LOCATION CENCOVE ID+OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Xeric Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Cencove fine sandy loam, cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; very weak very fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; many very fine tubular pores; fragments of moderately calcareous material; mildly alkaline (pH 7.7); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
C1ca--9 to 20 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; many very fine tubular pores; moderately calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
C2ca--20 to 32 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive; matrix slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; about 5 percent by volume hard, firm, rounded nodules or (cicada) krotovinas about 1 inch in diameter and 1.2 to 1.5 inches long, dark grayish brown in moist interior and few soft lime splotches on surface; moderately calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
IIC3--32 to 35 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loamy sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, few fine and medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; moderately calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
IIIC4--35 to 40 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; single grained; loose; slightly calcareous; pebbles slightly coated with lime on lower side; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Canyon County, Idaho; about 3 miles south and 1 mile west of Wilder on a terrace at 2,270 feet elevation; 500 feet north and 40 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 34, T.4N., R.5W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature from 47 degrees to 54 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches ranges from 66 degrees to 74 degrees F. These soils are usually dry, but are moist between depths of 8 and 24 inches for 60 to 80 consecutive days in later winter and spring. The organic matter content is low or moderately low and decreases regularly with depth. A layer of sand and gravel is at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Some pedons have a few scattered pebbles distributed throughout. Below the A horizon and above the sand and gravel, the soil is fine sandy loam or sandy loam, and averages 6 to 18 percent clay and more than 15 percent but less than 50 percent particles coarser than very fine sand. In many pedons, a thin layer of loamy fine sand or loamy sand is between the sandy loam and the gravel.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. Value of rubbed soils are lighter than 5.5 dry and 2.5 moist.
The Cca horizon has value of 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Emerson, Heist, Lolalita, Marsing, and Myton series. Lolalita soils lack contrasting substratum above depth of 40 inches. Emerson and Lolalita soils are noncalcareous to depths of 2 feet or deeper. Heist soils have 7.5YR hue, are strongly calcareous, have weakly lime-cemented horizons, and lack loose sand and gravel above depth of 40 inches. Marsing soils have loam, silt loam, very fine sandy loam, or gravelly loam above the sand and gravel. Myton soils have strongly calcareous loam Cca and weakly lime-cemented horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cencove soils are on level to sloping alluvial fans and terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent but are predominantly less than 4 percent. Elevations range from 2,000 to 4,500 feet. The soils formed in mixed alluvium derived mostly from quartzitic, granitic, rhyolitic, basaltic, and Idaho-Payette formation materials. The climate is semiarid, continental with dry summers. Average frost-free period is 110 to 170 days, mean annual precipitation is 7 to 11 inches, including 0.5 to 2 feet of snow.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bahem, Garbutt, Feltham, Nyssa, Sagehill, and Truesdale soils. Bahem, Garbutt, and Nyssa soils are medium textured and lack contrasting textures. Feltham soils have loamy sand to depth of 20 inches or deeper. Sagehill and Truesdale soils are coarse-loamy and lack contrasting textures.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium or slow runoff; moderately rapid permeability in the A and IC horizons and very rapid permeability in the sand and gravel.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly irrigated cropland. Principal crops are small grains, vegetable seed, corn, hay and pasture. Noncultivated areas support principally cheatgrass, big sagebrush, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Canyon County, Idaho, 1973.