LOCATION HANGINGGLACIER          WA

Tentative Series
IRD. MGR/AJF/MPR
01/2025

HANGINGGLACIER SERIES

Landscape--mountains
Landform--mountaintops and cirques
Slope--0 to 100 percent
Parent material--residuum
Mean annual precipitation--about 3500 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 2 degrees C
Depth class--moderately deep
Drainage class--well drained
Soil moisture regime--udic
Soil temperature regime--cryic
Soil moisture subclass--typic

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic Andic Dystrocryepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Hangingglacier gravelly loam on a south facing, non-forested cirque with a slope of 5 percent and an elevation of 1700 m. (The soil was moist throughout when described.)

A1--0 to 15 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly loam; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; weakly smeary; common very fine and few fine roots; common fine irregular and interstitial pores; 45 percent gravel; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); clear smooth boundary

A2--15 to 30 cm; gray (2.5Y 5/1) dry, dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) very gravelly loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, moderately plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular and common fine irregular and interstitial pores; 50 percent gravel; very strongly acid (pH 4.7); abrupt smooth boundary

Bw--30 to 56 cm; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/3) dry, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) extremely gravelly loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine tubular and common fine interstitial and irregular pores; 65 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt wavy boundary

Cr--56 cm; fractured bedrock

TYPE LOCATION: Jefferson County, Washington; about 1/2 mile north of Gray Wolf Pass in Olympic National Park
Latitude--47.8276980
Longitude-- -123.2771480
Datum--WGS84

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--0 to 3 degrees C
Depth to restrictive layer--50 to 100 cm
Surface fragments--50 to 70 percent stones and boulders

Particle-size control section
*Clay content--8 to 20 percent
*Total rock fragment content--45 to 75 percent
*Gravel content--45 to 70 percent
*Cobble content--0 to 20 percent
*Stone content--0 to 15 percent

A1 horizon
Value--3 to 5 dry or moist
Chroma--1 to 3 dry or moist
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam, sandy loam
Clay content--8 to 20 percent
Total rock fragment content--25 to 55 percent
Gravel content--25 to 50 percent
Cobble content--0 to 20 percent
Reaction--4.5 to 5.5
Thickness--10 to 20 cm

A2 horizon
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 or 5 dry or moist
Chroma--1 to 3 dry or moist
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam, sandy loam
Clay content--8 to 20 percent
Total rock fragment content--45 to 75 percent
Gravel content--45 to 70 percent
Cobble content--0 to 20 percent
Stone content--0 to 15 percent
Reaction--4.5 to 5.5
Thickness--10 to 20 cm

Bw horizon
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--4 to 6 dry or moist
Chroma--2 to 4 dry or moist
Fine-earth texture--silt loam, loam, sandy loam
Clay content--8 to 20 percent
Total rock fragment content--45 to 75 percent
Gravel content--45 to 70 percent
Cobble content--0 to 20 percent
Stone content--0 to 15 percent
Reaction--4.5 to 5.5
Thickness--20 to 35 cm

COMPETING SERIES:
Angelbasin, Prouty, Smokejump, and Venson-- have a mantle of tephra with volcanic glass in the fine earth fraction
Skinwood--mean annual soil temperature is 6 to 7 degrees C
McCay--paralithic contact within 100 to 150 cm of the soil surface
Tepeh, Twentymile, Mountmystery, and Hungrycreek--lithic contact below 150 cm from the soil surface
Elklick--mean annual soil temperature is 4 to 7 degrees C

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1400 to 2000 m
Climate--cool, dry summers; cold, wet winters
Mean annual precipitation--3000 to 4000 mm
Mean annual air temperature--0 to 4 degrees C
Frost-free period--30 to 60 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Catpeak--umbric epipedon; similar landforms
Allincreek--umbric epipedon, lithic contact within 25 to 50 cm of the soil surface; similar landforms
Mountfromme--lithic contact within 25 to 50 cm of the soil surface; similar landforms
This soil also occurs in mapunits with a large portion of rock outcroppings and rubble land.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class--well drained
Saturation in normal years--none
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--high or very high throughout

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--wildlife habitat, recreation
Potential natural vegetation--sparsely vegetated by partridgefoot and Sitka valerian

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Olympic Mountains, Washington; MLRA 1; small extent

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES PROPOSED: Olympic National Park, Jefferson County, Washington 2023; name from Hanging Glacier on Mount Anderson in Olympic National Park

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and other features in this pedon:
*Particle-size control section--zone from 25 to 56 cm
*Ochric epipedon
*Andic subgroup feature--zone from 0 to 15 cm; AO extractable Al plus Fe is 1 to 2 percent and Db is 0.9 to 1.0 g/cm3
*Cambic horizon--zone from 30 to 56 cm
*Paralithic contact--56 cm

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.