LOCATION DETER              OR+CA ID
Established Series
Rev. RHB/AON/RWL
02/97

DETER SERIES


The Deter series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium and lacustrine sediments weathered from tuff, basalt and diatomite. Deter soils are on terraces and have slopes of 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Pachic Argixerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Deter clay loam, cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak fine platy and fine and very fine granular structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

Bt1--8 to 12 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak medium platy structure; hard, firm, very sticky and plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; many faint clay films in pores and on peds; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

Bt2--12 to 35 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; dark brown (10YR 3/3) crushed; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium angular blocky; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; continuous stress cutans on peds; faint clay films in pores; neutral (pH 7.2); gradual wavy boundary. (15 to 30 inches thick)

Bt3--35 to 60 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; dark brown (10YR 3/3) crushed; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on peds, faint clay films in pores; moderately alkaline (pH 7.4).

TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon; about 12 miles southwest of Klamath Falls; 1,240 feet east and 120 feet south of the NW corner of section 17, T.40S., R.8E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 47 to 54 degrees F. The soils usually are moist but are dry at depths between 4 to 12 inches about 90 to 115 consecutive days when soil temperature is more than 47 degrees F. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. The mollic epipedon is 20 to 40 inches thick. Rock fragments commonly are lacking but some pedons have up to 30 percent gravel in the lower part of the Bt horizon. Gravelly and very gravelly substratums occur in some pedons below 40 inches.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 1 or 2 moist and dry. It is slightly acid or neutral. It is loam, silt loam or clay loam.

A Bw horizon is present in some pedons and is silt loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam with 22 to 28 percent clay.

The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 through 4 moist, 4 through 6 dry, and chroma of 2 through 4 moist and dry. This horizon is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay and averages 35 to 50 percent clay. It commonly has stress oriented fabric throughout the major part. This horizon is neutral through moderately alkaline. In some pedons, the texture includes silty clay loam or silty clay.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Denbar, Jacknife, Medford, Mindego and Nebeker series. Denbar soils are 40 to 60 inches to a duripan. Jacknife soils are moist in some part of moisture control section for more than 90 days when temperature is above 47 degrees F. Medford soils have soil temperature of 54 to 57 degrees F. and are dry for 45 to 80 consecutive days. Mindego soils have soil temperature of 55 degrees F. or warmer, have a comparatively small summer-winter temperature change and have a frost-free period of about 300 days. Nebeker soils have slightly or moderately calcareous C horizons, have 70 to 140 days in the frost-free period and are dry for 60 to 75 consecutive days during the summer and autumn.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Deter soils are on terraces in lake basins. Elevations are 3,000 to 5,000 feet. Slopes range from 0 to 30 percent. These soils formed in alluvium weathered from tuff, basalt and diatomite. The climate is semiarid with warm dry summers and cold moist winters. Annual precipitation is 8 to 18 inches. Mean January temperature is 27 degrees to 29 degrees F., the mean July temperature is 66 degrees to 69 degrees F., and the mean annual temperature is 45 to 49 degrees F. The frost-free period is 70 to 120 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Drews, Harriman, Modoc, Pit and Salisbury soils. Drews and Harriman soils have argillic horizons with less than 35 percent clay. Modoc and Salisbury soils have indurated duripans at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Pit soils are poorly drained, clayey throughout, and have intersecting slickensides.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow to medium runoff; slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for irrigated and dryland alfalfa hay and wheat, and irrigated annual hay crops, barley, oats and pasture and rangeland. Vegetation in range use is antelope bitterbrush, Klamath plum, big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, basin wildrye, Idaho fescue and annual grasses.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lake basins in south-central Oregon also in California and Idaho. These soils are inextensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Klamath County, Oregon, 1977.

REMARKS: Diagnostic features in this pedon include:

Pachic feature - mollic epipedon from surface to 60 inches (Ap, Bt1, Bt2 ).

Fine family placement - 35 to 50 percent clay in the textural control section (Bt1, Bt2 horizon).


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.