LOCATION CLENDENEN WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Medial-skeletal, mixed, shallow Andic Humicryods
TYPICAL PEDON: Clendenen gravelly silt loam - on a 10 percent northwest-facing slope under a canopy of western hemlock and Pacific silver fir. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise stated. All textures are apparent field textures.)
Oi--8 to 2 inches; undecomposed forest litter.
0a--2 inches to 0; decomposed organic matter.
E--0 to 4 inches; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) silt loam, pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) dry; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and very fine roots; few very fine irregular pores; 10 percent angular pebbles; many fine roots; NaF pH less than 9.0; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bhs--4 to 11 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/2) very gravelly loam, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) dry; many medium dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) organic stains on faces of peds; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic and weakly smeary; very few very fine roots; very few very fine irregular pores; 45 percent angular pebbles; NaF pH 10.6; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
Bs--11 to 16 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) very gravelly loam, reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) dry; few medium dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) organic stains on faces of peds; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic and weakly smeary; very few very fine roots; few very fine irregular pores; 40 percent angular pebbles; NaF pH 10.5; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
2Cd--16 to 60 inches; light gray (5Y 7/1); dense glacial till that breaks to very gravelly loam, light gray (5Y 7/1) dry; few fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) mottles; massive; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 60 percent angular pebbles; medium acid (pH 5.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Skagit County, Washington; approximately 2,400 feet south and 2,400 feet west of the northeast corner, sec. 21, T. 34 N., R. 6 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to dense glacial till is 14 to 20 inches. The till retards roots and water movement. The mean annual soil temperature is 41 to 44 degrees F. The control section averages from 40 to 70 percent pebbles. Thickness of the organic horizons ranges from 6 to 13 inches.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR; value of 4 through 6 moist, 6 or 7 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2 moist and dry.
The matrix of the Bhs and Bs horizons have hue of 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 moist, 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 2 through 6 moist and dry. Organic stains have hue of 2.5YR, 5YR, or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3 moist, 3 or 4 dry, and chroma of 1 through 4 moist and dry. They are loam or silt loam with 40 to 70 percent pebbles by weighted average. Reaction is very strongly acid, strongly acid, or medium acid.
The 2Cd horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 7 moist and dry, and chroma of 1 through 3 moist and dry. It is dense glacial till that breaks to loam or sandy loam with 40 to 70 percent rock fragments. Reaction is strongly acid or medium acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Deming, Humskel, Saar, and Shuksan soils in other families. Deming soils are more than 40 inches deep. Humskel soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a lithic contact. Saar and Shuksan soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Clendenen soils are on glacially modified mountainsides with slopes of 3 to 65 percent. The elevation is 2,600 to 4,000 feet. The soils formed in volcanic ash, loess, colluvium and glacial till. These soils are in a marine climate with cold, wet winters, and cool, dry summers and snow cover from November through May. The average annual precipitation is 80 to 100 inches. Average January temperature is about 28 degrees F, and average July temperature is about 56 degrees F. The mean annual air temperature is about 41 degrees F. The frost-free season is 80 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Crinker, Getchell, Hinker, Kindy, Potchub and Springsteen soils and the competing Saar and Humskel soils. All of these soils are moderately deep. Crinker, Getchell, Kindy and Springsteen soils have less than 6 percent organic carbon in the spodic horizon. Potchub soils are fine=loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is slow or medium. Permeability is moderate in the solum to the dense glacial till and very slow through it. A perched water table is as high as 1 to 1.5 feet from November through June.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for woodland and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation includes western hemlock, western redcedar, Pacific silver fir, and mountain hemlock with an undergrowth of tall blue huckleberry, bunchberry dogwood, trailing blackberry, western brackenfern, deer fern and queencup beadlily.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West slopes of the Cascade Mountains in northwestern Washington. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Skagit County, Washington, l98l.
REMARKS: Classification and nomenclature of Cd (formerly Cr) only changed 4/94. The former draft reflected a change in classification from Medial-skeletal, shallow Humic Cryorthods to Loamy-skeletal, mixed, shallow Humic Cryorthods. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an albic horizon from the mineral surface to 4 inches, a spodic horizon from 4 to 16 inches, and a paralithic contact with dense glacial till at 16 inches.