LOCATION NORWICKI OR
Tentative Series
IRD. AGG/DEW
08/2025
NORWICKI SERIES
Landscape--Eastern Cascade mountains
Landform--lava flows, lava plains or mountain slopes
Slope--0 to 50 percent slopes
Parent Material--volcanic ash over basalt bedrock
Mean annual precipitation--630 mm
Mean annual air temperature--5 degrees C
Depth class--moderately deep
Drainage class--somewhat excessively drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--cryic
Soil moisture subclass--typic
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy Xeric Vitricryands
TYPICAL PEDON: Norwicki ashy loamy sand, forested, on a 1 percent slope at an elevation of 1323 meters. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oi--0 to 2 centimeters; slightly decomposed plant material; strongly acid (pH 5.5); abrupt smooth boundary.
A--2 to 13 centimeters; gray (10YR 5/1) ashy loamy sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots throughout; few fine irregular pores; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary.
Bw1--13 to 36 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) ashy loamy sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common medium and coarse, and few fine roots throughout; common fine irregular pores; 5 percent fine pumice paragravel; neutral (pH 6.9); gradual smooth boundary.
Bw2--36 to 54 centimeters; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) ashy loamy coarse sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine and medium roots throughout; few fine irregular pores; 10 percent fine pumice paragravel; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt irregular boundary.
2R--54 centimeters; basalt bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Deschutes County, Oregon; SE 1/4, NW 1/4 of section 11, T. 20 S, R. 10 E; Latitude 43.8572740, Longitude -121.5000290, datum WGS84 (coordinates determined with a GPS).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--4.8 to 7.4 degrees C
Soil moisture--usually moist in winter and spring, dry in the moisture control section for 45 to 60 days in the 4 months following the summer solstice
Depth to lithic contact--50 to 100 cm
Thickness of ash influenced layers--50 to 100 cm
Estimated properties of layers influenced by volcanic ash
Ammonium oxalate extractable Al + Fe--0.4 to 1.0 percent
1500 kPa water content (air dry)--3 to 12 percent
0.02 to 2.0 mm fraction--55 to 90 percent
Medium to very coarse sand in the .02 to 2.0 mm fraction--greater than 50 percent
Volcanic glass in the 0.02 to 2.0 mm fraction--50 to 90 percent
P retention--25 to 50 percent
Particle-size control section: mineral soil surface to lithic contact
Clay content, weighted average--1 to 10 percent
Rock fragment content, weighted average--0 to 35 percent
A horizon
Hue--10YR
Value--3 to 5
Chroma--1 to 6 dry, 1 to 3 moist
Fine earth texture--ashy loamy sand, ashy loamy coarse sand or ashy sandy loam
Clay content--1 to 10 percent
Sand content--55 to 90 percent
Organic matter--0.5 to 3.0 percent
Total rock fragment content--0 to 20 percent
Pumice paragravel--0 to 10 percent
Gravel--0 to 20 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3 (slightly acid to neutral)
Thickness--10 to 15 cm
Bw horizons
Hue--10YR
Value--5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma--3 to 6
Fine earth texture--ashy loamy sand, ashy loamy coarse sand or ashy sandy loam
Clay content--1 to 10 percent
Sand content--55 to 90 percent
Organic matter--0.10 to 0.50 percent
Total rock fragment content--0 to 40 percent
Pumice paragravel--0 to 10 percent
Gravel--0 to 30 percent
Cobble--0 to 30 percent
Reaction--6.1 to 7.3 (slightly acid to neutral)
Combined Thickness of the Bw horizons--15 to 50 cm
COMPETING SERIES:
Collier--over 150 cm to lithic contact; soils do not have a cambic horizon
Goffpeak--greater than 100 cm to lithic contact; 35 to 75 percent pumice in the lower part of the particle-size control section
Kittleson--greater than 100 cm to paralithic contact; averages greater than 10 percent clay in the particle-size control section
Steiger--over 150 cm to lithic contact; soils do not have a cambic horizon
Wocreek--over 150 cm to lithic contact; 10 to 40 percent pumice paragravel in the upper part of the particle-size control section
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1250 to 2150 m
Climate--cold, wet winters and cool, dry summers
Mean annual precipitation--460 to 1020 mm
Mean annual air temperature--4.2 to 6.2 degrees C
Frost-free period--20 to 50 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Klawhop--occurs on lava flows, lava plains, mountain slopes; 25 to 50 cm to lithic contact
Steiger--occurs on lava flows, lava plains, mountain slopes; greater than 150 cm to lithic contact
Wuksi--occurs on lava flows, lava plains, mountain slopes; averages over 35 percent fragments within the particle-size control section
Shukash--occurs on lava flows, lava plains, mountain slopes; averages greater 35 percent fragments in the lower part of the particle size control section; buried soil within particle-size control section
Shanahan--occurs on lava flows, lava plains, mountain slopes; buried soil within particle-size control section
Ipsoot--occurs on cinder cones; 50 to 100 cm to cinders
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage--somewhat excessively drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--high to very high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--timber production, wildlife habitat
Vegetation--ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, grand fir, white fir, Douglas-fir, greenleaf manzanita, antelope bitterbrush, wax currant, snowbrush ceanothus, long-stolon sedge, pipsissewa, Ross' sedge, western needlegrass, squirreltail
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
East slopes of the Cascade Mountains in central Oregon; MLRA 06; moderate extent
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES PROPOSED:
Deschutes County, Deschutes National Forest, Oregon 2025; name is coined
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section--2 to 54 cm (A, Bw1, and Bw2 horizons)
Ochric epipedon--2 to 13 cm (A horizon)
Cambic horizon--13 to 54 cm (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Andic soil properties--2 to 54 cm (A, Bw1, and Bw2 horizons)
Lithic contact--54 cm
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.