LOCATION BRISBOIS OR
Established Series
Rev. SCW/TDT
02/2025
BRISBOIS SERIES
Landscape--foothills of the Blue and Ochoco Mountains
Landform--hillslopes, mountain slopes, plateaus, and slump blocks
Slope--2 to 90 percent
Parent material--colluvium and residuum over weathered tuff
Mean annual precipitation--about 255 millimeters
Mean annual air temperature--about 8 degrees C
Depth class--very shallow to paralithic contact
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--aridic (torric)
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--xeric
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, mesic, shallow Xeric Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Brisbois very cobbly clay loam - rangeland, on a 39 percent slope at an elevation of 665 meters. (When described on November 9, 1998, the surface horizon was moist but dry in the lower layers.)
A--0 to 8 cm; very cobbly clay loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; few fine and common very fine tubular pores; slightly effervescent; 30 percent cobbles and 20 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
2Btk--8 to 23 cm; clay; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; strong medium prismatic structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine and very fine roots; few fine and very fine tubular pores; continuous distinct clay films on ped faces and in pores; few medium masses of lime; strongly effervescent; 10 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
3Cr--23 to 48 cm; weathered volcanic tuff; brown (10YR 5/3) dry (75 percent) and very pale brown (10YR 8/3) dry (25 percent).
TYPE LOCATION: Grant County, Oregon, located NW of the Blue Basin Area of the John Day Fossil Beds (Sheep Rock Unit) about 18 kilometers south of Kimberly, Oregon; 395 meters north and 335 meters east of the SW corner of section 20, T. 11 S., R. 26 E.; Latitude 44.5963644, Longitude -119.6293715 (location estimated from PLSS description).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 12 degrees C
Soil moisture--the soil moisture control section is dry in all parts for one-half to three-fourths of the time when the soil temperature is above 5 degrees C
Ochric epipedon--3 to 10 cm thick
Depth to argillic horizon--3 to 10 cm
Depth to paralithic contact--10 to 25 cm
Particle size control section
*Clay--27 to 60 percent
*Weighted average clay--35 to 60 percent
*Total fragments--less than 35 percent
A Horizon
*Hue--10YR
*Value--4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry
*Chroma--2 or 3 moist and dry
*Fine earth texture-- clay loam
*Clay--27 to 35 percent
*Sand--30 to 45 percent
*Total fragments--5 to 60 percent
*Gravels--5 to 25 percent
*Cobbles--0to 30 percent
*Stones--0 to 20 percent
*Organic matter--0.5 to 2.0 percent
*Reaction--pH 7.4 to 8.4 (slightly to moderately alkaline)
*Thickness--3 to 10 cm
2Btk Horizon
*Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
*Value--4 or 5 moist, 4 to 6 dry
*Chroma--2 to 4 moist and dry
*Fine earth texture--clay
*Clay--40 to 60 percent
*Sand--10 to 35 percent
*Total fragments--0 to 35 percent
*Gravels--0 to 15 percent
*Paragravels--0 to 20 percent
*Paracobbles--0 to 15 percent
*Organic matter--0.25 to 1.0 percent
*Reaction--pH 7.9 to 8.4 (moderately alkaline)
*Thickness--8 to 18 cm
*Carbonates--occurs as coatings on rock fragments or as masses throughout the matrix
COMPETING SERIES:
Bedzee--25 to 50 cm (shallow) to a paralithic contact of shale; have 15 to 35 percent rock fragments in the argillic horizon
Chalco--25 to 50 cm (shallow) to weathered tuff; lacks secondary carbonates in the argillic horizon
Espint--lacks secondary carbonates in the argillic horizon; are moist 10 to 20 days during the summer; has a soil temperature of 12 to 15 degrees C
Gumble--36 to 50 cm to fractured, soft tuff; have more than 15 percent fine sand or coarser in the sand-size fraction of the control section
Xman--25 to 50 cm (shallow) to weathered andesite; has hard bedrock at depths of 50 to 100 cm
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--610 to 1160 meters
Climate--semi-arid with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers
Mean annual precipitation--9 to 12 inches
Mean annual air temperature--9 to 11 degrees C
Frost-free period--90 to 140 days
Parent material--this soil formed in weathered John Day volcanic tuff overlain by clayey sediments. A mantle of basaltic colluvium and loess was added later
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Cant--clayey-skeletal PSCS; 50 to 100 cm (moderately deep) to lithic contact, occurs on south facing slopes
Drinkwater--loamy-skeletal PSCS; greater than 150 cm (very deep) to bedrock; occurs on colluvial footslopes and fans
Gooserock--loamy-skeletal PSCS; has Vitrandic properties in the soil surface; greater than 150 cm (very deep) to bedrock, and are on north slopes
Meadowridge--fine-loamy PSCS; greater than 150 cm (very deep) to bedrock; occurs on benches
Monroe--fine-loamy PSCS; greater than 150 cm (very deep) to bedrock; occurs on flood plains and very gentle alluvial fans
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage--well drained
Saturation during normal years--none
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--low to moderately low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--livestock grazing and wildlife habitat
Potential native vegetation--Bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, shadscale, and broom snakeweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution--East-central Oregon, B-10.
Extent--Small extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon, 2000.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizon and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--0 to 8 cm
Argillic horizon--8 to 23 cm, averages 10 percent rock fragments and 50 percent clay.
Particle size control section--0 to 23 cm, averages 23 percent rock fragments and 43 percent clay.
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Partial laboratory data is available for this soil. Reference sample S98OR-023-005-(1-5) from Grant County, Oregon.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.