LOCATION COMAR WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, isotic, mesic Typic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Comar silt loam on a 45 percent southeast-facing slope under a forest canopy of Douglas-fir and red alder at 1,400 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated. All textures are apparent field textures.)
Oi--5 to 4 inches; undecomposed needles, leaves, and twigs.
Oa--4 inches to 0; decomposed forest litter; many very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots.
A--0 to 5 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic, weakly smeary; many very fine, fine, medium and coarse roots; many fine irregular pores; 30 percent weathered pebbles and 10 percent unweathered pebbles; NaF pH 10.0, medium acid (pH 5.8); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bs--5 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic, weakly smeary; many very fine, fine, and common medium and coarse roots; many fine irregular pores; 20 percent weathered pebbles and 5 percent unweathered pebbles; NaF pH 10.5, medium acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (10 to 16 inches thick)
2C1--16 to 39 inches; light olive brown (2,5Y 5/4) silt loam, very pale brown (10Y 7/3) dry; massive; very hard, firm, sticky, plastic; many very fine, fine, and few medium roots; many fine and medium irregular pores; 75 percent weathered pebbles; NaF 9.4, strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear smooth boundary. (7 to 28 inches thick)
2C2--39 to 44 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silt loam; pale yellow (10YR 7/4) dry; massive; very hard, firm, sticky plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium roots; many fine and medium irregular pores; 60 percent unweathered pebbles; NaF pH less than 9.0; strongly acid (pH 5.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 13 inches thick)
2Cr--44 inches; siltstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Whatcom County, Washington, about 2 miles northeast of Deming; 2.200 feet due south of the northwest corner of sec. 29, T. 39 N., R. 5 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature is 48 degrees to 52 degrees F. Depth to a paralithic contact with siltstone is more than 40 inches. Thickness of the solum is 14 to 24 inches. The soil moisture control section is dry in all parts for 45 to 60 consecutive days within the four months that follow the summer solstice in 6 or more years out of 10. The particle-size control section averages 18 to 30 percent clay. The particle-size control section has 0 to 25 percent unweathered pebbles and 15 to 80 percent weathered pebbles by weighted average. Reaction is strongly acid or medium acid throughout. The A horizon has chroma of 3 or 4 moist or dry.
The Bs horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and dry. It has 0 to 15 percent unweathered pebbles and 0 to 20 percent weathered pebbles. It is loam or silt loam.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 moist, 5 through 8 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and dry. It is silt loam, silty clay loam, or gravelly silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the similar Bullards, Cathcart, Chuckanut, Kickerville, Nati, Sehome, and Squalicum soils in other families. All of these soils are coarse-loamy. In addition, Bullards soils are isomesic, Cathcart, Chuckanut, Kickerville, and Squalicum soils are less than 15 percent weathered siltstone in the particle-size control section. Nati and Sehome soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Comar soils are on foothills and mountain backslopes and toeslopes at elevations of 300 to 1,500 feet. Slopes are 5 to 60 percent. The soils formed in colluvium and slope alluvium from siltstone slightly modified by glacial till with a surficial admixture of volcanic ash. Comar soils are in a marine climate with warm, dry summers, and cool, moist winters. Snow cover is intermittent. Average annual precipitation is 50 to 65 inches. Mean January temperature is 35 degrees F, mean July temperature is about 62 degrees F. Mean annual temperature is about 47 degrees F. The frost-free season is 140 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Cathcart and Nati soils and Revel soils. Revel soils are frigid.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; slow to medium runoff; moderately slow permeability. A perched watertable is as high as 1.5 to 3.5 feet during January and February.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for timber production, recreation, homesites, and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is Douglas-fir, western redcedar, western hemlock, and red alder, with an undergrowth of vine maple, red huckleberry, western swordfern, salal, western brackenfern, and Oregon-grape.
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: Whatcom County, Washington, 1983.
REMARKS: This draft reflects a change in classification from medial over loamy, mixed, mesic Andic Xerochrepts to fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Haplorthods. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an ochric epipedon from the mineral surface to 5 inches and a spodic horizon from 5 to 16 incheds. The spodic horizon does not meet chemical criteria for a spodic horizon but does have the micro morphology, i.e. silt-sized pellets and cracked coatings.