LOCATION SUNCREEK                OR

Tentative Series
IRD. CEG/MPR
02/2025

SUNCREEK SERIES

Landscape--Intermontane Basin
Landform--alluvial fans, stream terraces
Slope--0 to 5 percent
Parent material--sandy and gravelly alluvium derived from volcanic rock, volcanic ash, and pumiceous tephra
Mean annual precipitation--about 560 mm
Mean annual air temperature--about 5.5 degrees C
Depth class--very deep
Drainage class--somewhat poorly drained
Soil moisture regime--xeric
Soil temperature regime--cryic
Soil moisture subclass--typic

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy Aquic Vitricryands

TYPICAL PEDON: Suncreek ashy loamy fine sand, mixed coniferous and aspen forest, on a 1 percent slope at 1305 m elevation; when described on 8/20/2008, the soil was dry between 0 and 200 cm.

Oi--0 to 2 cm; slightly decomposed plant material composed of needles, cones, twigs, and leaves, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) broken face dry, very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) moist; abrupt smooth boundary

A--2 to 13 cm; ashy loamy fine sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) dry, black (10YR 2/1) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, common medium, and many coarse roots; many fine dendritic tubular pores; 2 percent subrounded volcanic rock gravel; 5 percent subrounded pumice paragravel; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary

Bw--13 to 60 cm; ashy loamy sand, brown (7.5YR 5/4) dry, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine, fine, and medium, and very few coarse roots; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 2 percent subrounded volcanic rock gravel, 5 percent subrounded pumice paragravel and 1 percent subrounded pumice paracobbles; slightly acid (pH 6.5); gradual wavy boundary

BC--60 to 130 cm; paragravelly ashy loamy fine sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine, fine, medium, and coarse, and common very coarse roots; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 4 percent fine to medium faint iron-manganese masses with diffuse boundaries in matrix, light olive (10Y 5/4) dry, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist, and 10 percent fine to medium faint iron depletions with clear boundaries in matrix, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) dry, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; 5 percent subrounded volcanic rock gravel, 15 percent subrounded pumice paragravel and 5 percent subrounded pumice paracobbles; neutral (pH 6.8); gradual wavy boundary

2C--130 to 200 cm; gravelly coarse sand, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry, black (10YR 2/1) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; 30 percent subrounded volcanic rock fine to medium gravel, 1 percent subrounded pumice paragravel; neutral (pH 7.0)

TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon; about 3.4 miles north and 1.7 miles west of the town of Fort Klamath; Maklaks Crater, Oregon USGS quadrangle; about 598 m east and 732 m south of the northwest corner of section 32, T. 32 S., R. 7.5 E.; latitude 42.7561200 degrees north, longitude 122.0282000 west, datum WGS84 (coordinates determined with a gps unit)

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Temperature: cryic regime
Mean annual soil temperature-- 3.0 to 8.0 degrees C
Mean summer soil temperature-- 7.0 to 12.0 degrees C
Mean winter soil temperature-- 1.0 to 6.0 degrees C
Moisture control section--30 to 90 cm; xeric regime; usually moist, but dry in all parts for 45 to 60 consecutive days during the four month period following the summer solstice; seasonally high water table (endosaturation) between December and April has an upper limit between 30 and 90 cm in normal years
Rock fragments--pumice paragravel and paracobbles; volcanic rock gravel
Depth to redox concentrations--50 to 100 cm
Depth to aquic conditions--50 to 100 cm
Depth to lithologic discontinuity--greater than 115 cm

Particle-size control section
*Clay content--5 to 15 percent
*Pararock and rock fragment content--5 to 34 percent in the thickest portion of the control section, but can exceed 35 percent in individual horizons

Estimated andic properties, all mineral horizons:
*Ammonium oxalate extractable Al plus 1/2 Fe--0.4 to 1.0 percent
*Medium to very coarse sand in the .02 to 2.0 mm fraction--greater than 50 percent
*P-retention--25 to 50 percent
*Volcanic glass content--30 to 70 percent glass and glass-coated aggregate
*1/3-bar bulk density--0.75 to 1.00 g/cm3
*1500 kPa water (air-dried samples)--3 to 12 percent

O horizons (Oi and/or Oe, where present)
Fine-earth texture--slightly or moderately decomposed plant material (from needles, leaves and twigs)
Thickness (combined)--0 to 10 cm

