LOCATION CARIBEL ID
Established Series
Rev. WJL/TWH/KLS
11/2022
CARIBEL SERIES
The Caribel series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from basalt. They occur on plateaus and have slopes of 0 to 45 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 710 mm and the average annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Caribel silt loam - on a 5 percent south-facing slope in coniferous forest at 1000 meters elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oi--0 to 1 cm; slightly decomposed and undecomposed needles, cones, and woody material; strongly acid (pH 5.2); abrupt wavy boundary.
Oe--1 to 2 cm; matted, moderately decomposed needles, leaves, cones, and woody material; fungi in places; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
Oa--2 to 3 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) and very dark brown (10YR 2/2) matted well-decomposed organic matter and common partly decomposed needles and woody material, black (10YR 2/1) moist; strong very fine and fine granular structure; slight content of white fungi in places; strongly acid (pH 5.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of O horizons - 1 to 4 cm)
A1--3 to 8 cm; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) rubbed, dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2), dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) rubbed, moist; top one-fourth inch is darker and grayer than rest of horizon; very weak thin platy structure and moderate to strong fine and very fine granular; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fibrous and fine roots; many micro irregular pores; few rock hard pellets or concretions 1 to 2 mm in diameter; fungi in places; peds do not slake in water after 5 minutes; moderately acid (pH 5.7); clear wavy boundary.
A2--8 to 21 cm; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) rubbed; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; weak thin platy structure parting to strong, very fine and fine granular; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fibrous and fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizons - 10 to 20 cm)
Bt1--21 to 34 cm; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) (5YR 5/4 rubbed), silty clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) (5YR 3/4 rubbed) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and medium and few coarse roots; common very fine tubular pores; faint patchy clay films on faces of peds and in pores; few black concretions; few weathered basalt very fine gravel 2-5mm in diameter; moderately acid (pH 5.6); gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--34 to 62 cm; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) (brown, 7.5YR 5/4 rubbed), silty clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fibrous and few fine and medium roots; common very fine and few fine and medium tubular pores; patchy clay films on faces of peds and in pores; few strongly weathered, very fine basalt gravel; common black concretions; very few black stains on faces of peds; moderately acid (pH 5.8) gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--62 to 146 cm; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) (brown, 7.5YR 5/4 rubbed) silty clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) (dark brown, 7.5YR 3/4 rubbed) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fibrous, fine and medium roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; patchy clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common black stains on faces peds; many weathered basalt fragments; many 0.5-2 mm concretions; strongly acid (pH 5.4) gradual, wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons - 55 to 125 cm)
Bt4--146 to 187 cm; brown (7.5YR 5/4) fine gravelly silty clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak coarse and medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; very few fibrous and fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; distinct patchy clay films on vertical surfaces of peds and in pores; few black stains on faces of peds; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); abrupt wavy boundary.
R--187 cm; weathered basalt bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: About 6 km west of Glenwood and 1600 meters eastward from T junction of Kamiah and Kidder Ridge roads; along logging road about 255 meters north of Glenwood gravel road; about 20 meters south of T road to west and 15 meters east of the logging road; about 365 meters north and 150 meters east of the southwest corner sec. 36, T. 34 N., R. 4 E.; USGS - Kooskia Quadrangle; Kooskia Area, Idaho County, Idaho; Lat. 46 degrees, 14 minutes, 24 seconds N; Long. 115 degrees, 54 minutes, 30 seconds W;
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--8 to 9 degrees C
A horizon
Hue--5YR or 7.5YR
Value--4 or 5 dry, 2 through 4 moist
Chroma--2 through 4, dry or moist
Reaction--pH 5.1 to 6.1
Bt horizon
Hue--5YR or 7.5YR
Value--4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma--3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture--silty clay loam, clay loam
Clay content--28 to 35 percent
Rock fragment content--0 to 30 percent
Reaction--pH 4.5 to 6.0
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Athol,
Beech(T),
Belton,
Bookwood, Breknock,
Carpenter,
Cateache,
Culleoka,
Door,
Dormont,
Duffield,
Dumfries,
Ebbing(T),
Frondorf,
Grayford, Greencreek(T),
Hayter,
Kell(T),
Lamotte,
Legore,
Loudonville,
Manassas,
Morrison, Myerville,
Neshaminy,
Oatlands,
Panorama,
Penn,
Renox,
Ryder,
Spriggs,
Sudley,
Washington,
Weedmark(T),
Westmoreland,
Wheeling and
Williamsburg series. All of these series except the Greencreek and Weedmark soils receive more than 890 mm of precipitation mainly during the summer period, and also do not contain basalt pebbles in the control section. Greencreek soils contain less silt, and also contain 10 to 35 percent gravel and cobbles, mainly quartz. The Weedmark soils are moderately deep or deep to a lithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform--level to steep dissected plateaus
Elevation--850 to 1025 meters
Slope--0 to 45 percent
Parent material--basalt
Mean annual precipitation--690 to 760 mm
Mean annual air temperature--7 to 8 degrees C
Frost free period--90 to 125 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderately slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Caribel soils are used mainly for forest products, small grains, hay, and pasture. Native vegetation is mostly Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine, with some grand fir; the understory is common snowberry, mallow ninebark, Rocky Mountain maple, willow, creambush oceanspray, pine reedgrass, and other grasses and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Caribel soils are moderately extensive in the Kooskia Area of northcentral Idaho; MLRA 43A
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kooskia Area, Idaho, 1965
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--3 to 21 cm (A1 and A2 horizons)
Argillic horizon--21 to 187 cm (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, and Bt4 horizons)
Particle-size control section--21 to 71 cm (Bt1, Bt2 and part of the Bt3 horizons)
Based on more recent knowledge of the area of Caribel soils, the taxonomic class would be Vitrandic Glossoboralfs, assuming a udic moisture regime and a frigid temperature regime. The udic regime is based on a predicted forest habitat type of grand fir/queencup beadlily. Some evidence in the Kooskia report suggests a grand fir/mallow ninebark habitat type; if so, a xeric regime is predicted, and the taxonomic class would be Vitrandic Haploxeralfs. TWH 2/94
Converted to metric, updated formatting, and O horizons were updated to start at zero. Competing series section was not updated. 10/2022
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.