LOCATION BUCKLEY WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, isotic, nonacid, mesic Typic Humaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Buckley silt loam, pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; black (10YR 2/1) silt loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; about 15 percent gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 14 inches thick)
A--10 to 16 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravely loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redox concentrations; weak medium granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear broken boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bg--16 to 38 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly sandy clay loam, pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) dry; many medium and coarse prominent brown and strong brown (7.5YR 5/4 and 5/6) redox concentrations; massive; hard, very firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (12 to 24 inches thick)
Cd--38 to 60 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) dense Lahar that breaks to gravelly sandy clay loam, pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2) dry; few medium and coarse prominent brown and strong brown (7.5YR 5/4 and 5/6) redox concentrations; massive, very hard, very firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; slightly acid (pH 6.4).
TYPE LOCATION: King County, Washington; 1,550 feet west, 300 feet south of E1/4 corner sec. 20, T.20N., R.6E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 47 to 52 degrees F. The particle-size control section contains 15 to 35 percent coarse fragments, and averages more than 15 percent fine and coarser sand, and 18 to 35 percent clay.
The A and Ap horizon has moist chroma of 1 or 2 and contains prominent redox concentrations in the lower part. It is strongly to slightly acid. It has weak fine and medium granular structure.
The Bg horizon is olive gray (2.5Y 5/2 or 5Y 5/2) or dark brown (10YR 4/3). It contains prominent redox concentrations. It is gravelly sandy clay loam or gravelly sandy clay, and is moderately to slightly acid.
The Cd horizon is dense lahar that perches water and stops roots.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Gumboot and Norma series. Gumboot soils are more than 40 inches deep and contain less than 15 percent coarse fragments in the particle-size control section. Norma soils are coarse-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Buckley soils are on nearly level plains at elevations of 500 to 700 feet. Slopes are 0 to 4 percent. These soils formed in the Osceola Mudflow. They have mild humid climates. Mean annual precipitation is about 48 inches; average January temperature is 38 degrees F.; average July temperature is 64 degrees F.; and mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F. The frost-free season ranges from 190 to 205 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alderwood, Seattle, and Tukwila soils. Alderwood soils have a xeric moisture regime and have a spodic horizon. Seattle and Tukwila are organic soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Buckley soils have been cleared and drained and are used for growing seeded grass pasture, hay, and small grains. The native vegetation is western redcedar, western hemlock, Sitka spruce, Douglas-fir, red alder, and bigleaf maple, with an understory of vine maple, western swordfern, red huckleberry, Oregon oxalis, bedstraw, trailing blackberry, and wild ginger.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The series is of moderate extent, about 17,000 acres in Western Washington.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eastern Puget Sound Basin, Washington, 1909.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an umbric epipedon from the mineral surface to 16 inches, a cambic horizon from 16 to 38 inches, and a paralithic contact with dense lahar at 38 inches.