LOCATION OORANG WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fragmental, carbonatic Typic Calcicryepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Oorang extremely gravelly silt loam, on a 13 percent slope with northwest aspect at 9550 feet elevation, in a subalpine forb community. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 4 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) extremely gravelly silt loam, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; moderate very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; slightly effervescent; 35 percent gravel and 35 percent flagstones as surface pavement; 55 percent gravel and 10 percent flagstones in matrix; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
Bk--4 to 12 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) extremely flaggy silt loam, olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) moist; moderate very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; many pendants of carbonates on underside of rock fragments; strongly effervescent; 40 percent gravel, 40 percent flagstones; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 13 inches thick)
BC--12 to 41 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) fragmental material, olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) moist; weak coarse platy structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 5 percent channers, 90 percent flagstones; 5 percent fine earth; voids are filled with fine earth; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); diffuse irregular boundary. (20 to 50 inches thick)
R--41 inches; weathered limestone bedrock that fractures into flagstones, stones and boulders.
TYPE LOCATION: Teton County, Wyoming; about 13 miles northwest of Jackson; about 450 feet east and 1300 feet south of the northwest corner of section 5, T. 42 N., R. 117 W.; Latitude - 43 degrees North, 41 minutes, 55 seconds; Longitude - 111 degrees West, 55 minutes, 11 seconds.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature - 33 to 35 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature - 39 to 41 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 12 and 36 inches; dry throughout the moisture control section for less than 15 consecutive days during the four months following the summer solstice.
Ochric epipedon thickness - 3 to 7 inches.
Depth to fragmental material - 10 to 20 inches.
Depth to weathered bedrock - 40 to 60 inches.
Calcium carbonate equivalent in the mineralogy control section - greater than 40 percent in the less than 20 mm size fraction.
A horizon - Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4, 5 or 6 dry; 3, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry or moist
Clay content: 7 to 27 percent
Rock fragment content: 60 to 90 percent
Gravel: 35 to 70 percent
Cobbles or flagstones: 5 to 40 percent
Stones: 0 to 20 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 15 percent in the less than 2 mm size fraction
Effervescence: noneffervescent or slightly effervescent
Reaction: pH 6.6 to 8.4
Bk or Bw (when present) horizon - Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2, 3 or 4 dry or moist
Texture: silt loam or loam
Clay content: 7 to 27 percent
Rock fragment content: 65 to 90 percent
Gravel: 15 to 70 percent
Cobbles or flagstones: 15 to 70 percent
Stones: 0 to 20 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent in the less than 2 mm size fraction
Effervescence: noneffervescent to violently effervescent Reaction: pH 6.6 to 8.4
BC horizon - Rock fragment content: 90 to 100 percent
Other: Pores are absent to many very coarse irregular.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the similar Whitore series. Whitore soils are loamy-skeletal.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - Mountain summits, basins and shelves above the forested zone are commonly represented. The drainage pattern is karst.
Elevation - 8900 to 9800 feet.
Parent material - residuum derived from limestone.
Climate - Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year. A winter snowpack of 8 to 16 feet in depth and lasting through June is common.
Mean annual temperature - 28 to 32 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation - 35 to 65 inches.
Frost free days - 5 to 30.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Fritz and Yodal series. Fritz soils are on nearby summits. They are very deep, have a mollic epipedon and average 40 to 85 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Yodal soils are on nearby mountain summits and basins. They average less than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle size control section and are non-calcareous throughout.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; moderate to slow runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Oorang soils are used for recreation and wildlife habitat. These soils commonly support herbaceous communities dominated by an open layer of one or more of the following: Gordon's ivesia, fernleaf licoriceroot, showy frasera, Lemmon's rockcress, thickleaf groundsel or edible valeriana.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho. They are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Targhee National Forest, Teton County, Wyoming, 1997.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the mineral soil surface to 4 inches (A horizon)
Calcic horizon - the zone from 4 to 12 inches (Bk horizon)
Paricle size control section - the zone from 10 to 40 inches (part of the Bk and BC horizons)
Weathered bedrock - the zone from 41 to 60 inches (R horizon)
Moisture regime - udic
The 3/2008 description reflects a change in classification from Fragmental, carbonatic Typic Eutrocryepts to Fragmental, carbonatic Typic Calcicryepts due to revision of the cryepts great groups and subgroups. The competing series section was not updated and should be reviewed after all the cryepts have been re-classified.