LOCATION MELAKWA WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, isotic, frigid Typic Haplohumods
TYPICAL PEDON: Melakwa sandy loam - on a northwest facing 30 percent convex slope under small second growth conifers at 2,600 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated. All textures are apparent field textures.)
O1--3 to 1 inch; mosses, needles, twigs. (1 to 3 inches thick)
O2--1 inch to 0; decomposed forest litter. (1 to 2 inches thick)
E--0 to 3 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) loamy sand, (volcanic ash and pumice), light gray (5YR 7/1) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; nonsmeary; many very fine and fine, few medium and coarse roots; 5 percent subangular pebbles; NaF pH less than 9.2; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 7 inches thick)
Bhs--3 to 7 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) light sandy loam (volcanic ash and pumice), yellowish red (5YR 4/6) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic, weakly smeary; many very fine and fine, few medium and coarse roots; 10 percent subangular pebbles; NaF pH 12.0+; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)+
2Bs--7 to 13 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; weakly smeary; many very fine and fine, few medium and coarse roots; 40 percent pebbles and 10 percent cobbles; NaF pH 12.0+; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
2BCs1--13 to 22 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very gravelly sandy loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak very fine subangular, blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; weakly smeary; common very fine and fine roots; few, very fine, interstitial pores; 40 percent pebbles and 20 percent cobbles; NaF pH 12.0+; strongly acid (pH 5.4); gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
2BCs2--22 to 31 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very gravelly light loam, light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; sightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; weakly smeary; common very fine and fine, few coarse roots; few, very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent pebbles and 20 percent cobbles; NaF pH 11.0; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt wavy boundary (9 to 13 inches thick)
2C--31 to 37 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) extremely gravelly light loam, pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; weakly smeary; few, very fine interstitial pores; 50 percent pebbles and 20 percent cobbles; NaF pH 11.5; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
2R--37 inches; hard fractured andesite.
TYPE LOCATION: Snoqualmie Pass Area, King County, Washington; along Little Mountain Road, Cedar River Watershed; 2,150 feet west, 2,950 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 20, T. 22 N., R. 9 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a lithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments, including hard cinders, in the control section, averages from 35 to 70 percent by volume. Average annual soil temperature ranges from 44 to 46 degrees F.
The E horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6 moist, 5 through 7 dry and chroma of 0 to 2 moist or dry. Rock fragments, including hard cinders, range from 0 to 10 percent by volume. Some pedons are single grain.
The Bhs horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 2 through 4 moist, 4 through 6 dry. Textures are light sandy loams or sandy loams modified by 10 to 30 percent rock fragments, including hard cinders, by volume.
The 2Bs horizon has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 moist, 5 or 6 dry and chroma of 4 through 6 moist or dry. Textures are very gravelly sandy loam, very gravelly light loam or very gravelly loam. Rock fragments range from 35 to 60 percent by volume.
The 2BC1 horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 moist, 5 through 7 dry, and chroma of 4 through 6 moist or dry. Textures are very gravelly sandy loam or very gravelly light loam. Rock fragments range from 35 to 60 percent by volume.
The 2BCs and 2C horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry and chroma of 3 or 4 moist or dry. Textures are loam, light loam, or sandy loam modified by 50 to 80 percent rock fragments by volume. The 2BCs horizon is lacking in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Kaleetan series and the similar Philippa and Littlejohn series. Kaleetan soils are more than 40 inches deep. Philippa soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to an ortstein layer. Littlejohn soils have more free iron and less organic carbon in the upper part of the spodic horizon (ratio of greater than 0.2).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Melakwa soils are on ridge crests and sideslopes at elevations of 1,600 to 2,800 feet. Slopes range from 8 to 90 percent. The Melakwa soils formed in volcanic ash and pumice mixed with colluvium from andesite, and breccia. The climate is marine influenced with relatively cool, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Average annual precipitation ranges from 90 to 130 inches, with a large portion of this in the form of snow. The mean January temperature is about 30 degrees F; mean July temperature is about 60 degrees F; and the mean annual temperature is about 44 degrees F. The frost-free season is 130 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Blethen, Marblemount, Nagrom, Playco, and Teneriffe soils and the competing Kaleetan and Philippa series. Blethen soils are mesic. Nagrom and Playco soils are cryic. Marblemount and Teneriffe soils are sandy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained, moderate permeability, slow to medium runoff.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for timber production, watershed, and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western redcedar and red alder with an understory of salal, Oregon-grape, western swordfern, red huckleberry, deer fern, vine maple, Pacific trillium, longtube twinflower, and western brackenfern.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western slopes of the Cascade Mountains, in west central Washington. Series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Snoqualmie Pass Area, King County, Washington, 1986.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizon and features recognized in this pedon are an albic horizon from the mineral surface to 3 inches, a spodic horizon from 3 to 22 inches and a lithic contact at 37 inches. The spodic horizon is assumed to meet chemical criteria for a spodic horizon and to have more than 5 times as much organic carbon as free iron in the Bhs
horizon from 3 to 7 inches and more than 0.6 percent organic carbon from 3 to 13 inches.