LOCATION FISHTRAP WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, euic, mesic Terric Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Fishtrap muck - on a 1 percent south facing slope in pasture at 75 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted)
Oa1--0 to 7 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sapric material, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine, fine, and medium roots; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear smooth boundary.
Oa2--7 to 19 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sapric material,
very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many very fine, fine, and medium roots; strongly acid (pH 5.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the Oa horizon is 16 to 51 inches)
2Cg1--19 to 36 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) sand, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; many coarse prominent mottles of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6), brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) dry; massive; soft, very friable, few very fine roots; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear smooth boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
2Cg2--36 to 60 inches; dark gray (N 4/) sand, gray (N 6/) dry;
single grain; loose; very strongly acid (pH 5.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Whatcom County, Washington; about 6 miles southwest of Lynden; 2,600 feet south and 2,100 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 28, T. 40 N., R. 2 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 54 degrees F. The difference between mean winter and mean summer temperature is 12 to 16 degrees F. These soils are usually saturated with water unless drained. Reaction is moderately acid to very strongly acid throughout. The organic material is 16 to 51 inches thick. Fibers are mostly from grasses and sedges, but pedons contain up to 15 percent wood fragments. Fiber content ranges from 10 to 50 percent unrubbed and 2 to 15 percent rubbed. Thin discontinuous layers of volcanic ash and diatomaceous earth (1/2 to 2 inches thick) are between 24 and 48 inches in some pedons.
The Oa horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 through 4 moist, 2 through 5 dry, and chroma of 0 through 3 moist and dry.
The 2C horizon has hue of 2.5Y, 5Y,or N/, value of 4 or 5 moist, 5 through 7 dry, and chroma of 0 through 2 moist and dry. It is loamy sand, sand, or gravelly sand.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Adrian series. Adrian soils have a difference of more than 16 degrees F between mean summer and mean winter soil temperatures.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fishtrap soils are in depressional areas on outwash terraces. Elevation is near sea level to 600 feet. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in herbaceous and woody organic deposits overlying glaciofluvial deposits. Shalcar soils are in a marine climate with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Snow cover is intermittent. Average annual precipitation is 35 to 55 inches. Mean January temperature is 36 degrees F; mean July temperature is 62 degrees F, and the mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F. The frost- free season is 150 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Clipper, Edmonds, Hale, Kickerville, Laxton, Lynden, Pangborn, and Shalcar soils. None of these soils except Pangborn and Shalcar soils are Histosols. Pangborn soils are more than 51 inches deep to mineral soil. Shalcar soils are loamy below the organic layer.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained; ponded runoff; moderate permeability in the organic material and very rapid in the mineral material. An apparent water table is at +1 to 0 feet from October through May unless artificially drained.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most Fishtrap soils have been cleared and drained and are used for pasture, hay, and cropland. The native vegetation is Sitka spruce, western redcedar, western hemlock, lodgepole pine, and red alder, with an undergrowth of sedge, rush, Douglas spirea, salmonberry, trailing blackberry, devils club, and skunkcabbage.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington, west of the Cascade Mountains. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Whatcom County, Washington, 1983.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are a histic epipedon from the surface to 19 inches and a gleyed sandy layer from 19 to 60 inches.