LOCATION METOLE ID

Tentative Series
IRD: GAH
04/2011

METOLE SERIES

The Metole series consists of deep and very deep, well drained soils formed in residuum from travertine. These soils are on travertine terraces and have slopes of 1 to 6 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 450 millimeters and the mean annual air temperature is about 3.3 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, frigid Typic Haploxerolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Metole loam, on a 5 percent slope in rangeland at an elevation of 1878 meters. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 12 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and common fine roots; common very fine irregular pores; 28 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 5 percent fine travertine gravel and 5 percent travertine channers; neutral (pH 7.3); abrupt wavy boundary.

A2--12 to 38 cm; brown (10YR5/3) very channery loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, fine and medium roots; common very fine irregular pores; 41 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 15 percent fine gravel, 25 percent channers and 15 percent flagstones; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 25 to 38 cm)

C1--38 to 57 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) very channery sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, and moderately few medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; 46 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 5 percent fine gravel, 15 percent gravel, 25 percent channers and 10 percent flagstones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary.

C2--57 to 75 cm; pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) very flaggy sandy loam, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; massive; soft very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, and moderately few medium roots; common very fine tubular pores; 55 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 5 percent fine gravel, 15 percent channers and 20 percent flagstones; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary.

C3--75 to 110 cm; pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) sandy loam, light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; moderately few very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 50 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 5 percent fine gravel and 5 percent channers; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary.

C4--110 to 135 cm; pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) very flaggy coarse sandy loam, pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; moderately few very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 55 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 10 percent fine gravel, 10 percent channers and 30 percent flagstones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary.

C5--135 to 153 cm; pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) flaggy loamy sand, pale yellow (2.5Y 7/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine tubular pores; 50 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; 10 percent fine gravel, 10 percent channers and 10 percent flagstones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the C horizons is 92 to 170 cm)

R--153 cm; very strongly cemented travertine.

TYPE LOCATION: Bingham County, Idaho; about 19 kilometers northwest of Henry, Idaho; 400 meters north and 560 meters east of the southwest corner, sec. 31, T.4S., R. 41E.; Meadow Creek Mountain, USGS topographic quadrangle; latitude, 43 degrees, 01 minute, 27.8 seconds north and longitude, 111 degrees, 42 minutes, 04 seconds west, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Profile:
Mean annual soil temperature: 3.3 to 5.6 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature: 15.0 to 18.3 degrees C.
Thickness of mollic epipedon: 25 to 38 cm
Lithic contact: 100 to greater than 152 cm

Particle-size control section:
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 75 percent Rock fragment content: 30 to 50 percent (averages greater than 35 percent)

A horizons:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 2.5 to 4 moist
Rock fragments: 5 to 15 percent fine gravel, 5 to 25 percent channers, 5 to 15 percent flagstones
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

C1 and C2 horizons, upper part:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6 moist, 6 to 8 dry
Chroma: 3 or 4 moist, 1 to 3 dry
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 70 percent
Texture: SL, LS or S
Rock fragments: 40 to 70 percent total rock fragments, 5 to 30 percent fine gravel, 5 to 15 percent gravel, 15 to 55 percent channers, 5 to 20 percent flagstones
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline

C3 to C5 horizons, lower part:
Hue 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 moist, 7 or 8 dry
Chroma: 2 to 4 moist, 1 or 2 dry
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 45 to 75 percent
Texture: SL, COSL or LS
Rock fragments: 10 to 50 percent total fragments, 5 to 10 percent fine gravel, 5 to 10 percent channers, 0 to 30 percent flagstones
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline

R horizon (absent in some pedons)
Very strongly cemented travertine bedrock

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Valleys
Landform: Travertine terraces
Elevation: 1860 to 1890 meters
Slope: 1 to 6 percent
Parent material: Residuum from travertine
Mean annual air temperature: 2.2 to 4.4 degrees C.
Mean annual precipitation: 400 to 500 millimeters
Frost free period: 60 to 90 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Formation, Spaa, Vertine, Wospring, and Wover series. Formation soils are well drained and are on adjacent travertine terraces and old drainageways. Spaa soils are shallow to travertine bedrock. Vertine soils are somewhat poorly drained and moderately deep to travertine bedrock. Wospring soils are poorly drained. Wover soils have a histic epipedon and are poorly and very poorly drained. All of these soils are found on the same landform as Metole.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: Well drained
Runoff: Low
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: High

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: Livestock grazing, wildlife, and watershed
Vegetation: Mainly mountain big sagebrush, threetip sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass and Sandberg bluegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Idaho; MLRA 13. The soils are of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon

SERIES PROPOSED: Bingham County, Idaho, 2010. The name is coined.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: from a depth of 0 to 38 cm.
Particle size control section: from a depth of 25 to 100 cm.
Carbonatic mineralogy: particle-size control section averages greater than 40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent.
Limiting layer: strongly cemented travertine at 153 cm.
Soil temperature regime: Frigid
Soil moisture regime: Xeric

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.