LOCATION BENNETTCREEK OR
Established Series
Rev. RJO/JLW/DAL
11/2018
BENNETTCREEK SERIES
Landscape--plateaus, mountains
Landform--plateaus, mountain slopes
Slope--0 to 60 percent
Parent material--thin mantle of mixed volcanic ash over colluvium derived from hard igneous extrusive rock
Mean annual precipitation--about 600 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 5 degrees C
Depth class--moderately deep to lithic bedrock
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--frigid
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Vitrandic Haploxeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Bennettcreek ashy silt loam, forested, on a 20-percent, planar, south-facing slope at an elevation of 1575 m
Oi--0 to 3 cm; slightly decomposed needles and twigs
A--3 to 10 cm; ashy silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine and few medium roots; common fine irregular pores; 3 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles, and 3 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear wavy boundary
Bw--10 to 28 cm; ashy silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots; few fine irregular pores; 3 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles, and 3 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.1); clear wavy boundary
2Eb--28 to 46 cm; gravelly silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and medium and few coarse roots; few fine tubular pores; 10 percent gravel, 3 percent cobbles, and 3 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear smooth wavy boundary
2Btb--46 to 79 cm; very gravelly silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) dry, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine and few medium and coarse roots; few fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 30 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 3 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear smooth boundary
2R--79 cm; andesitic rock
TYPE LOCATION: Baker County, Oregon; in the NW1/4SW1/4NW1/4 of section 24, T. 10 S., R. 35 E.; Greenhorn U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle; latitude 44.6869444, longitude -118.4500003, datum WGS 84 (coordinates determined from a GPS)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--3 to 7 degrees C
Soil moisture--dry 45 to 60 consecutive days in summer
Thickness of cambic horizon--13 to 33 cm
Thickness of argillic horizon--13 to 43 cm
Thickness of eluvial horizon--13 to 28 cm
Depth to lithic contact--50 to 100 cm
Thickness of ash-influenced layers--20 to 40 cm
Estimated properties of layers influenced by volcanic ash
*Ammonium oxalate extractable Al + 1/2 Fe--0.6 to 1.2 percent
*0.02- to 2.0-mm fraction--30 to 40 percent
*Volcanic ash content in 0.02- to 2.0-mm fraction--30 to 60 percent
*Phosphate retention--30 to 50 percent
Particle-size control section
*Clay content--18 to 30 percent
*Total rock fragment content--45 to 80 percent
A horizon
Moist color--7.5YR 3/2, 10YR 3/2, 10YR 3/3
Dry color--7.5YR 5/4, 10YR 5/2, 10YR 5/3, 10YR 6/2
Fine-earth texture--ashy silt loam, ashy loam
Clay content--5 to 10 percent
Total rock fragment content--5 to 30 percent
Gravel content--3 to 10 percent
Cobble content--0 to 10 percent
Stone content--0 to 15 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--5 to 25 cm
Bw horizon
Moist color--7.5YR 4/4, 10YR 4/3, 10YR 4/4
Dry color--7.5YR 5/4, 10YR 5/3, 10YR 5/4, 10YR 6/3
Texture--ashy silt loam, cobbly ashy silt loam, stony ashy silt loam, stony ashy loam
Clay content--5 to 10 percent
Total rock fragment content--9 to 30 percent
Gravel content--3 to 10 percent
Cobble content--3 to 10 percent
Stone content--0 to 15 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--15 to 35 cm
2Eb horizon
Moist color--7.5YR 4/4, 10YR 4/3, 10YR 4/4, 10YR 5/4
Dry color--7.5YR 6/4, 10YR 5/3, 10YR 5/4, 10YR 6/3
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam
Clay content--12 to 20 percent
Total rock fragment content--16 to 55 percent
Gravel content--10 to 15 percent
Cobble content--3 to 20 percent
Stone content--0 to 20 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--15 to 30 cm
2Btb horizon
Moist color--7.5YR 4/4, 10YR 4/3, 10YR 5/4
Dry color--7.5YR 6/4, 10YR 5/3, 10YR 5/4, 10YR 6/3, 10YR 6/4, 10YR 7/4
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam
Clay content--12 to 26 percent
Total rock fragment content--45 to 80 percent
Gravel content--15 to 45 percent
Cobble content--10 to 30 percent
Stone content--0 to 20 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3
Thickness--15 to 45 cm
COMPETING SERIES:
Agatha--100 to 150 cm (deep) to lithic contact; mixed volcanic ash mantle 18 to 25 cm thick that has vitrandic subgroup properties of 0.4 to 0.8 percent Al plus 1/2
Fe and 5 to 20 percent glass
Jummer--50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to lithic contact; minor amount of volcanic ash in upper 25 to 56 cm that has vitrandic subgroup properties of 0.3 to 1.0 percent Al plus 1/2
Fe and 7 to 20 percent glass
