LOCATION TENNO IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Xeric Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Tenno stony loam, sagebrush and grass. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) (light brown 10YR 6/3, crushed) stony loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) (dark grayish brown 10YR 4/2, crushed) moist; weak thin platy structure that parts to weak very fine granular; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine irregular pores; 1 percent stones, 2 percent cobbles, and 2 percent gravel; noncalcareous; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
BA--5 to 12 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) (light brown 10YR 6/3, crushed) loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) (dark grayish brown 10YR 4/2, crushed) moist; very weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 2 percent angular basalt gravel; noncalcareous; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bw--12 to 15 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; 2 percent angular basalt gravel; noncalcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
Bk--15 to 17 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; 2 percent angular basalt pebbles, lime coated on bottom; strongly calcareous, few fine lime veins and spots; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
2R--17 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) hard basalt; vesicular; lime coating on surface and in cracks.
TYPE LOCATION: Bingham County, Idaho; about 3 miles north and 3 miles west of Moreland; 1,370 feet north and 370 feet west of the SE corner of section 9, T.2S., R.34E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock - 10 to 20 inches
Depth to carbonates is 10 to 18 inches
Mean annual soil temperature - 41 to 47 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature - 59 to 66 degrees F.
Soil moisture - usually dry and dry between a depth of 8 inches and the bedrock for 70 to 85 consecutive days in mid and late summer
Particle-size control section
Clay content - 8 to 18 percent, total sand content 30 to 52 percent
Rock fragments - 0 to 35 percent
A horizon
Value - 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - 2 or 3
Organic matter - 1 to 2.5 percent
Reaction - slightly or moderately alkaline
Bw horizon
Value - 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma - of 2 or 3
Texture - L, SIL, ST-L
Structure - weak coarse prismatic or weak or very weak subangular blocky
Reaction - slightly to strongly alkaline
Bk horizon
Value - 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma - 2 or 3
Texture - L, ST-L
Calcium carbonate equivalent - 3 to 15 percent
Reaction - slightly to strongly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Bondrance series. Bondrance soil are sandy loam throughout the profile with 52 to 75 percent total sand.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tenno soils are on level to hilly loess covered lava plains at elevations of 4,200 to 5,500 feet. Slopes range from 0 to 30 percent. The soils formed in loess and residuum weathered from basalt. The climate is semiarid with dry summers. The mean annual temperature is 39 to 45 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 11 inches including 1.5 to 4 feet of snowfall. The average frost free season is 70 to 125 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Pancheri, Polatic and Splittop soils. Pancheri soils have a calcic horizon and are over 40 inches deep to bedrock. Polatis soils have a calcic horizon and are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily for range. The principal native plants are big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, squirreltail, streambank wheatgrass, groundsel, small rabbitbrush, milkvetch, Russian thistle, and wild mustard.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The series is extensive in the lava plains of southeastern Idaho.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bingham County, Idaho, 1972.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon -
Cambic horizon - The zone from 12 to 15 inches (BA and Bw horizons)
Lithic contact - The contact with hard basalt at 17 inches
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 17 inches (part of the BA, the Bw and the Bk horizon)
The Bk horizon would quality as a calcic horizon, but it is less then 6 inches thick. The horizon has less than 18 percent clay and has 5 percent identifiable secondary carbonates.