LOCATION HOTCREEK ID
Established Series
Rev. ALH/CLM
01/2019
HOTCREEK SERIES
The Hotcreek series consists of very shallow and shallow to duripan, well drained soils with moderately slow permeability that formed in residuum and local alluvium from vitric tuff, breccia and basalt. Hotcreek soils are on foothills. Slopes range from 1 to 15 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the average annual temperature is about 9.4 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Xeric Argidurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Hotcreek very gravelly sandy loam -- on a southeast-facing slightly convex slope of 5 percent, in native rangeland at 4,1,360 meter elevation. The surface has about 15 percent cover of stones and cobbles. (When described on June 12, 1980, the soil was dry to 5 cm and slightly moist below. Colors are for air-dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 5 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; strong thin platy structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky; few very fine, fine and medium roots; many fine and medium vesicular pores; 35 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 5 percent stones; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)
Btk--5 to 18 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; strong fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine, fine and medium roots; many fine and medium interstitial pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and on rocks; 50 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 23 cm thick)
Bkqm--18 to 28 cm; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) indurated duripan, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) moist; thick platy structure; extremely hard, extremely firm, brittle; roots form mats between plates in upper part; 40 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 10 cm thick)
R--28 cm; slightly weathered black vitric flow-breccia.
TYPE LOCATION: Owyhee County, Idaho; about 14 1/2 miles north and 3 miles east of Grasmere; about 2,800 feet south and 1,000 feet east of the northwest corner of section 1, T. 10 S., R. 5 E.; USGS Table Butte 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle: 42 degrees, 35 minutes, 07 seconds North Latitude and 115 degrees, 49 minutes, 20 seconds West Longitude; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 42.5852778 latitude, -115.8222222 longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually dry, moist in winter and spring, dry June through October; aridic soil moisture bordering on xeric.
Depth to duripan - 15 to 30 cm.
Depth to bedrock - 20 to 36 cm.
Particle-size control section - 20 to 34 percent clay; 35 to 60 percent rock fragments
Average annual soil temperature - 9.4 to 11.1 degrees C.
A horizon
Value - 5 through 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 2 or 3 dry or moist
Reaction (pH) - slightly or moderately alkaline
Btk and Bt horizons
Value - 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma - 2 through 4 dry or moist
Texture - GRV-CL, CBV-CL, or GRV-L
Rock fragments - 35 to 60 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent - 0 to 15 percent
Reaction (pH) - moderately or strongly alkaline
Other feature - upper part of this horizon is noneffervescent in some pedons
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Brock,
Deepeek,
Lapon,
Malmesa,
Oleman,
Troughs and
Vinini series. Brock, Oleman, Deepeek and Vinini soils lack bedrock within 100 cm. Lapon soils have bedrock at 38 to 100 cm. Malmesa soils are 36 to 50 cm to the pan. Troughs soils have depths to duripan of 30 to 50 cm and depths to bedrock of 50 to 75 cm.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hotcreek soils are undulating and rolling on foothills at elevations of 1,190 to 1,375 meters. Slopes range from 1 to 15 percent. These soils formed in residuum and local alluvium from vitric tuff, breccia and basalt. The climate is cool and moist in the winter and hot and dry in the summer. Average annual precipitation ranges from 230 to 300 mm. Average annual temperature ranges from 8.3 to 10 degrees C. Frost-free period is 100 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Sugarcreek and the competing
Troughs series. Sugarcreek soils lack a continuous indurated duripan and are 50 to 100 cm deep. These soils are on similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderately slow saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Hotcreek soils are used mainly for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The dominant natural vegetation is black sagebrush, Thurber needlegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Idaho. Hotcreek soils are not extensive. MLRA 25.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elmore County Area, Idaho, 1986.
REMARKS: This revision (8/95) changes the classification from Xerollic Durargids to Xeric Argidurids according to the 1994 edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The remainder of the OSD has not been updated since 3/91.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soils surface to 5 cm (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 5 to 18 cm (Btk horizon).
Duripan - The zone from 18 to 28 cm (Bkqm horizon).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 28 cm (R boundary).
Particle-size control section - zone 0 to 7 inches (A and Btk horizons)
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL pedon #90-916
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.