LOCATION WYMER ORTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, magnesic, frigid Vitrandic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Wymer ashy clay loam - rangeland, on a 16 percent slope at an elevation of 1205 meters (3,956 feet). (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. When described on 6/16/2004, the soil was moist throughout.)
A1--0 to 8 centimeters (0 to 3 inches); black (10YR 2/1) ashy clay loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common fine discontinuous pores; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary.
A2--8 to 25 centimeters (3 to 10 inches); black (10YR 2/1) ashy clay loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine, common medium and few coarse roots; common fine discontinuous pores; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 18 to 36 centimeters (7 to 14 inches) thick)
2Bt1--25 to 41 centimeters (10 to 16 inches); black (10YR 2/1) gravelly clay, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine and few coarse roots; common fine continuous pores; many distinct clay films on ped faces; 20 percent serpentine gravel; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary.
3Bt2--41 to 91 centimeters (16 to 36 inches); variegated (10 percent) very dark gray (2.5Y 3/1), (40 percent) olive gray (5Y 4/2) and (45 percent)light gray (5Y 7/1) gravelly clay; (10 percent) dark gray (2.5Y 4/1), (40 percent) olive gray (5Y 5/2) and (45 percent)light gray (5Y 7/1) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; extremely hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine and few coarse roots; common very fine continuous tubular pores; common distinct clay films on ped faces; 30 percent serpentine gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 30 to 51 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) thick.)
3Cr--91 to 100 centimeters (36 to 40 inches); partially weathered fractured serpentine.
3R--100 to 112 centimeters (40 to 44 inches); fractured serpentine.
TYPE LOCATION: Grant County, Oregon; about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) southwest of John Day, on Grant County Road 52, off the Dog Creek road; North 44 degrees, 23 minutes, 41.6 seconds, West 118 degrees 51 minutes, 56.6 seconds on the Castle Creek USGS quadrangle.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 6 to 8 degrees C. (42 to 47 degrees F.). The soils are usually moist but are dry between depths of 10 and 30 centimeters (4 and 12 inches) for 60 to 80 consecutive days during the four-month period following the summer solstice. Depth to a paralithic contact is 20 to 40 inches. Serpentine rock fragments in the upper 50 centimeters (20 inches) of the Bt horizon range from 10 to 35 percent by volume. The thickness of the mollic epipedon is 25 to 50 centimeters (10 to 20 inches) and includes the upper part of the Bt horizon. Hue in the upper part is typically 10YR, but may include 7.5YR. Base saturation by sum of bases is 75 to 90 percent throughout the solum.
The A horizons have value of 2 or 3 moist and dry and chroma of 1 or 2 moist and dry. It is ashy clay loam with 27 to 35 percent clay, 0 to 5 percent stones, 0 to 5 percent cobbles, and 0 to 10 percent gravel. It and has 15 to 40 percent glass and acid oxalate aluminum plus one-half the acid oxalate iron is 0.2 to 0.5 percent.
The 2Bt horizon has value of 2 to 5 dry and 1 to 3 moist, and chroma of 1 or 2 moist and 1 to 3 dry. It has 40 to 60 percent clay, 0 to 15 percent cobbles and 15 to 35 percent gravel.
The 3Bt horizon is variegated and includes colors similar to the serpentine rock colors. It has value of 3 to 7 moist and dry and chroma of 1 to 3 moist and dry. This horizon may appear to have the structure of rock material. It has 40 to 60 percent clay, 0 to 15 percent cobbles and 15 to 35 percent gravel.
The 3Cr and 3R horizon varies considerably in color even within a short distance. The highly fractured serpentine or ultramafic rocks have colors that include greenish black (10GY 2.5/1), dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1), or white (N 8/) with the shiny coating on the fracture layers characteristic of serpentine.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Lemonex series. The Lemonex has an O horizon and occurs on higher forested, hills and mountain side slopes.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wymer soils are dominantly on north-facing sideslopes or footslopes or sloping benches of hills. The elevations are 1067 to 1707 meters (3,500 to 5,600 feet). They formed in mixed colluvium and residuum weathered mostly from serpentine or ultramafic bedrock with ash influence in the upper layers. These soils are found in an ecotone break at the edge of the range areas and adjacent to forested areas. This soil is characterized by cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Mean annual precipitation is 36 to 46 centimeters (14 to 18 inches). The average mean temperature ranges from 4 to 7 degrees C. (40 to 45 degrees F.); the mean January temperature is about -3 to -1 degrees C. (27 to 30 degrees F.); and the mean July temperature is about 13 to 16 degrees C. (56 to 60 degrees F.). The frost free season is about 50 to 70 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Grell, Lemonex, Overholt (T), Stussi (T), and Widows (T) soils. The Grell, Lemonex, Overholt, Stussi, and Widows soils lack vitrandic features. Grell and Stussi soils are in range areas, on lower hill slopes, and are mesic, are loamy-skeletal, and lack an argillic horizon. Grell soils are lithic. Overholt soils are shallow to serpentine, are on shoulders and ridgetops adjacent to exposed serpentine, are loamy-skeletal, and lack an argillic horizon. Widows soils are shallow to serpentine, are on shoulders and ridgetops adjacent to exposed serpentine, and are clayey-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing, some areas adjacent to communities are used for housing. Native vegetation is Idaho fescue, prairie junegrass, and bluebunch wheatgrass; North 14-17PZ, 009XY040OR.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly on the north side of the Strawberry and Aldrich Range of the Blue Mountains of east-central Oregon; MLRA 9. The series is of limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES PROPOSED: Grant County, Oregon, 2005. The name is from Wymer Creek found on the Mount Vernon quadrangle.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 41 centimeters (0 to 16 inches) (A1, A2, and 2Bt1 horizons)
Argillic horizon - 25 to 91 centimeters (10 to 36 inches) (2Bt1 and 3Bt2 horizons)
Vitrandic feature - 0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches) (A1 and A2 horizons)
Particle size control section - 25 to 76 centimeters (10 to 30 inches) (2Bt1 and most of the 3Bt2 horizon)
Xeric moisture regime