LOCATION FORDNEY OR+CAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Torripsammentic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Fordney loamy fine sand--irrigated cropland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 20 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy fine sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (18 to 43 cm thick)
C1--20 to 122 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loamy sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.9); diffuse smooth boundary. (13 to 127 cm thick)
C2--122 to 152 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loamy sand, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; many very fine interstitial pores; neutral (pH 6.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Klamath County, Oregon; about 2 miles north of the town of Malin; approximately 1,320 feet south of the center corner of section 3, T. 41 S., R. 12 E.; USGS Malin 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 42 degrees 2 minutes 20.56 seconds north latitude and 121 degrees 23 minutes 54.97 seconds west longitude, NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - The soil is usually moist at depths between 30 to 89 cm in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; dry about 80 to 120 days in the four month period following the summer solstice; Aridic (torric) moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature - 9 to 11.5 degrees C.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 25 to 50 cm.
Depth to bedrock - More than 152 cm.
Reaction - Neutral through moderately alkaline.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: 5 to 15 percent;
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent gravel. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as tuff, basalt, and andesite.
Other features - Mineralogy is mixed and includes a high percentage of dark, (mafic) minerals such as hornblende.
A horizon
Value: 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry.
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent; decreases to a level less than 1 percent at some depth between 10 to 20 inches and color value dark enough for a mollic epipedon at depths below 20 inches results largely from uncoated sand grains.
C horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 3 through 5 moist, 4 through 7 dry.
Chroma: 2 or 3, moist or dry.
Texture: Loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or sand.
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent fine gravel (2 to 5 mm diameter).
Organic matter content: 0.5 to 2 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Graufels and Mottsville series.
Graufels soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts. Mottsville soils have high amounts of coarse sand and very coarse sand and average 5 to 30 percent granitic rock fragments in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fordney soils are on lake terraces, stream terraces, and fan remnants. These soils formed in alluvium or lacustrine deposits derived from volcanic rocks such as tuff, basalt, and andesite with an influence of volcanic ash. Slopes are 0 to 20 percent. Elevations range from 1,234 to 1,707 meters. The climate is semiarid and characterized by cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 250 to 356 mm. The mean January temperature is about -2 degrees C., the mean July temperature is about 19 degrees C., and the mean annual temperature is 8 to 9.5 degrees C. The frost-free period is 50 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Henley, Laki, and Poe soils. Henley soils are coarse-loamy, moderately deep to duripans, and are sodium-affected. Laki soils are fine-loamy, calcareous, and moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline. Poe soils are moderately deep to duripans and are calcareous.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; very low or low surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability (high saturated hydraulic conductivity). Over-irrigation can produce a high water table in nearly level areas. Endosaturation is present in these phases with an apparent seasonal high water table between 2 and 6 feet (moderately deep or deep free water occurrence classes) between March and September. Cumulative annual duration classes are Common or Persistent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Fordney soils are used mainly for irrigated crops, livestock grazing, and homesite development. The vegetation in rangeland is mainly antelope bitterbrush, basin big sagebrush, Thurber's needlegrass, Indian ricegrass, and bluebunch wheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Oregon and northern California. These soils are moderately extensive. The series concept and main acreage is in MLRA 21, while other acreage occurs in MLRA 23.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Klamath County, Oregon, 1941.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 25 cm (Ap horizon and part of the C1 horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm (parts of the C1 and C2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: A pedon sampled as Fordney has characterization data by the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL), Lincoln, NE, as user pedon ID S03OR-035-015 (pedon # 04N0389). This pedon has an ochric epipedon, ashy texture modifiers in the upper 30 cm, and qualifies for a vitrandic subgroup.