LOCATION DESTER OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Vitritorrandic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Dester sandy loam - rangeland, on a 2 percent slope 4400 feet elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 4 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common roots; many irregular pores; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
A2--4 to 17 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common roots; many irregular pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 10 to 20 inches)
2Bt1--17 to 24 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on peds and in pores; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
2Bt2--24 to 34 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel; effervescent in spots; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
3R--34 inches; basalt; thin discontinuous opal coating.
TYPE LOCATION: Deschutes County, Oregon; southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, section 1, T. 20 S., R. 17 E; 43 degrees, 52 minutes, 00 seconds north latitude and 120 degrees, 38 minutes, 26 seconds east longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Soils are moist in winter and spring. They are warmer than 41 degrees F from April 15 to November 1, and they are dry throughout after July 1. The mean annual soil temperature is 44 to 47 degrees F. Depth to bedrock is 20 to 40 inches.
The A horizon has chroma of 2 or 3 when dry. It is sandy loam or loamy sand with 0 to 20 percent gravel and 5 to 15 percent clay. Phosphate retention is 15 to 25 percent. Glass and glass-coated aggregate is 40 to 60 percent. Acid oxalate extractable aluminum plus one-half the acid oxalate extractable iron is 0.3 to 0.6 percent.
The 2Bt horizon has chroma of 2 through 4 dry and moist. It is gravelly clay loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam. It has 27 to 35 percent average clay and 0 to 25 percent gravel.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Dester soils are on lava benches at elevations of 4,200 to 4,500 feet. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in ash over sediment weathered from lava rocks. The climate is characterized by cold moist winters and warm dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 12 inches. The mean annual temperature is 42 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period is 50 to 90 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Borobey, Stookmoor and Gardone soils. All of these soils lack an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Potential native vegetation is mountain big sagebrush, Idaho fescue, western and Thurber needlegrasses, Ross sedge, and bottlebrush squirreltail.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains; MLRA 23. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Deschutes County (Upper Deschutes River Area), Oregon, 1992.
REMARKS: The classification was changed from fine-loamy, mixed, frigid Xerollic Durargids to fine-loamy, mixed, frigid Vitritorrandic Argixerolls in 1992, to reflect the presence of andic soil characteristics in the upper part and the lack of the consistent presence of a duripan.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - from 0 to 17 inches (A1 and A2 horizons).
Argillic horizon - from 17 to 34 inches (2Bt1, 2Bt2 horizons)
Vitritorrandic subgroup - the upper 17 inches of the profile (A horizon) fails andic soil properties because phosphate retention is less than 25 percent. Data is based on analysis from the geographically associated Borobey, Stookmoor, Milican, and Gardone Soils.
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.