fishtrap and Pangborn soils are Histosols.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for hay and pasture, timber production and homesites. Some is mined for gravel. Vegetation is Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western redcedar, and red alder with an understory of salal, red huckleberry, Oregon-grape, western swordfern, and trailing blackberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington west of the Cascade mountains. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Whatcom County, Washington, l945.
REMARKS: This draft reflects a change in classification from medial-skeletal Andic Xerochrepts to loamy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Haplorthods. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an ochric epipedon from the mineral surface to 3 inches, and a spodic horizon from 3 to 21 inches. The spodic horizon does not meet chemical criteria but does have micro morphological characteristics of a spodic horizon, i.e. silt-sized pellets and cracked coats.