Outland--50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to paralithic contact; 45 to 75 percent pararock fragments in lower part of argillic horizon; dry 90 to 110 consecutive days in summer
Rasser--more than 150 cm (very deep) to lithic contact; formed in loess mixed with a minor amount of volcanic ash over relict mudflows; ash influence in upper 18 to 36 cm of mineral soil that has vitrandic subgroup properties of 0.4 to 1.0 percent Al plus 1/2
Fe and 5 to 20 percent glass; very strongly acid throughout subsoil
Stevensgulch--more than 150 cm (very deep) to lithic contact; formed in colluvium and residuum derived from relict alluvial and lacustrine deposits; minor amount of volcanic ash in upper 18 to 46 cm that has vitrandic subgroup properties of 0.3 to 0.8 percent Al plus 1/2
Fe and 5 to 15 percent glass; as much as 34 percent clay in particle-size control section; dry 60 to 75 consecutive days in summer
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1230 to 1850 m
Climate--cold, wet winters; cool to warm, dry summers
Mean annual precipitation--430 to 750 mm
Mean annual air temperature--2 to 6 degrees C
Frost-free period--25 to 80 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Anatone--on plateaus, ridgetops, and south- or west-facing slopes; shallow; no argillic horizon; loamy-skeletal particle-size control section; minor ash influence; under sagebrush, Idaho fescue, and bluebunch wheatgrass
Bigcow--on planar to concave backslopes underlain by deep colluvium; thin volcanic ash mantle; loamy-skeletal particle-size control section; under lodgepole pine and grand fir
Bocker--on shoulders and summits of plateaus; very shallow; no argillic horizon; minor ash influence; under sagebrush, Idaho fescue, and bluebunch wheatgrass
Crackercreek--on planar to concave backslopes; deep to bedrock; thick volcanic ash mantle over a loamy-skeletal argillic horizon; under
Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, grand fir, western larch, pinegrass, elk sedge, and common snowberry
Fivebit--on plateaus and backslopes; shallow to bedrock; minor influence of volcanic ash in loamy-skeletal colluvium; under scattered ponderosa pine,
Douglas-fir, western juniper, big sagebrush, and Idaho fescue
Klickson--on north-facing scarp slopes, structural benches, and lower mountain slopes; deep to bedrock; skeletal particle-size control section; mixed volcanic ash mantle; under
Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, ninebark, and oceanspray
Larabee--on backslopes and shoulders of hills and in canyons of dissected basalt plateaus; mollic epipedon and argillic horizon; under
Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, mallow ninebark, common snowberry, and elk sedge
Limberjim--on stable ridgetops and side slopes of mountains and plateaus; deep to basalt; thick volcanic ash mantle over buried loamy-skeletal argillic horizon; under grand fir,
Douglas-fir, western larch, twinflower, big huckleberry, and round-leaved violet
McWillis--on planar to concave, lower backslopes; deep to bedrock; thick volcanic ash mantle and argillic horizon; under grand fir,
Douglas-fir, and birchleaf spirea
Olot--on plateaus and side slopes of mountains; moderately deep; thick volcanic ash mantle over loamy-skeletal material; under
Douglas-fir forest
Pinuscreek--on planar to concave backslopes; deep to basalt; thin undisturbed ash mantle over loamy-skeletal argillic horizon; under grand fir,
Douglas-fir, western larch, lodgepole pine, grouse whortleberry, pinegrass, and Ross' sedge
Wonder--on ridges and shoulder slopes; moderately deep to bedrock; thin volcanic ash mantle; loamy-skeletal particle size-control section; under grand fir and
Douglas-fir forest
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Saturation during normal years--none
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--timber production, livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, watershed, recreation
Potential natural vegetation--ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, grand fir, western larch, lodgepole pine, subalpine fir, western juniper, pinegrass, elk sedge, heartleaf arnica, white spirea, common snowberry, northwestern sedge, big huckleberry, Virginia strawberry, sagebrush rockcress, woodland strawberry, baldhip rose, tailcup lupine, grouse huckleberry, white hawkweed, low Oregon grape, common yarrow, birchleaf spirea, myrtle pachystima, prince's pine, Scouler's willow, Ross' sedge, pinemat manzanita, Wheeler bluegrass
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Blue Mountains in northeastern Oregon; MLRA 10; small extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Oregon; 2012
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon
*Ochric epipedon
*Cambic horizon--zone from 10 to 28 cm
*Eluvial horizon--zone from 28 to 46 cm
*Argillic horizon--zone from 46 to 79 cm
*Volcanic glass (mixed ash mantle)--zone from 3 to 28 cm
*Depth to lithologic discontinuity--28 cm
*Particle-size control section--zone from 46 to 79 cm
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory data--pedon number 97OR023004, Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.