LOCATION IZEE OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Pachic Haploxerolls
TYPIFYING PEDON: Izee shaly loam, range. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A11--0 to 7 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) shaly loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many roots; many pores; 20 percent shale fragments; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
A12--7 to 15 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) shaly loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many roots; many very fine tubular pores; 20 percent shale fragments; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
B21--15 to 25 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) shaly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common roots; many very fine tubular pores; 25 percent shale fragments; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
B22--25 to 35 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) shaly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few roots; common very fine tubular pores; 25 percent shale fragments; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
R--35 inches; fractured shale bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Grant County, Oregon; 2 miles east of Izee School; 50 feet south of road 0.4 mile up Antelope Creek from junction with road along South Fork, John Day River; SW1/4 SW1/4 section 27, T.17S., R.28E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Izee soils are usually moist but dry between depths of 4 and 12 inches for more than 60 consecutive days in most years during the summer months. They are moist in some part above depth of 12 inches for at least 1/2 the time (cumulative) when the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 42 to 47 degrees F. The mean summer soil temperature is more than 59 degrees F. Depth to shale bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The solum is neutral or slightly acid. Rock fragments in the control section ranges from 15 to 35 percent. The A11 horizon has value of 4 or 5 dry and chroma of 1 or 2. The A12 horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3. The B2 horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is shaly loam or shaly clay loam with 18 to 25 percent clay and more than 15 percent sand particles coarser than very fine sand. This horizon has weak or moderate subangular blocky structure. The C horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4 moist and 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is shaly loam or very shaly loam texture; and is massive or single grained.
COMPETING SERIES AND THEIR DIFFERENTIAE: These are the Minam, Utley, and Wallowa series. Cold Springs soils have a calcic horizon starting below depths of 18 to 20 inches. Minam and Utley soils are deeper than 40 inches to bedrock. Wallowa soils have silt loam texture and have less than 15 percent coarse fragments in their sola.
SETTING: Izee soils are in rolling to very steep topography on north facing slopes with gradients ranging from 15 to 65 percent at elevations ranging from 3,800 to 5,000 feet. These soils formed in shaly medium and moderately fine textured colluvium over shale bedrock. The climate is semiard with a mean annual precipitation of 13 to 16 inches. The mean annual temperature is 40 to 45 degrees F.; the mean summer temperature is 58 to 62 degrees F.; and the mean winter temperature is 27 to 32 degrees F. The frost free season is 30 to 60 days.
PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Venator, Marsden, Prag, and Ginser soils. Venator soils have a lithic contact and have more than 35 percent rock fragments. Marsden and Prag soils have fine textured argillic horizons. Ginser soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments in their control sections.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium or rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly range. Present vegetation includes Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, big sagebrush, bitterbrush, and gray rabbitbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Uplands of central and east central Oregon. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grant County, Oregon, 1970.