LOCATION NOTUS ID+NV OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Aquic Xerofluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Notus coarse sandy loam, pasture. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 1 inch; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coarse sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky; many fine roots; many pores; neutral abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
C1--1 to 8 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; common fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; many medium faint mottles; dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky; common fine roots; many very fine pores; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
C2--8 to 12 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) coarse sandy loam, olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky; common fine roots; many very fine pores; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
2C1--12 to 18 inches; color like C2 horizon; very gravelly loamy sand; massive; soft; common fine roots; many very fine pores; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
2C2--18 to 60 inches; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) very gravelly sand; single grained; loose; few fine roots; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Gem County, Idaho; about 6 miles west of Emmett; 180 feet north and 830 feet west of the center of sec. 8, T. 6 N., R. 2 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 54 degrees F.
Soil moisture - Saturated within 20 inches of surface, but is dry at depths of 8 to 24 inches for 60 or more consecutive days in 7 out of 10 years.
Reaction - noncalcareous, slightly acid to moderately alkaline Mottles (2 or lower Chroma) - start at 7 to 20 inch depth
A horizon (upper 7 inches when mixed)
Hue - 10YR or 2.5Y
Value - 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 2 or 3 dry and moist
some pedons - upper few inches slightly saline
Organic matter - low or moderately low, decreases irregularly with increasing depth.
C horizons
Hue - 10YR or 2.5Y
Value - 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 8 moist
Chroma - 1 through 3 dry and moist
Control section 10 to 40 inches - average coarser than loamy very fine sand, 35 to 90 percent rock fragments
Textures below 10 and above 20 inches - loose sand and pebbles
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Joseph and Kline series. Joseph soils are extremely cobbly in the control section. Kline soils lack mottles above 20 inches. Joseph soils are extremely cobbly and have colors consistent with mollic that are litho chromatic. Kline soils are dry less than 60 days following the summer solstice, have thin moderately coarse textured strata in the control section and have no mottles above 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Notus soils are on channeled flood plains or low terraces at elevations of 2,000 to 4,500 feet. Slopes range from 0 to 4 percent. The soils formed in recent alluvium from granite and other acid igneous rocks. The frost-free period ranges from 110 to 170 days, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 7 to 13 inches, including 1.5 to 3 feet of snow.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chance, Emerson, Falk, and Moulton soils. Chance soils are poorly or very poorly drained and have loose sand and gravel at depths greater than 20 inches. Emerson, Falk, and Moulton soils are deeper than 20 inches to loose sand and gravel.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well or somewhat poorly drained; slow or very slow runoff; moderately rapid permeability in the upper part and very rapid in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in irrigated cropland and pasture. Crops are corn, small grains, and hay. The natural vegetation is chiefly big sagebrush, rabbitbrush, bunchgrass, and cheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Idaho, southeastern Oregon and northern Nevada. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gem County Area, Idaho, 1962.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Diagnostic horizons - none
Coarse fragments - at 12 inches
Moisture regime - Xeric, saturated with water part of the year
Temperature regime - mesic