LOCATION BRAY IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Durixeralfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Bray silt loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure that parts to moderate very fine and fine granular; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
Bt1--3 to 12 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silty clay loam, brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; many fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common uncoated (bleached) sand and silt particles; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Btb1--12 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium and coarse prismatic structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Btb2--21 to 30 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) clay, dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine and medium prismatic structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; many prominent clay films on faces of peds and in pores; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Bqmb--30 to 61 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) indurated duripan; silica cemented; caps 1 to 3 mm thick material between caps is strongly cemented to indurated; common manganese stains on vertical fractures in duripan.
TYPE LOCATION: Gooding County, Idaho; about 12 miles north and 3.5 miles west of Bliss; about 2100 feet east and 100 feet south of the northwest corner, sec. 30, T., 3 S., R. 13 E. Lat. 43 degrees, 8 minutes, 30 seconds; Long. 115 degrees, 57 minutes, 26 seconds.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 50 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock - 60 inches or more
Depth to duripan - 29 to 40 inches
Present in some pedons - Bkqm and Bk horizons (these horizons when present contain less than 5 percent calcium carbonate)
A horizon
Hue - 10YR or 7.5YR
Value - 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 2 or 3 dry or moist
Clay content - 20 to 26 percent
Rock fragments - 0 to 5 percent
Bt and Btb horizons
Hue - 10YR, 7.5YR, 5YR
Value - 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma - 3 or 4 dry or moist
Clay content - 35 to 60 percent
Texture - SICL, SIC, C, CL
Rock fragments - 0 to 5 percent
Reaction - slightly acid to neutral
Calcium carbonate content - 0 to 5 percent
Bqmb horizon
Calcium carbonate content - 0 to 5 percent
Thickness range of cemented plates - 1 to 5mm
Cementation - strongly cemented to indurated
COMPETING SERIES: None are listed in the same family. The Willho soils in a closely related family are frigid.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bray soils are on basalt plateaus and mesas and have slopes of 1 to 8 percent. Elevations range from 3,900 to 5,200 feet. The soil formed in loess over weathered loess. The soils are in a semiarid climate with annual precipitation of 11 to 13 inches. This soil receives additional moisture from run on from surrounding areas. The average annual temperature is about 45 to 48 degrees F. The frost-free period is 85 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Blisshill, Bostrum, Hobby, and Tschamman soils. All of these soils have Vertic soil properties. All of these soils occur on the same landscape as Bray.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium runoff; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly for range. Vegetation is low sagebrush, Sandberg bluegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, threeawn, balsam root, mustard, and phlox.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and south central Idaho. The series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gooding County Idaho, l993.
REMARKS: This revision moves the type location within Gooding County. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - zone from 0 to 3 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon - zone from 3 to 30 inches (Bt1, Btb1, and Btb2 horizons)
Duripan - zone from 30 to 61 inches (Bqmb horizon)