LOCATION BELSHAW                 OR

Tentative Series
IRD/SCW/TDT
02/2025

BELSHAW SERIES

Landscape--Foothills of the Blue and Ochoco Mountains
Landform--Hillslopes, drainageways
Slope--2 to 50 percent
Parent Material--colluvium and residuum derived from tuff with a minor influence of volcanic ash in the upper part
Mean annual precipitation--about 380 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 9 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--typic

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Palexerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Belshaw cobbly silt loam - rangeland, on a 5 percent slope at an elevation of 850 m.

A--0 to 5 cm; ashy silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many very fine roots and few fine roots; common very fine irregular and few fine irregular pores; 5 percent gravels, 10 percent cobbles; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary

2Bt--5 to 28 cm; clay, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) dry, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots and few fine roots and few coarse roots; few very fine tubular pores; 50 percent prominent clay films on surfaces along pores and on faces of peds; 10 percent gravels, 10 percent cobbles; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary

2Btk--28 to 58 cm; cobbly clay loam, very pale brown (10YR 8/2) dry, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) moist; moderate coarse and moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; few very fine tubular pores; 50 percent faint clay films on faces of peds; 15 percent cobbles, 15 percent gravel; strongly effervescence; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary

2Bk1--58 to 86 cm; very cobbly sandy loam, very pale brown (10YR 8/2) dry, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) moist; weak medium and weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; 20 percent cobbles, 20 percent gravel; violently effervescence; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); gradual wavy boundary

2Bk2--86 to 152 cm; very cobbly loamy coarse sand, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; 25 percent cobbles, 15 percent gravel; strongly effervescence; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4)

TYPE LOCATION: Grant County, Oregon, about 17.7 km west of the town of Mt. Vernon; 152 m north and 244 m west of the SE corner of section 9, T. 13 S., R. 28 E; latitude 44.4484558, longitude -119.3505173, datum WGS84 (coordinates determined with a GPS)

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 12 degrees C
Soil Moisture--usually moist but are dry in all parts of the moisture control section for 70 to 90 days within the 4 months following the summer solstice.
Thickness of mollic epipedon--25 to 50 cm
Depth to bedrock--greather than 150 cm
Depth to argillic horizon--5 to 25 cm
Deoth to lithic discontinuity--5 to 25 cm
Depth to carbonate influence--15 to 36 cm
Reaction--6.6 to 9.0 (neutral to strongly alkaline)

Particle Size Control Section:
Clay--35 to 50 percent
Weighted Average Clay--20 percent
Clay increase--15 percent or greater between A and 2Bt horizons
Total Rock Fragment content--0 to 40 percent
Gravel--5 to 15 percent
Cobble--10 to 35 percent

A horizon
*Value--2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry
*Chroma--1 or 2
*Fine earth texture--loam, silt loam
*Clay--20 to 27 percent
*Sand--20 to 50 percent
*Gravel--0 to 10 percent
*Cobbles--0 to 10 percent
*Organic matter--2 to 4 percent
*Reaction--6.6 to 7.8 (neutral to slightly alkaline)
*Thickness--5 to 25 cm

2Bt horizon
*Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
*Value--3 or 4 moist, 3 to 5 dry
*Chroma--2 or 3
*Fine earth texture--clay, silty clay
*Clay--40 to 60 percent
*Sand--15 to 40 percent
*Gravel--0 to 10 percent
*Cobbles-- 0 to 10 percent
*Organic matter--1 to 3 percent
*Reaction--6.6 to 8.4 (neutral to moderately alkaline)
*Thickness--15 to 35 cm

2Btk horizon, when present
*Hue--7.5YR or 10YR
*Value--5 to 7 moist, 6 or 8 dry
*Chroma--2 to 4
*Fine earth texture--clay loam
*Clay--27 to 40 percent
*Sand--25 to 45 percent
*Gravel-- 0 to 15 percent
*Cobbles-- 0 to 15 percent
*Organic matter--0.5 to 2 percent
*Reaction--6.6 to 8.4 (neutral to moderately alkaline)
*Thickness--0 to 38 cm

2Bk1 horizon
*Hue--2.5YR or 10YR
*Value--4 to 7 moist, 6 to 8 dry
*Chroma--2 to 4
*Fine earth texture-- loam, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam
*Clay--5 to 25 percent
*Sand--35 to 90 percent
*Gravel-- 0 to 20 percent
*Cobbles-- 10 to 25 percent
*Organic matter--0 to 0.5 percent
*Reaction--6.6 to 9.0 (neutral to strongly alkaline)
*Thickness--15 to 40 cm

2Bk2 horizon
*Hue--2.5YR or 10YR
*Value--4 to 7 moist, 6 to 8 dry
*Chroma--2 to 4
*Fine earth texture--loam, loamy coarse sand, coarse sandy loam
*Clay--5 to 25 percent
*Sand--35 to 90 percent
*Gravel--0 to 20 percent
*Cobbles--10 to 25 percent
*Organic matter--0 to 0.5 percent
*Reaction--6.6 to 9.0 (neutral to strongly alkaline)
*Thickness--25 to 60 cm

COMPETING SERIES:
Alibi--moderately deep to rhyolite bedrock and lack secondary carbonates
Coleman--moderately well drained, lacks secondary carbonates.
Dry Creek--have an argillic horizon that is moderately acid to neutral in its reaction; have a calcium carbonate equivalent that exceeds 15 percent
Lasere--moderately deep to basalt or tuff, slightly acid or neutral throughout
Pritchard--have an argillic horizon at a depth of 25 to 50 cm, minimal evidence of secondary carbonates
Succor--have a Bq horizon
Pomponio--moderately deep to shale
Tutuilla--deep to sedimentary rock and lack secondary carbonates

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--670 to 1400 m
Slope--2 to 50 percent
Climate--cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers
Mean annual precipitation--300 to 460 mm
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 11 degrees C
Frost-free period--90 to 120 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Kishwalk--occur on on basaltic hillsides above tuffaceous sediments; clayey-skeletal; moderately deep to basalt bedrock
Waterbury--occur on on basaltic hillsides above tuffaceous sediments; clayey-skeletal; shallow to basalt
Tanksel--occur on north slopes of basaltic hillsides above tuffaceous sediments; clayey-skeletal; ash in the surface horizons; moderately deep to bedrock
Tub--occur on alluvial fans and north slopes of tuffaceous sediments; pachic; lacks abrupt textural change.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage--well drained
Saturation during normal years--none
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--moderately high to high, low to moderately low in 2Bt horizons

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--livestock grazing, wildlife habitat
Vegetation--Sandberg's bluegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, big sagebrush
Typical Ecological Site--JD Clayey 12-16 PZ (R010XB027OR)

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
East Central Oregon; MLRA B-10; moderate extent

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES PROPOSED:
Grant County Area, Oregon 2003; the name is derived from Belshaw Creek located about 13 km west of the town of Mt. Vernon.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
*Particle-size control section--5 to 58 cm
*Mollic epipedon--5 to 58 cm
*Argillic horizon--5 to 58 cm
*Abrupt textural change--5 28 cm
*Secondary carbonates--28 to 150 cm
*Soil Moisture Regime is xeric bordering aridic.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.