LOCATION BEAL OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Ultic Haploxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Beal loam-forestland, on a southeast-facing slope of 31 percent at an elevation of 2260 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--0.5 inch to 0; slightly decomposed needles, leaves, and twigs.
A--0 to 4 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, and common fine, medium and coarse roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 10 percent gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
BA--4 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 10 percent gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bw--10 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak fine, medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; common very fine, fine and medium tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
Bt--18 to 39 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6) clay loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium roots; many very fine, fine and medium tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 25 percent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and 10 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6)) masses of iron concentrations; 5 percent gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear wavy boundary. (17 to 23 inches thick)
Btg1--39 to 49 inches; mottled pale olive (5Y 6/3) clay loam, light gray (5Y 7/2) dry; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots within peds and few fine and medium roots along ped faces; many very fine and fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 5 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear wavy boundary.
Btg2--49 to 56 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) clay, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 20 percent olive (5Y 5/3) and 15 percent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron concentrations; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary.
Btg3--56 to 60 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) clay, light gray (5Y 7/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizon is 20 to 45 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Oregon; 1 1/4 miles north-northwest of Tiller, Oregon; 475 feet east and 160 feet north of the southwest corner of section 21, T. 30 S., R. 2 W., W.M. (Latitude 42 degrees, 56 minutes, 48 seconds N, Longitude 122 degrees, 57 minutes, 33 seconds W)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock is 60 inches or more. The mean annual soil temperature is 49 to 56 degrees F. The soil is usually moist but is dry within all parts of the moisture control section for 45 to 60 consecutive days following the summer solstice. It has 0 to 15 percent gravel throughout the solum. The particle-size control section has 20 to 35 percent clay and more than 15 percent sand that is coarser than very fine sand. Depth to the low chroma mottles and/ or gleyed horizon is 30 to 40 inches. Depth to the high chroma mottles is 15 to 25 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4 moist and 3 to 6 dry, and chroma of 1 to 4 moist and 2 to 4 dry. Clay content is 15 to 25 percent. It is slightly acid to strongly acid. It has 3 to 6 organic matter.
The Bt horizon has matrix hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 moist, 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 3 to 6 moist and dry. Mottles have value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6. It is loam or clay loam with 20 to 35 percent clay. It is slightly acid to strongly acid. Base saturation by sum is 50 to 75 percent.
The Btg horizon has matrix hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6 moist, 6 to 8 dry and chroma of 2 to 4 moist, 1 to 3 dry. Mottles have hue of 10YR or 5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 to 6. It is clay loam or clay with 27 to 45 percent clay. It is moderately acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: There are the Bernhill, Boardburn, Boomer, Casabonne, Cherryhill, Cle Elum, Cohasset, Crozier, Dalig (T), Fives, Fordcreek (T), Gunn (T), Holland, Hood, Hotaw, Latourell, Lettia, Musick, Norling, Para (T), Rosehaven (T), Sanhedrin, Speaker, Teanaway, Tigit (T), Ulhalf, Varelum, Wilkeson, and Wohly series. Bernhill soils are dry for 60 to 90 days and are well drained. Boardburn soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to soft bedrock, are dry for 110 to 130 days and are well drained. Boomer soils are well drained, have Bt horizons with hue of 7.5YR or redder and are dry for 105 to 130 days. Casabonne soils are well drained, are dry for 90 to 120 days and have hue of 7.5YR or redder in the argillic horizon. Cherryhill soils have an umbric epipedon, are well drained, are 40 to 60 inches deep to a paralithic contact and are dry for 60 to 80 days. Cle Elum, Hotaw, Speaker and Tigit soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact. Cohasset soils are well drained and are dry for more than 120 days. Crozier, Norling, and Wohly soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a lithic contact. Dalig, Para, Gunn and Trelk soils have a hue of 7.5YR or 5YR and are well drained. Fives and Rosehaven soils are well drained. Fordcreek soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to soft bedrock. Holland and Musick soils are well drained and are dry for 120 to 150 days. Hood and Varelum soils are dry for 60 to 75 days and are well drained. Latourell soils are well drained and have 18 to 22 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Lettia soils are well drained, have a paralithic contact at 40 to 60 inches and contain 15 to 50 percent coarse and very coarse sand in the argillic horizon. Sanhedrin soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to hard bedrock and are dry for 90 to 120 days. Teanaway soils are dry for 75 to 90 days. Ulhalf soils are well drained, have a paralithic contact at 40 to 60 inches and have hue of 5YR in the subsoil. Wilkeson soils are well drained and have 15 to 35 percent coarse fragments in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beal soils are on mountain sideslopes and foot slopes. They formed in residuum and colluvium derived dominantly from granodiorite and schists. Slopes are 3 to 60 percent. Elevations are 800 to 2,800 feet. The climate is characterized by warm, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 54 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is 35 to 60 inches. The frost free period is 100 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Dompier, Sharpshooter, Dumont, Sweetbriar and Zing soils, and the competing Lettia soils. Dompier soils have a fragipan between 20 and 40 inches. Sharpshooter soils lack an argillic horizon. Dumont, Sweetbriar, and Zing soils are fine textured.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; moderately slow permeability. There is a water table at 2 to 3 feet from November through May.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for timber production, hay and pasture, wildlife habitat and watershed. The native vegetation includes Douglas fir, incense cedar, Pacific madrone, and ponderosa pine with an understory of common snowberry, Pacific poison oak, salal, western rattlesnake plantain, and creambush oceanspray.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Oregon, MLRA 5. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Douglas County, Oregon, 1994.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon
Argillic horizon - from 18 to 60 inches. (Bt, Btg1, Btg2, and Btg3 horizons)
Ultic intergrade - base saturation is assumed to be less than 75 percent in one or more horizons in the upper 30 inches of the argillic horizon.
Mollic intergrade - color value moist of 3 in the A horizon with more than 0.7 percent organic carbon.
Particle-size control section - from 18 to 38 inches. (Bt horizon)
This soil has restricted drainage and is considered moderately well drained. The soil does not meet the criteria for low chroma mottles within 30 inches of the soil surface, thus this soil is placed in the Ultic subgroup of Haploxeralfs and not the Aquic or Aquultic subgroups. There appears to be a fragipan or degraded fragipan at depths greater than 60 inches and in some areas as shallow as 40 inches.
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added to the classification in 10/2005. The competing series section was not updated at that time. Last revision 3/1995.