A horizons
Hue--7.5YR or 10YR moist, 10YR or 2.5Y dry
Value--2 to 3 moist, 3 to 5 dry
Chroma--1 or 2 moist, 2 to 4 dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy loamy coarse sand, ashy loamy sand, ashy loamy fine sand, ashy coarse sandy loam, ashy sandy loam, ashy fine sandy loam,
Clay content--1 to 12 percent
Total rock and pararock content--0 to 30 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 30 percent
Gravel content--0 to 30 percent
Reaction--moderately acid or slightly acid (pH 5.6 to 6.5)
Thickness--10 to 60 cm

Bw horizons (and AB horizons, present in some pedons)
Hue--7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, moist or dry
Value--2 to 6 moist, 4 to 8 dry
Chroma--2 to 6, moist or dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy coarse sand, ashy sand, ashy fine sand, ashy loamy coarse sand, ashy loamy sand, ashy fine sandy loam
Total rock and pararock content--0 to 55 percent
Clay content--0 to 15 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 50 percent
Paracobble content--0 to 3 percent
Gravel content--0 to 25 percent
Reaction--moderately acid to neutral (pH 5.6 to 7.3)
Thickness--20 to 145 cm

BC horizons (where present; and C horizons, present in some pedons)
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y, moist or dry
Value--3 to 6 moist, 6 to 8 dry
Chroma--3 to 6 moist, 1 to 4 dry
Fine-earth texture--ashy coarse sand, ashy sand, ashy loamy coarse sand, ashy loamy sand, ashy loamy fine sand
Clay content--0 to 12 percent
Total rock and pararock content--0 to 55 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 50 percent
Paracobble content--0 to 6 percent
Gravel content--0 to 40 percent
Cobble content--0 to 2 percent
Reaction--slightly acid to neutral (pH 6.1 to 7.3)
Thickness--0 to 140 cm

2C horizons (where present)
Hue--10YR, moist or dry
Value--2 to 5 moist, 4 to 7 dry
Chroma--1 to 4 moist, 1 or 2 dry
Fine-earth texture--coarse sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, sandy loam
Total rock and pararock content--2 to 55 percent
Clay content--1 to 12 percent
Paragravel content--0 to 2 percent
Gravel content--0 to 55 percent
Cobble content--0 to 2 percent
Reaction--slightly acid to neutral (pH 6.1 to 7.3)

COMPETING SERIES:
Godowa (tentative)--aquic moisture regime (seasonally high water table present above 100 cm during the growing season, including May through July)
Maresegg (tentative)--udic moisture regime; umbric epipedon; less than 5 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation--1260 to 1700 m
Climate--cold, wet winters and cool summers
Mean annual air temperature-- 4.4 to 7.0 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation--430 to 1040 mm
Frost-free period--25 to 50 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Chock--on flood plains on valley floors; poorly and very poorly drained
Collier--on pyroclastic flows; somewhat excessively drained
Kirk--on flood plains on valley floors; poorly drained; ashy-pumiceous particle size class
Maresegg--on stream terraces and flood-plain steps; udic moisture regime; less than 5 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section
Steiger--on lahars and pumice-mantled terraces; somewhat excessively drained

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage class--somewhat poorly drained
Saturation in normal years--endosaturation, below a depth of 30 to 90 cm, in December through May; below a depth of 90 cm in May through November
Flooding--none
Ponding--none
Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat)--high to very high

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use--timber production, wildlife habitat
Vegetation--ponderosa pine, aspen, white fir, lodgepole pine, saskatoon serviceberry, wax current, rose spirea, long-stolon sedge, western needlegrass, Wheeler bluegrass, common yarrow, squirreltail, virginia strawberry

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cascade Mountains, Eastern Slope, Oregon; MLRA 6; small extent

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES PROPOSED:
Klamath County Oregon, 2008
Origin of the name--"Sun Creek" is a creek that originates on the southern slopes of Crater Lake National Park and was historically a tributary to the Wood River in the Upper Klamath Basin

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon
*Ochric epipedon
*Andic soil properties--A, Bw, and BC horizons
*Volcanic glass--throughout (zone from 2 to 200 cm)
*Aquic conditions--BC and 2C horizons
*Redoximorphic features--BC horizon
*Particle-size control section--zone from 2 to 102 cm

Pumice and ash are from Mt. Mazama

NASIS Pedon and Site ID--2018OR035005

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL) data--Suncreek soil (NASIS pedon and site ID S2018OR035004; KSSL pedon no. 19N0331)

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.