LOCATION CLIPPER WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, mesic Aquic Haplorthods
TYPICAL PEDON: Clipper silt loam - on a l percent southwest facing slope in pasture at 140 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. All textures are apparent field textures.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine irregular and few fine tubular pores; 5 percent pebbles; NaF pH 9.4; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 12 inches thick)
E1--9 to 18 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and gray (10YR 6/1) silt loam, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) and white (10YR 8/1) dry; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine irregular and few very fine tubular pores; few pebbles; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 11 inches thick)
2E2--18 to 22 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and gray (10YR 5/1) gravelly sandy loam, light gray (2.5Y 7/2 and 10YR 7/1) dry; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles, reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 30 percent pebbles; medium acid (pH 5.6); clear smooth boundary.
2Bs--22 to 30 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) gravelly sandy loam, brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) dry; many medium prominent grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) mottles, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very few very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 30 percent pebbles; medium acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the 2BC horizon is 5 to 15 inches)
3C1--30 to 37 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) and grayish brown (2,5Y 5/2) very gravelly loamy sand, light gray (2,5Y 7/2) dry; few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) dry; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine irregular pores; 50 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; medium acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 30 inches thick)
3C2--37 to 60 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very gravelly loamy sand, light grayish brown (2.5Y 6/2) dry; many fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) dry; massive; soft, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine irregular pores; 50 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; medium acid (pH 5.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Whatcom County, Washington; about 4 miles northeast of Lynden; 500 feet north and 2,400 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 34, T. 41 N., R. 3 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 54 degrees F. Thickness of the solum is 20 to 28 inches. By weighted average the solum has 10 to 18 percent clay and the particle-size control section averages 15 to 35 percent rock fragments. Rock fragments increase with depth averaging 2 to 20 percent in the Bs horizon and 25 to 60 percent in the 2Bs horizons.
The A horizon has chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. Reaction is medium acid or slightly acid.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 5 or 6 moist, 7 or 8 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2 moist and dry. Mottles have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 moist, 5 or 6 dry. It is silt loam, loam, gravelly loam, or gravelly silt loam. Reaction is strongly acid or medium acid.
The 2E horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 5 or 6 moist, 7 or 8 dry, chroma of 1 or 2 moist and dry, and is mottled. It is gravelly sandy loam or gravelly loam. Reaction is strongly acid or medium acid.
The 2Bs horizon has hue of 10YR or 2,5Y, value of 4 through 6 moist, 6 or 7 dry, and chroma of 1 through 8 moist and dry. Mottles have similar color. It is gravelly loam, gravelly sandy loam, very gravelly loam or very gravelly sandy loam. Reaction is strongly acid or medium acid.
The 3C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry, and chroma of 2 through 4 moist and dry. It is massive or single grain. Dry consistence is loose, soft or slightly hard. It is very gravelly loamy sand or very gravelly sand. Reaction is strongly acid or medium acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Yelm soils and the similar Hale and Laxton series. Yelm soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments throughout the particle-size control section. Hale and Laxton soils are coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Clipper soils are on outwash terraces and outwash plains at elevations of 50 to 300 feet. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in loess, volcanic ash and glacial outwash. Clipper soils are in a marine climate with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Snow cover is intermittent. Annual precipitation is 35 to 55 inches, which falls mostly between October and May. Each of the summer months has at least one inch of rainfall. Mean January temperature is 36 degrees F; mean July temperature is 62 degrees F; and mean annual temperature is 50 degrees . The frost-free season is 150 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Barnhardt, Birchbay, Everett, Hale, and Kickerville series. Barnhardt soils are loamy-skeletal. Birchbay and Hale soils are coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal. Everett soils lack mottles and are sandy-skeletal. Hale soils are coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal. Kickerville soils lack mottles.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; very slow runoff; moderate permeability in the solum, rapid in the substratum. An apparent water table is as high as 1 to 2 feet from November through April, unless drained.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for cropland. Hay and pasture are common crops. Some is used for timber production and homesites. Native vegetation is red alder, western hemlock and western redcedar with an understory of western brackenfern, red huckleberry, western swordfern, salmonberry, trailing blackberry, and sweetscented bedstraw.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Whatcom County, Washington, l948.
Remarks: This draft reflects a change in classification from coarse-loamy, mixed, mesic Aquic Xerochrepts to coarse-loamy, mixed, mesic Aquic Haplorthods. These soils have soil temperature of less than 41 degrees F when the water table is above 20 inches of depth. Characterization data are available on these soils. Laboratory number S81WA-073-1. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an ochric epipedon from the surface to 9 inches, an albic horizon from 9 to 22 inches, and a spodic horizon from 22 to 30 inches. The albic and spodic horizons have mottles with a chroma of 2 or less. The spodic horizon does not meet chemical criteria but does have micro morphology, i.e. cracked coatings and silt-sized and larger pellets.