LOCATION COUGARBAY IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey over sandy or sandy-skeletal, smectitic over mixed, frigid Fluvaquentic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Cougarbay silt loam, cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, gray (10YR 5/1) dry; few fine faint reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) redox concentrations; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine, fine, and medium roots; common fine tubular pores; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 12 inches thick)
2Cg1--10 to 14 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; common fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) redox concentrations; moderate medium prismatic structure that parts to moderate medium angular blocky; hard, firm, moderately sticky and very plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many fine tubular pores; thin patchy black coatings on surfaces of peds; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
2Cg2--14 to 30 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) dry; many medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) redox concentrations; moderate medium prismatic structure that parts to moderate fine and medium angular blocky; very hard, very firm, moderately sticky and very plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common fine tubular pores; thin (1/2 to 1 inch thick) mottled sand lenses; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (14 to 16 inches thick)
3Cg3--30 to 50 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) stratified coarse sand and loamy coarse sand, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; common fine prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) redox concentrations; single grain; loose; micaceous; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
4Cg4--50 to 60 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; many medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) redox concentrations; moderate medium prismatic structure that parts to moderate medium angular blocky; very hard, very firm, moderately sticky and very plastic; neutral (pH 6.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Kootenai County, Idaho; Cougar Gulch; 2,740 feet east and 560 feet north of the southwest corner of section 21, T.50N., R.4W. Nearly level bottomland at about 2,150 feet elevation.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 44 degrees to 47 degrees F. The soils are saturated to the surface during spring runoff. Depth to the stratified sandy material is 28 to 35 inches but average 30 inches. Surface cracks are present upon drying in most pedons.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry and chroma of 1 or 2.
The 2Cg horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 through 7 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is silty clay or silty clay loam with more than 35 percent clay. Redox concentrations have hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 4 through 8. They are common or many and distinct or prominent.
The 3Cg horizon has value of 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry. This horizon is stratified coarse and or loamy coarse sand with very thin layers of finer textured materials. Redox concentrations have hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, and chroma of 4 through 6. They are distinct to prominent.
The 4Cg horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5 moist, 5 through 7 dry. It is silty clay or silty clay loam. Redox concentrations have hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, and chroma of 4 through 6. They are common or many, distinct or prominent. This horizon is generally always saturated.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cougarbay soils occur in the low bottomland areas adjacent to lakes. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Elevations range from 2,100 to 2,500. The soils formed in recent lake laid sediments with lenses of sandy alluvium. The soils are in a climate with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The annual precipitation is 20 to 30 inches. Mean January temperature is about 25 percent F.; mean July temperature is about 63 degrees F.; the average annual temperature is 42 degrees to 45 degrees F. The frost-free season is 100 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Blinn, Kruse, Lenz, Ramsdell, and Ulricher soils. Blinn, Kruse, Lenz, and Ulricher soils are well drained soils on uplands. Ramsdell soils have ochric epipedons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained; slow runoff; very slow permeability. The high water table ranges from the surface to a depth of 18 inches. The soils are saturated during the spring runoff. There is occasional to frequent flooding.
USE AND VEGETATION: The main uses for pasture and hay with some small acreages used for production of corn silage and small grains. Native vegetation is mainly black cottonwood, Pacific willows, birch, black hawthorne, cattails, sedges, timothy, canary grass and other grasses and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Low-lying areas near the lakes of northern Idaho. The series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kootenai County, Idaho, 1976.