LOCATION CASTLECREST OR
Established Series
Rev. ACM/TDT/CEG
02/2025
CASTLECREST SERIES
Landscape--Cascade Mountains
Landform-- pyroclastic flows on tephra volcanic fields, mountain flanks, mountain sides
Slope--0 to 80 percent
Parent material--volcanic ash mixed with pumice, cinders and andesite fragments
Mean annual precipitation--about 1400 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 5 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--somewhat excessively drained
Soil moisture regime--udic
Soil temperature regime--cryic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, amorphic Typic Vitricryands
TYPICAL PEDON: Castlecrest paragravelly ashy loamy sand, on a 3 percent slope, forested.
Oi--0 to 3 cm; slightly decomposed needle litter; abrupt wavy boundary
A--3 to 8 cm; paragravelly ashy loamy sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; many fine interstitial pores; 15 percent pumice paragravel; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary
Bw--8 to 48 cm; paragravelly ashy loamy sand, brown (10YR 5/3) dry, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; many fine interstitial pores; 15 percent pumice paragravel; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary
C1--48 to 66 cm; ashy sand, brown (10YR 4/3) and brown (10YR 5/3) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) and dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine interstitial pores; 7 percent pumice paragravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary
C2--66 to 97 cm; ashy coarse sand, light gray (10YR 7/2) and dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry, gray (10YR 6/1) and very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine interstitial pores; 5 percent pumice gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); gradual wavy boundary
C3--97 to 163 cm; ashy coarse sand, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) and dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) and very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine interstitial pores; 5 percent pumice paragravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4)
TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon, Crater Lake National Park; about 2.3 miles east northeast of the Pumice Desert view point; Pumice Desert West, Oregon U. S. Geological Survey quadrangle; UTM Zone 10, 568232 easting, 4765340 northing, NAD 83 (GPS); Latitude 43 degrees, 02 minutes, 15.5 seconds North; Longitude 122 degrees, 09 minutes, 44.5 seconds West.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Temperature--cryic regime
Mean annual soil temperature-- 4 to 7 degrees C
Moisture control section--30 to 90 cm; udic regime; usually moist but dry in all parts of the moisture control section for 30 to 45 consecutive days following the summer solstice
Rock fragments--pumice paragravel and paracobbles; andesite and cinder gravel and cobbles
Particle-size control section
*Clay content--2 to 10 percent (weighted average)
*Pumice pararock fragment content--0 to 35 percent (weighted average)
*Rock fragment content--0 to 35 percent (weighted average)
*Combined rock and pararock fragment content--0 to 35 percent (weighted average)
Estimated andic properties (A, Bw, C1, and C2 horizons):
*Thickness--35 to 125 cm
*Ammonium oxalate extractable Al plus 1/2 Fe--1.0 to 2.5 percent
*8xSi+2xFe--5 to 8 (weighted average)
*Medium to very coarse sand in the .02 to 2.0 mm fraction--greater than 50 percent
*P-retention--50 to 85 percent
*Volcanic glass content--30 to 90 percent glass and glass-coated aggregates
*1/3-bar bulk density--0.75 to 1.00 g/cm3
*1500 kPa water (air-dried samples)--3 to 12 percent
*1500 kPa water (moist samples)--4 to 13 percent
Some pedons, typically when slopes are less than 15 percent, lack an A horizon and have an albic horizon (E) up to 8 cm thick.
Some pedons with slopes less than 15 percent and under thick litter cover have spodic horizons (Bs).
Oi horizon (and Oe horizon, present in some pedons)
*Thickness--3 to 10 cm
A horizon (where present; and AB horizon, present in some pedons)
Hue--7.5 YR or 10YR, moist or dry
Value--2 to 5 moist, 3 to 6 dry
Chroma--2 to 4, moist or dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy sand, ashy loamy sand, ashy sandy loam
Clay content--2 to 10 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 35 percent
Paracobble content--0 to 5 percent
Gravel content--0 to 8 percent cinders, 0 to 35 percent andesite
Cobble content--0 to 3 percent andesite
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (pH 5.6 to 7.3)
Organic matter content--2 to 10 percent
Thickness--0 to 45 cm
Bw horizon
Hue--5YR, 7.5 YR, or 10YR, moist or dry
Value--3 to 5 moist, 4 to 7 dry
Chroma--2 to 6, moist or dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy sand, ashy loamy sand, ashy sandy loam
Clay content--2 to 10 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 35 percent
Paracobble content--0 to 5 percent
Gravel content--0 to 5 percent cinders, 0 to 35 percent andesite
Cobble content--0 to 5 percent andesite
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (pH 5.6 to 7.3)
Organic matter content--0.5 to 2 percent
Thickness--13 to 75 cm
C horizon (and BC horizon, present in some pedons)
Hue--5YR, 7.5 YR, or 10YR, moist or dry
Value--3 to 7 moist, 4 to 8 dry
Chroma--1 to 6 moist, 2 to 6 dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy coarse sand, ashy sand, ashy loamy coarse sand, ashy loamy sand
Clay content--0 to 5 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 35 percent (may be greater than 35 percent in the lower C horizon(s))
Paracobble content--0 to 5 percent
Gravel content--0 to 20 percent cinders, 0 to 35 percent andesite
Cobble content--0 to 5 percent andesite or scoria
Reaction--slightly acid to neutral (pH 6.1 to 7.3)
Organic matter content--0 to 0.5 percent
COMPETING SERIES:
Foggyflat--deep (100 to 150 cm) to a lithic contact
Hutson--fine-earth textures of loam, or fine sandy loam; over 2 percent acid oxalate aluminum plus half iron
Taaax--5 to 30 percent volcanic glass; 2Bw horizons (lithologic discontinuity) derived from mudflows or block-and-ash flows, with fine-earth textures of ashy fine sandy loam, ashy loam, or ashy silt loam
Wawukyataak--moderately deep (50 to 100 cm) to densic materials
Winegar--moderately deep (50 to 100 cm) to densic materials in basal till
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1475 to 2350 m
Climate--cold, wet winters and cool, moist summers
Mean annual air temperature-- 3 to 6 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--710 to 1780 mm
Frost-free period--0 to 50 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Llaorock--on ridges and backslopes of mountains; medial-skeletal particle-size class
Timbercrater--on ridges, mountain flanks, and mountain tops; ashy-pumiceous particle-size class
Unionpeak--on ash flows; moderately deep (50 to 100 cm) to a weakly cemented duripan
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--Somewhat excessively drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--high to very high throughout
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--timber production, wildlife habitat, recreation, watershed
Vegetation--mountain hemlock, Shasta red fir, and lodgepole pine, with a sparse understory of shrubs and herbs
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cascade Mountains, Eastern Slope, Oregon; MLRA 6; small extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED:
Klamath County, Oregon, Crater Lake National Park, 2001
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon
*Ochric epipedon
*Volcanic glass--throughout (zone from 0 to 200 cm)
*Andic soil properties--zone from 0 to 97 cm
*Particle-size control section--zone from 3 to 103 cm
NASIS Site ID 99-GJW-03
NASIS Pedon ID 99OR682004
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL) characterization--2 pedons (pedon numbers 04N0390 and 04N1021)
01/2025--This official series description was updated following mapping of additional acreage in the OR683 Soil Survey area; the ranges in characteristics of some properties were expanded and the competing series section was updated.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.