LOCATION MEDA OR
Established Series
Rev. GEO/MHF/RWL
06/2011
MEDA SERIES
The Meda series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy alluvium and colluvium from sedimentary and igneous rock types. Meda soils occur on alluvial fans and stream terraces. Slopes are 2 to 20 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 80 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 51 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, isotic, mesic Typic Humudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Meda loam, on a slope of 4 percent under pasture at 320 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bw1--10 to 16 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) gravelly clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--16 to 32 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and few fine tubular pores; 25 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 9 to 29 inches)
2C--32 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; massive; soft, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine irregular pores; 45 percent gravel; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Coos County, Oregon; about 1.5 miles south of Powers, 1,040 feet north and 520 feet east of the southwest corner section 19, T. 31 S., R. 12 W.; Barklow Mountain, OR 7.5 minute USGS Quad; NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The soil is usually moist but is dry for a short period of less than 45 consecutive days between depths of 4 to 12 inches in the four month period following the summer solstice in most years. The mean annual soil temperature is 47 to 55 degrees F. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. The solum is 20 to 40 inches thick. The umbric epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick. The solum has 5 to 35 percent gravel and 0 to 15 percent cobbles, with an average of less than 35 percent total rock fragments. Below 40 inches, rock fragments may range from 0 to 65 percent. Hue is 10YR or 7.5YR. The solum is very strongly acid to moderately acid.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. It is loam or gravelly loam with 18 to 25 percent clay. It has 10 to 30 percent gravel and 0 to 3 percent cobbles.
An AB horizon is present in some pedons with color and texture similar to the A horizon.
The Bw horizon has value of 3 or 4 moist, 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and 2 to 4 dry. It is gravelly loam, clay loam or gravelly clay loam with 20 to 35 percent clay. It has 15 to 35 percent gravel and 0 to 15 percent cobbles.
The 2C horizon has value of 4 or 5 moist, 5 to 7 dry and chroma of 3 to 6 moist and dry. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, sandy loam, or silt loam with 3 to 20 percent clay. It has 0 to 60 percent gravel and 0 to 15 percent cobbles.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Cheoah,
Colepoint,
Crutchfield,
Jeffrey,
Molalla,
Plott,
Santeetlah,
Threeforks, and
Tuckasegee series. Cheoah and Molalla soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to paralithic bedrock contact. Colepoint soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to lithic bedrock contact. Crutchfield and Jeffrey soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to lithic bedrock. In addition, Molalla soils have hue of 5YR or redder in the solum. Plott soils have a solum depth of 30 to more than 60 inches, chroma of 4 to 8 moist or dry in the Bw horizon and formed in residuum derived from felsic to mafic igneous and high-grade metamorhphic rocks. Santeetlah soils have channer and flagstone-shaped rock fragments in the particle-size control section and are derived, from metasedimentary rocks. Threeforks soils have a solum thickness of greater than 60 inches, have mollic colors which extend to a depth of 60 inches or more, have rock fragments mica schist origin, and allow hues redder than 10YR in the particle-size control section. The Tuckasegee soils have a solum more than 40 inches thick, have rock fragments of granite, mica gneiss, or schist origin, and allow hues redder than 10YR in the particle-size control section. Additionally, the Cheoah, Plott, Santeetlah, and Tuckasegee soils are mapped in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Meda soils occur on alluvial fans and stream terraces. Elevations are 20 to 1,800 feet. Slopes are 2 to 20 percent. The soils formed in loamy alluvium and colluvium from sedimentary or igneous rock types. The average January temperature is 40 degrees F., and the average July temperature is 61 degrees F. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 53 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is typically 60 to 100 inches but may range to 130 inches in the interior valleys of Curry County, Oregon. The frost-free period is 120 to 240 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Bohannon,
Hembre,
Kirkendall,
Nekoma,
Preacher,
Treharne, and
Wasson soils. Bohannon, Hembre, and Preacher soils occur on mountains. Bohannon soils have andic soil properties in the upper part of the A horizon, and are 20 to 40 inches deep to a paralithic contact. Hembre soils have a solum and depth to bedrock of 40 to 60 inches and hue of 5YR in the subsoil. Kirkendall soils are fine-silty; Nekoma soils are coarse-loamy; both soils occur on flood plains and are subject to common flooding. Preacher soils have andic soil properties in the upper part of the A horizon. Treharne soils are moderately well drained, have an argillic horizon, and occur on low stream terraces. Wasson soils occur on flood plains, are poorly drained, have 0 to 5 percent gravel throughout profile, and have 5 to 10 percent clay and more than 15 percent fine sand or coarser in the particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability in the solum and rapid permeability in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of the Meda soils are cleared and used for hay and pasture. Native vegetation is Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western redcedar, red alder, vine maple, western swordfern, salal, and red huckleberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal river valleys and their tributary streams, and toeslopes and alluvial fans of mountains in the Coast Range in Oregon; MLRA 1. This series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tillamook County, Oregon, 1940.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features of this pedon include:
Umbric epipedon - from surface to 10 inches (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - from 10 to 32 inches (BA and Bw horizon)
Particle-size control section from 10 to 40 inches
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.