LOCATION CONDON OR+WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Condon silt loam-cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak medium platy and weak medium granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common fine irregular pores; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--7 to 14 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) heavy silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium to coarse prismatic and weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 6.7); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Bw2--14 to 20 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) heavy silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium to coarse prismatic and weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
BC--20 to 31 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
2R--31 inches; basalt.
TYPE LOCATION: Gilliam County, Oregon; 0.8 mile west of Condon city limits; 175 feet west of fence, 150 feet north of Condon-Moro road in the SE1/4 SW1/4 NW1/4 sec. 9. T. 4 S., R. 21 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The soils are usually moist but are dry for 80 to 90 consecutive days between depths of 4 to 12 inches following the summer solstice. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 to 54 degrees F. Thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock range from 20 to 40 inches. Organic matter decreases to less than 1 percent at depths of less than 20 inches and commonly between 10 and 15 inches.
The A horizon has value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. It is slightly acid or neutral.
The B horizon has value of 3 or 4 moist, 5 or 6 dry, but 3 moist and 5 dry above 10 inches and chroma of 2 thru 4 moist and dry. It is silt loam and averages 18 to 27 percent clay and less than 15 percent coarser than very fine sand. This horizon has weak to moderate structure. It is slightly acid through mildly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cantala and Couse series. Cantala and Couse soils are deeper than 40 inches to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Condon soils are on uplands at elevations of 1100 to 4000 feet. Slopes are 0 to 40 percent. These soils formed in a loess mantle with an appreciable component of volcanic ash overlying basalt. Summers are warm and dry and winters are cool and moist. Mean summer temperature is 62 to 66 degrees F., and mean winter temperature is 31 to 33 degrees F. Mean annual temperature is 45 to 52 degrees F. Precipitation ranges from 10 to 15 inches. The frost-free period is 100 to 165 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bakeoven, Lickskillet, Valby and Wrentham soils and the competing Cantala soils. All of these except Valby and Cantala soils contain more than 35 percent fragments coarser than 2 mm. Also, Bakeoven and Lickskillet soils are less than 20 inches deep to bedrock. Valby soils are calcareous at depths of 15 to 30 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principal use is for growing grain crops. Other uses are production of hay, pasture and native range. Native plants are bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, Sandberg bluegrass and forbs such as yarrow, phlox and buckwheat.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Oregon and south-central Washington. The series is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rock Creek Project, Gilliam County, Oregon, 1939.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data on 6 profiles (S57-Ore-33-10, S57-Oreg-33-11, S57-Ore-33-12, S57-Ore-33-13, S57-Oreg-28-1, and S57-Ore-11-1) reported in Field and Laboratory studies of some soils in Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam Counties, Oregon, by SCS Riverside Soil Survey Laboratory, May, 1959.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include:
Mollic epipedon - from surface to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
Cambic horizon - from 7 to 20 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons )
Depth to lithic contact - 31 inches.
Series Revision Date - 1/90