LOCATION FORDNEY OR+CA
Established Series
Rev. RHB/AON/TDT/JVC/BTH/CEG
02/2024
FORDNEY SERIES
Landscape--intermontane basins
Landform--lake terraces, stream terraces, fan remnants
Slope--0 to 20 percent
Parent material--alluvium or lacustrine deposits derived from volcanic rocks, with an influence of volcanic ash in the upper part
Mean annual precipitation--about 300 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 9 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--excessively drained
Soil moisture regime--aridic
Soil temperature regime--mesic
Soil moisture subclass--xeric
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Vitritorrandic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Fordney ashy loamy fine sand, irrigated cropland.
Ap--0 to 20 cm; ashy loamy fine sand, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary
C1--20 to 122 cm; loamy sand, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.9); diffuse smooth boundary
C2--122 to 152 cm; loamy sand, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.8)
TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon; about 3.2 km north of the town of Malin; approximately 402 m south of the center corner of section 3, T. 41 S., R. 12 E.; USGS Malin 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 42.0386 degrees north, longitude 121.399 degrees west, datum WGS 84 (coordinates determined from original legal description).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
*Soil temperature regime--mesic
*Mean annual soil temperature-- 8 to 12 degrees C
*Moisture control section--30 to 90 cm; moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; dry about 80 to 120 days in the four month period following the summer solstice
*Depth to bedrock--greater than 150 cm
*Mollic epipedon--25 to 50 cm thick
Particle-size control section
*Rock fragment content--0 to 5 percent fine gravel
*Clay content--5 to 15 percent
Rock fragments are derived from volcanic rocks such as tuff, basalt, and andesite.
Mineralogy is mixed and includes a high percentage of dark (mafic) minerals such as hornblende.
Estimated Properties, Ap horizon
*Ammonium oxalate extractable Al plus 1/2 Fe--0.2 to 0.4 percent
*Volcanic glass content--5 to 20 percent
*1/3-bar bulk density--1.3 to 1.4 g/cm3
*1500 kPa water (air-dried samples)--3 to 15 percent
*Medium to very coarse sand in the 0.02 to 2.0 mm fraction--less than 50 percent
A or Ap horizon (or AC horizons, where present)
*Value--4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
*Chroma--1 or 2 dry, 2 moist
*Fine-earth texture--ashy loamy fine sand
*Clay content--2 to 15 percent
*Reaction--neutral to moderately alkaline (pH 6.6 to 8.4)
*Organic matter content--1 to 3 percent; decreases to less than 1 percent between 25 and 50 cm below the soil surface
*Thickness--18 to 43 cm
C horizons
*Hue--10YR or 2.5Y, dry or moist
*Value--4 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
*Chroma--2 or 3, dry or moist
*Fine-earth texture--loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sand
*Clay content--1 to 15 percent
*Fine gravel content--0 to 5 percent
*Reaction--neutral to moderately alkaline (pH 6.6 to 8.4)
*Organic matter content--0.5 to 2 percent; decreases to less than 1 percent between 25 and 50 cm below the soil surface
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no other series in this family at this time.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1234 to 1707 m
Climate--semiarid with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers
Mean annual air temperature-- 7 to 11 degrees C
Mean January air temperature--about -2 degrees C
Mean July air temperature--about 19 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--250 to 570 mm
Frost-free period--50 to 120 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Henley--coarse-loamy; moderately deep to duripans; sodium-affected
Laki--fine-loamy; calcareous; moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline
Poe--moderately deep to duripans; calcareous
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--excessively drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--high or very high
Surface runoff--very low or low
Over-irrigation can produce a high water table in nearly level areas. Endosaturation is present in these phases with an apparent seasonal high water table between 60 and 200 cm (moderately deep or deep free water occurrence classes) between March and September. Cumulative annual duration classes are Common and Persistent.
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--irrigated agriculture, rangeland, homesite development
Vegetation--antelope bitterbrush, basin big sagebrush, Thurber's needlegrass, Indian ricegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Klamath and Shasta Valleys and Basins, OR and CA, MLRA 21; and Malheur High Platea, OR and CA, MLRA 23; moderate extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED:
Klamath County, Oregon, 1941.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon
*Mollic epipedon--0 to 25 cm (Ap horizon and upper 5 cm of the C1 horizon)
*Particle-size control section--25 to 100 cm (part of the C1 horizon)
Color values dark enough for a mollic epipedon at depths below 50 cm result largely from uncoated sand grains, not from organic matter, and therefore materials below 50 cm do not meet the criteria for a mollic epipedon
ADDITIONAL DATA:
NASIS SITE ID--1985OR035003; NASIS PEDON ID--1985OR035003
A pedon sampled as Fordney has characterization data by the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL), Lincoln, NE, as user pedon ID S03OR-035-015 (pedon # 04N0389). This pedon has an ochric epipedon, ashy texture modifiers in the upper 30 cm, and qualifies for a vitrandic subgroup.
1/8/2024: Updated the Ap soil texture with an ashy modifier based on laboratory data from KSSL pedon # 04N0389; this horizon meets the criteria for vitritorrandic subgroup; the classification was updated from mixed, mesic Torripsammentic Haploxerolls to sandy, mixed, mesic Vitritorrandic Haploxerolls.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.