LOCATION GOOSMUS WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, glassy over mixed, frigid Humic Vitrixerands
TYPICAL PEDON: Goosmus ashy sandy loam - Woodland (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.
A--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) ashy sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
BA--7 to 14 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) ashy sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 7 inches thick)
Bw--14 to 23 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) ashy gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; common fine and very fine pores; 20 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
2C1--23 to 30 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) very gravelly loamy sand, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; single grain; soft, friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine and medium roots; few fine and very fine pores; 40 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.9); abrupt wavy boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
2C2--30 to 44 inches; multicolored very gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; few roots; 50 percent gravel; undersides of some gravel are coated with calcium carbonate.
TYPE LOCATION: Ferry County, Washington. 1,320 feet west and 2,300 feet south of northeast corner of sec. 18, T. 39 N., R. 34 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual temperature at 20 inches is about 44 degrees F. The soils are usually moist but are dry in all parts between 8 and 24 inches for 60 to 75 consecutive days. The mineralogy is mixed. The thickness of solum ranges from 14 to 25 inches. The upper part of the control section has more than 30 percent pyroclastic glass. Content of coarse fragments ranges from 5 to 25 percent in the upper part of the control section and from 30 to 60 percent in the lower part.
The A horizons, in 10YR hue, range in dry values of 4 or 5, and moist value of 2, moist and dry chromas of 1 or 2; texture is ashy loam or ashy sandy loam; and reaction is slightly acid to neutral.
The BA horizon, in 10YR hue, range in dry values of 5 or 6, and moist values of 3, moist and dry chromas of 3 or 4; texture is ashy loam or ashy sandy loam; and reaction is neutral.
The Bw horizon has a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y value of 5 or 6 dry, 2 to 4 moist and chroma of 2 to 4; moist and dry. The texture ranges from gravelly sandy loam to gravelly loamy sand; and reaction ranges from neutral to slightly alkaline.
The 2C horizon ranges from very gravelly loamy sand to extremely gravelly coarse sand; reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline; and may have lime accumulation on the undersides of some gravel.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Mires series. Mires soils have a chroma of 2 or less throughout the mollic epipedon that is 10 to 20 inches thick.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Goosmus soils occur on level to steep terraces at elevations of 1,800 to 3,500 feet. The regolith consists of glacial outwash of mixed mineralogy with a mantle of volcanic ash. These soils occur in a continental climate; average annual precipitation is 14 to 17 inches; mean annual air temperature of 43 degrees F.; and a frost-free season of 100 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Donavan and the competing Mires soils. Donavan soils are coarse-loamy throughout the control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow and permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Use mainly for range and woodland. Vegetation consists of ponderosa pine, rough fescue, needlegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, Idaho fescue and many forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Central Washington. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ferry County, Washington, 1968.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon; the zone from the soil surface to 14 inches (A and BA horizons)
Cambic horizon; the zone from 14 inch to 23 inches (Bw horizon)
Strongly contrasting particle-size classes at 23 inches.
This draft reflects a change in classification from Ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, frigid Mollic Vitrandepts to Ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, glassy over mixed, frigid Humic Vitrixerands. This change is based on Soil Taxonomy 2nd Ed