LOCATION ALBEE OR+IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Vitrandic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Albee ashy silt loam, rangeland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 10 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) ashy silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; 5 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
Bw1--10 to 19 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; 5 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--19 to 28 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) silt loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 5 to 30 inches)
2R--28 inches; basalt.
TYPE LOCATION: Umatilla County, Oregon; NE1/4, NW1/4, NW1/4 of section 35, T. 1 N., R. 35 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: These soils are usually moist but are dry in all parts between 4 and 12 inches for 60 to 80 consecutive days during the summer. Mean annual soil temperature is about 43 to 47 degrees F. Depth to bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. The solum is moderately acid to neutral throughout. Hue is 10YR or 7.5YR. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick. The textural control section has an average of 18 to 27 percent clay and more than 15 percent fine sand and coarser.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. Texture is ashy silt loam It has 15 to 25 percent clayand 0 to 5 percent gravel. Volcanic glass content is 5 to 15 percent and Alox +1/2Feox is 0.4 to 0.8 percent.
The Bw horizon has value of 3 or 4 moist, 4 to 6 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist and dry. Texture is gravelly loam, loam, light clay loam, silt loam, ashy loam or ashy silt loam. It is commonly free of rock fragments in the upper part but contains 0 to 30 percent in the lower part of which 0 to 30 percent are gravel and 0 to 10 percent are cobbles. Volcanic glass content is 2 to 15 percent and Alox + 1/2Feox is 0.2 to 0.8 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Goodalfs, Wallowa and Wrightman series. Goodalfs soils are dry for 80 to 100 consecutive days, are very deep to bedrock and have a mollic epipedon 20 to 30 inches thick. Wallowa and Wrightman soils have a mollic epipedon 20 to 30 inches thick.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Albee soils are on ridgetops, structural benches, and plateaus. Slopes are 1 to 15 percent. Elevations are 3,300 to 5,200 feet. The soils formed in loess and volcanic ash mixed with colluvium weathered mainly from basalt. The climate is characterized by cold wet winters and hot dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 17 to 35 inches. The mean January temperature is about 23 degrees F., and the mean July temperature is about 62 degrees F. The mean annual temperature is 41 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period is 30 to 110 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Anatone, Bocker, Helter, Klicker, Tolo and the competing Hall Ranch soils. Anatone and Bocker soils have a lithic contact at 10 to 20 inches. Klicker soils have argillic horizons and are skeletal. Tolo and Helter soils have a mantle of volcanic ash over 20 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Grain is grown in some areas. Potential native vegetation is Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, and prairie junegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Uplands of the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and in northwestern Idaho, MLRA 9. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Umatilla County, Oregon, 1985.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - from the surface to 19 inches (A and Bw1 horizon)
Cambic horizon - from 19 to 28 inches (Bw2 horizon)
Particle-size control section - from 10 to 28 inches (A, Bw1, and Bw2 horizons)
Ultic feature - base saturation less than 75 percent (sum) from 10 to 28 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial laboratory data available for this soil. Reference sample S92OR-063-008, 009; Wallowa County, Oregon; NSSL, Lincoln, NE, 1/94.