LOCATION ESQUATZEL WA+OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Torrifluventic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Esquatzel silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap1--0 to 2 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary.
Ap2--2 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine and medium granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; neutral (pH 7.2); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ap horizon is 4 to 8 inches)
AB--7 to 29 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (15 to 25 inches thick)
Bk1--29 to 44 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bk2--44 to 69 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Adams County, Washington; 100 feet north, 50 feet east of southwest corner section 16, T. 17 N., R. 30 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 55 degrees F. These soils are continuously dry in all parts between depths of 4 and 12 inches from about May 1 to October 1. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick. Depth to free carbonates is 12 to 48 inches.
The A horizon has a chroma of 2 or 3. Reaction is neutral to slightly alkaline.
The AB horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 2 to 4 dry or moist. Reaction is slightly or moderately alkaline. Organic matter is 0.5 to 1.5 percent and decreases with depth.
The Bk horizon has a value of 5 to 7 dry, and chroma of 2 to 4. Reaction is slightly or moderately alkaline. Below 40 inches the texture ranges from silt loam or stratified silt loam to fine sandy loam. Some pedons contain a few pebbles or have bedrock or a duripan below a depth of 40 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the McDole series. McDole soils are effervescent in all parts, except the upper few inches in some pedons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Esquatzel soils are on bottomlands at elevations of 300 to 2,900 feet. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. These soils formed in silty alluvium. They formed in a semiarid climate having an annual precipitation of 6 to 12 inches with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters; average January temperature is 28 degrees F, average July temperature is 71 degrees F, and average annual temperature is 48 to 53 degrees F. Frost-free season is 130 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS; These are the Burke, Scooteney, Ritzville, Shano, and Willis soils. Burke and Shano soils are on uplands. Scooteney soils are on alluvial fans and terraces. Burke, Scooteney, and Shano soils lack a mollic epipedon. Ritzville soils are on hills and canyon walls and Willis soils are on uplands and both soils have a cambic horizon and a regular distribution of organic matter with depth.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow and slow runoff; moderate permeability. Flooding is rare or occasional.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nonirrigated small grains; irrigated row crops, and hay and pasture. Native vegetation is mainly bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, and giant wildrye.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Washington and eastern Oregon. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Washington, 1914.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are a mollic epipedon from the surface to about 10 inches.