LOCATION BICKLETON WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Calcic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Bickleton silt loam- cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. All textures are apparent field textures).
Ap--0 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine and fine irregular pores; neutral (pH 7.3); abrupt smooth boundary.
A--5 to 10 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak angular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine irregular pores; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 10 to 16 inches)
AB--10 to 19 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) heavy silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate coarse prismatic structure; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine irregular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (9 to 13 inches thick)
BA--19 to 26 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) structure heavy silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to medium prismatic; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine irregular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bw--26 to 35 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) heavy silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots, common very fine irregular pores; 10 percent gravel; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
2Bk--35 to 42 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) extremely gravelly silty clay loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few roots; few irregular pores; 60 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles; lime splotches, violent effervescence; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 20 inches thick)
2R--42 inches; basalt.
TYPE LOCATION: Yakima County, Washington; 2,300 feet west and 1,110 feet north of the southeast corner sec. 35, T.7N., R.20E., W.M.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Average annual soil temperature ranges from 47 degrees to 50 degrees F. These soils are usually moist but are dry in all parts between depths of 4 and 12 inches for 75 to 90 days following the summer solstice. The solum is 25 to 38 inches thick. Depth to bedrock is 40 to 60 inches. Depth to the Bk horizon ranges from 26 to 40 inches. The particle-size control section averages more than 15 percent particles coarser than very fine sand and less than 30 percent rock fragments. It contains 18 to 25 percent clay. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 16 inches thick.
The A horizon has value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist or dry. It has weak or moderate structure and is neutral or slightly alkaline.
The AB and BA horizons have value of 4 or 5 dry, 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. They are heavy silt loam or silt loam, have moderate coarse prismatic or blocky structure and are neutral or slightly alkaline.
The Bw horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry and 4 or 5 moist. It is heavy silt loam or silty clay loam. It is moderately alkaline to neutral.
The 2Bk horizon has value of 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4 moist and dry. It is extremely gravelly silty clay loam or very gravelly silty clay loam. It is strongly alkaline or moderately alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Almota, Highcreek, Lebec, and Nims series. Almota and Nims soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Highcreek soils are stratified and are deeper than 60 inches to bedrock. Lebec soils are calcareous throughout and are underlain by limestone at a depth of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bickleton soils are on slightly dissected undulating to somewhat rolling basalt plateaus and backslopes at elevations of 2,400 to 3,500 feet. Slopes are 0 to 45 percent. Bickleton soils formed largely in loess but the parent material contains some volcanic ash and basalt. The average annual precipitation is 11 to 16 inches. The average annual temperature is 46 to 49 degrees F. The frost-free season is 120 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Onyx, Rock Creek, and Renslow soils. Onyx soils are on bottomlands and have a mollic epipedon more than 20 inches thick. Rock Creek soils are on ridgetops and plateaus and are less than 12 inches deep to bedrock. Renslow soils are on plateaus and are usually dry, have less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section, and have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Use is mainly for dryland crop production and domestic livestock grazing. Winter wheat and barley in a summer fallow system are the common crops. Native vegetation is mainly Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, and antelope bitterbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Washington. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Yakima County, Washington, 1947.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are a mollic epipedon from the surface to 19 inches, a cambic horizon from 14 to 35 inches and a zone of carbonate accumulation at 35 to 42 inches. The particle-size control section is the zone from 10 to 40 inches (the AB, BA, Bw and part of the 2Bk horizons). The zone from 19 to 26 inches need further study to determine if it is part of the mollic epipedon.
This draft reflects a change in classification based on addition of CEC activity classes in Soil Taxonomy.