LOCATION KITSAP WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, isotic, mesic Aquandic Dystroxerepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Kitsap silt loam - pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (l0YR 3/2) silt loam, grayish brown (l0YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; moderately acid (pH 5.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
Bwl--6 to l0 inches; dark brown (l0YR 4/3) silt loam, pale brown (l0YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; few very fine pores; many 2 to 5 mm light brown (7.5YR 6/4) concretions; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (3 to l2 inches thick)
Bw2--l0 to l7 inches; brown (l0YR 4/3) silty clay loam, pale brown (l0YR 6/3) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine pores about 3 percent fine pebbles; few 2 to 5 mm light brown (7.5YR 6/4) concretions; few silt balls; few krotovinas; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 22 inches thick)
BC--l7 to 32 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, light gray (2.5Y 7/2) dry; many large prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) redox concentrations; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear irregular boundary. (0 to 35 inches thick)
C--32 to 60 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silt loam and silty clay loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; very fine and fine stratification; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few roots; few very fine pores; tongues of grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) material like the B3 horizon; neutral; (pH 6.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Pierce County, Washington; l00 feet north of corner of l04th St. and 80th Ave.; 2,050 feet west and 2,750 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 5, T. l9 N., R. 4 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: These soils are usually moist but are dry in the moisture control section for 45 to 60 consecutive days following summer solstice. The mean annual soil temperature is estimated to range from 50 to about 53 degrees F. These soils range from moderately acid to neutral throughout. Coarse fragments in the control section average 0 to 5 percent by volume. Depth to redoximorphic features with a chroma of 2 or less is 5 to 24 inches.
The A horizon has value of 2, 3 or 4 moist, 4, 5 or 6 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist or dry. It is silt loam or loam.
The Bw horizon has value of 3 through 5 moist, 5 through 7 dry, and chroma of 3 or 4 moist or dry. It is silt loam or silty clay loam, and has weak or moderate blocky structure. The BC horizon has hue of l0YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6 moist, 6 through 8 dry and is prominently mottled. It has blocky or prismatic structure or is massive.
The C horizon has hue of l0YR, 5Y or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6 moist, 6 through 8 dry, chroma of 2 through 4 moist and dry and is mottled. In some pedons bluish gray (5B 5/l) gleying is prominent in root channels. This horizon is stratified silt, silt loam and silty clay loam. Some pedons contain thin strata of silty clay, silt, or fine sand.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Aloha series and the similar Giles and Saxon series. Aloha soils have an average soil temperature of 54 to 56oF and lack strata of silty clay loam in the lower part of the particle- size control section. Giles and Saxon soils lack grayish colors or mottles in the subsoil and are well drained. Also, Saxon soils have a dense laminated silt, clay, or silty clay loam B horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kitsap soils are on terraces and terrace escarpments at elevations ranging from near sea level to about 500 feet. Slopes are 0 to 70 percent. The soils formed in lacustrine sediments. These soils occur in a mild marine climate. Summers are cool and dry and winters are mild and wet. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 45 inches. The mean January temperature is 39 degrees F., mean July temperature is 6l degrees F., and mean annual temperature is 50 degrees F. The frost-free season is l60 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alderwood, Everett, Harstine, and Indianola soils. These soils have less than l8 percent clay in the control section. Alderwood and Harstine soils have a duripan. Everett soils are sandy-skeletal, and Indianola soils are sandy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well-drained; slow or medium runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly forests and some cropland and pasture. Native vegetation is Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western redcedar, red alder, bigleaf maple, and willows, with understory of western brackenfern, western swordfern, salal, Oregon-grape, trailing blackberry, red huckleberry, vine maple, evergreen huckleberry, red elderberry, and wild ginger.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kitsap County, Washington, l934.
REMARKS: Classification changed 4/94 and 1/00 because of amendments to Soil Taxonomy. The 0 to 10 inch depth is estimated to have >5 percent volcanic glass and >0.4 percent Al + 1/2 Fe by acid-oxalate.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial laboratory data available on this soil. Pedon # S77WA-061-30, NSSL, Lincoln, NE.