LOCATION MCKEETH IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Durinodic Calciargids
TYPICAL PEDON: McKeeth gravelly loam -- on a 4 percent west-facing slope under rangeland at 3,350 feet elevation. (Colors are for air dry soil unless otherwise noted).
E--0 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, very friable; many very fine roots; many very fine vesicular pores; 20 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bt--3 to 13 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; common thin clay films on faces of peds; 25 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
2Bkq--13 to 24 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; hard, firm; common very fine roots; strongly cemented strata with discontinuous silica laminae; 40 percent gravel with lime and silica coatings on undersides; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
3Bk--24 to 32 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loamy sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose; many very fine roots; 55 percent gravel with lime coatings on undersides; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
3C--32 to 60 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) very gravelly loamy sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose; few very fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0)
TYPE LOCATION: Owyhee County, Idaho; about 5 miles northwest of Oreana; 2,590 feet south and 1,150 feet east of the northwest corner of section 7, T.4 S., R.1 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture control section - usually dry, moist in winter and early spring and not moist for 10 to 20 days during the period of July through September
Average annual soil temperature - 51 to 54 degrees F.
Bt horizon
Value - 5 through 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Texture - GR-L, GR-SCL, GR-CL
Rock fragments - 20 to 35 percent
Clay content - 25 to 35 percent
Reaction (pH) - moderately or strongly alkaline
3Bk and 3C horizons
Texture - GRV-LS, GRV-S, GRV-COS, GRX-S, GRX-COS, GRV-SL, GRX-LS
Rock fragments - 40 to 80 percent
Reaction (pH) - moderately or strongly alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent - 15 to 30 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Aladshi, Caudle, Kortty, Tocan, Unsel, and Vigus series. Aladshi and Kortty soils have less than 20 percent rock fragments in the Bt horizon. Caudle soils have less than 20 percent rock fragments in any horizon and lack unconformable very gravelly loamy sand horizons. Tocan soils have noncalcareous B horizons. Unsel soils are at elevations of 4,600 to 6,500 feet and are moist in the upper part for 10 to 20 days during the period of July through September following convection storms. Vigus soils have less than 15 percent gravel in the solum and lack very gravelly or extremely gravelly material within 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: McKeeth soils are on fan piedmonts and fan terraces at elevations of 2,400 to 3,900 feet, slopes are 2 to 12 percent. The soils formed in mixed alluvium derived dominantly from volcanic rocks. The average annual precipitation is 6 to 9 inches; the average annual air temperature is 49 to 52 degrees F, and the frost-free season is 120 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Dors, Ornea, and Shoofly soils. Dors soils lack an argillic horizon and Oreana soils lack a cemented layer. Shoofly soils have an indurated duripan. These soils are on landscape positions similar to McKeeth soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; permeability is moderately slow in the upper part and rapid below the cemented layer.
USE AND VEGETATION: McKeeth soils are used primarily for rangeland and wildlife habitat. A few small areas are irrigated. The vegetation in the potential natural plant community is mainly shadscale, bud sagebrush, and Indian ricegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Idaho. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elmore County Area, Idaho, 1986.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 3 inches (E horizon)
Argillic horizon and particle-size control section - the zone from 3 to 13 inches (Bt horizon)
Calcic horizon - the zone from 13 to 32 inches (2Bkq and 3Bk horizons)
"duric" feature - the zone 13 to 24 inches (Bkq horizon)