LOCATION CHOPTIE                 OR+UT

Established Series
Rev. JSC/AON/TDT
05/2012

CHOPTIE SERIES

The Choptie series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in material weathered mainly from tuff. They are on low hills and ridges and have slopes of 1 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 17 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 44 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Haploxerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Choptie loam, idle land. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine vesicular pores; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)

A2--3 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak thick platy structure parting to moderate very fine granular; very soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 6.8); gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)

Bw--6 to 16 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt irregular boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)

2R--16 inches; white (10YR 8/), black (10YR 2/1) and pink (7.5YR 7/4) pumice tuff with angular fragments of pumice from 0.5 to 5cm in diameter; extremely hard.

TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon; about 1 mile southwest of Beatty; center of SE1/4 SW1/4 section 22, T.36S., R.12E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 44 to 47 degrees F. The soils are usually moist but are dry in all parts between depths of 8 inches and the lithic contact for about 80 to 90 consecutive days in summer and are moist in winter. Depth to bedrock is 10 to 20 inches. Hard lava rock fragments are 0 to 30 percent. Weathered cinders or other soft rock fragments make up 0 to 20 percent of the whole soil volume. It is neutral or slightly acid throughout. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick.

The A horizon has value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry.

The Bw horizon has value of 3 or 4 moist, 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. It is loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam and has 12 to 18 percent clay. Underlying bedrock is typically extremely hard pumice tuff, tuffaceous breccia and tuffaceous sandstone but includes basalt and andesite.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Nuss, Sadorus, and Spaa series. Nuss soils have loam and clay loam Bw horizons and have 18 to 30 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Sadorus soils have a mean annual soil temperature of less than 42 degrees F.. Spaa soils have secondary lime above the bedrock and are mildly or moderately alkaline.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Choptie soils are on low hills and ridges at elevations of 3,800 to 6,500 feet. Slopes are 1 to 60 percent. The soils formed in material weathered mainly from tuff and tuffaceous sandstone. The climate is subhumid with annual precipitation of 12 to 22 inches. The mean January temperature is about 26 to 27 degrees F., the mean July temperature is about 61 to 63 degrees F., and the mean annual temperature is about 43 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period is 50 to 90 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Causey, Crume, and Westbutte soils. Causey and Crume soils are deeper than 40 inches over bedrock. Crume soils also have clay loam and sandy clay loam Bw horizons. Westbutte soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Choptie soils are used mainly for livestock grazing and to a lesser extent for production of irrigated and dryland crops. Native vegetation is mainly mountain big sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, and Idaho fescue. The principal crops on the cultivated areas are pasture and cereal hay.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and south-central Oregon and parts of Utah; MLRA 10, 21, and 47. The series is extensive.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features:
-Xeric soil moisture regime
-Mollic epipedon- the zone from 0 to 16 inches (A1, A2, and Bw horizons)
-Lithic contact at 16 inches
-Some pedons have a thin cambic horizon

The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Morgan Area, Utah, 1974.

The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.