LOCATION HARSTINE           WA

HARSTINE SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, mesic Vitrandic Dystroxerepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Harstine gravelly ashy sandy loam, forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Oi--0 to 1/2 inch; slightly decomposed twigs and needles; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt wavy boundary.

Oe--1/2 to 1 inch; decayed needles; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt wavy boundary.

Bw1--1 to 6 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) gravelly ashy sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; slightly plastic; many roots; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)

Bw2--6 to 14 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) gravelly ashy sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; many roots; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear wavy boundary. (7 to 9 inches thick)

Bw3--14 to 22 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly ashy sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; many roots; strongly acid (pH 5.4); gradual wavy boundary. (7 to 9 inches thick)

Bw4--22 to 32 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly ashy sandy loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; many roots; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (7 to 16 inches thick)

2Bsm1--32 to 38 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly loamy sandy, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weakly cemented, hard; few roots in fractures; moderately acid (pH 5.8); gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 7 inches thick)

2Bsm2--38 to 61 inches; compact weakly cemented glacial till. Many feet thick.

TYPE LOCATION: Pierce County, Washington; 1,600 feet east and 4,000 feet north of SW corner of section 36, T.22N., R.1E. Elevation 300 feet, 4 percent slope.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 49 degrees to 52 degrees F. These soils are usually moist but they are dry in all parts between depths of 8 to 24 inches for 60 to 80 consecutive days in most years. The control section has 60 to 75 percent sand and 10 to 35 percent rock fragments. The solum is very strongly acid to moderately acid. Depth to the 2Bsm horizon ranges from 25 to nearly 40 inches.

Some pedons have a thin A horizon that has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3 moist.

The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 moist, 5 through 7 dry and chroma of 3 or 4 moist or dry. Some pedons have thin layers of loamy sand and have faint redox concentrations.

The 2Bsm horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6 and chroma of 2 through 4. It is gravelly coarse sandy loam or gravelly loamy sand. It has none to common faint redox concentrations along fractures.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Poulsbo and Tenino series. Poulsbo soils have an E horizon 1 to 4 inches thick and densic materials within 60 inches. Tenino soils have less than 50 percent sand in the control section, have 2C horizons with more than 60 percent rock fragments.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The soils are on slightly undulating to steep uplands at elevations from sea level to 400 feet. These soils formed in sandy glacial till. Harstine soils are in a marine climate. The summers are cool and dry and winters are mild and moist. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 55 inches; mean annual temperature is 51 degrees F. and the frost-free season is about 200 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bow, Indianola, Kitsap, and Neilton soils. Bow and Kitsap soils contain more than 18 percent clay. Indianola soils are sandy. Neilton soils lack a duripan.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; slow to medium runoff; moderate permeability to the cemented pan and very slow below. Perched water table from 24 to 40 inches at times from January through April.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for woodland, production of hay and pasture, urban development, and wildlife habitat. The native vegetation is Douglas-fir, madrone, western hemlock, red alder, vine maple, salal, swordfern, and Oregon grape.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington; MLRA 2. Harstine series is of moderate extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mason County, Washington, 1948.

REMARKS: Classification updated and nomenclature of Bsim only changed 4/94. Harstine soils are on the borderline of sandy and coarse-loamy families.

Classification revised 1/2000 from mixed, mesic Vitrandic Durochrepts to isotic, mesic Vitrandic Dystroxerepts based on revisions to Soil Taxonomy.

Diagnostic horizons and features include:

Cambic horizon - from 1 to 32 inches
Cemented pan - from 32 to 61 inches with weak cementation with iron, aluminum and organic matter.
Vitrandic subgroup feature - from 1 to 32 inches with estimated properties of > 5 percent volcanic glass, and 0.4 to 1.0 percent acid oxalate extractable Al plus 1/2 Fe.
Oxyaquic feature - a perched water table from 24 to 40 inches at times from January through April.
Particle-size control section - from 11 to 32 inches.

Depths to diagnostic horizons and features noted in range of characteristics are measured from the to of the first mineral horizon.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Riverside laboratory 73Wash-655-66 and 68 (R7357 and R7366).