LOCATION MCNYE                   OR

Established Series
Rev. RJK-TDT-JVC
04/2011

MCNYE SERIES

The McNye series consists of deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in reworked alluvium and colluvium derived from basalt. McNye soils are on bedrock-controlled lake terraces. Slopes are 2 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 230 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Xeric Haplocambids

TYPICAL PEDON: McNye cobbly loam--on a lake terrace sloping 8 percent to the west-northwest at about 4,580 feet elevation--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 18 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) cobbly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate thick platy structure parting to moderate medium platy; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; many fine irregular and tubular pores; 5 percent stones, 15 percent cobbles, and 10 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (13 to 38 cm thick)

Bk--18 to 41 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and few medium roots; common fine irregular pores; 10 percent stones, 10 percent cobbles and 35 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; secondary carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); clear wavy boundary. (15 to 38 cm thick)

BC--41 to 69 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) extremely cobbly loamy sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and few medium roots; many fine interstitial pores; 20 percent stones, 35 percent cobbles, and 25 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)

C--69 to 107 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) extremely gravelly loamy sand, brown (10YR 4/3); single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and medium roots; many fine interstitial pores; 5 percent cobbles and 75 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (25 to 50 cm thick)

2R--107 cm; fractured basalt.

TYPE LOCATION: Lake County, Oregon; southeast of Warner Valley about 0.25 miles east of Soda Lake and 0.5 miles west of Twenty Mile Slough; adjacent to the jeep trail in the NW1/4 of the SE1/4 of section 1, T. 40 S., R. 24 E.; USGS Calderwood Reservoir 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; approximately latitude 42 degrees 07 minutes 34 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 50 minutes 19 seconds W; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist in the winter and spring, dry throughout the profile from about mid-June through October; aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature: 9 to 11 degrees C.
Depth to disseminated carbonates: 13 to 38 cm.
Depth to base of cambic horizon: 25 to 64 cm.
Depth to bedrock: 100 to 150 cm to a lithic contact.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 1 to 10 percent.
Rock fragments: Averages 50 to 85 percent, mainly cobbles and gravel. Lithology of fragments is basalt.

A horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.

Bk horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Clay content: 5 to 10 percent.
Rock fragments: 45 to 60 percent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 or 2 percent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

BC horizon (when present) and C horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Coarsely stratified extremely cobbly loamy sand to extremely gravelly loamy sand.
Clay content: 0 to 5 percent.
Rock fragments: 60 to 85 percent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Broncho, Malaga, McConnel, McWatt, and Ragnel series.

Broncho, Malaga, McConnel, and Ragnel soils are very deep. McWatt soils have identifiable secondary carbonates at depths of 43 to 74 cm.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: McNye soils are on bedrock-controlled lake terraces in Pleistocene lake basins. These soils formed in reworked alluvium and colluvium derived from basalt. Slopes are 2 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 1,375 to 1,895 meters. The climate is semiarid and characterized by cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 200 to 250 mm, the mean annual temperature is 8 to 10 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 80 to 110 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Wildhill soil. Wildhill soils are loamy-skeletal, moderately deep to lithic contacts, and have argillic horizons.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat excessively drained; low or medium surface runoff; high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: McNye soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, and Thurber's needlegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Oregon. These soils are not extensive with about 4,200 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 23.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lake County (Southern Part), Oregon, 1991.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 18 cm (A horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 18 to 41 cm (Bk horizon).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 107 cm to underlying unweathered bedrock (2R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (BC horizon and parts of the Bk and C horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.