LOCATION SPRINGDALE         WA

SPRINGDALE SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, isotic, mesic Vitrandic Haploxerepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Springdale gravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

Oi--0 to 1 inch; very dark brown and grayish brown, partially decomposed organic litter composed of pine needles, leaves, twigs, and cones; strongly acid (pH 5.4); abrupt smooth boundary.

A--1 to 3 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine, fine and medium irregular pores; 20 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

AB--3 to 7 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 25 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; slightly acid (pH 6.5); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)

Bw--7 to 13 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 25 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)

C1--13 to 25 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly loamy coarse sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; many fine and medium interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; slightly acid (pH 6.3); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 12 inches thick)

C2--25 to 61 inches; variegated very cobbly coarse sand; single grain; loose; few very fine roots; many fine and medium interstitial pores; 30 percent gravel, 20 percent cobbles, and 5 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.6).

TYPE LOCATION: Spokane County, Washington; About 0.5 miles west of junction of U.S. Highway 2 and Colbert Road; about 2200 feet south and 25oo feet west of the northeast corner of section 22, T.27N., R.43E. USGS Mead, Wash. Topographic quadrangle; (Latitude 47 degrees, 49 minutes, 31 seconds N. and Longitude 117 degrees, 21 minutes, 41 seconds W.) NAD83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depths to diagnostic horizons and features are measured from the top of the first mineral layer.
The mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 52 degrees F
Moisture control section - usually moist but is dry in all parts between depths of 12 and 35 inches for 75 to 90 consecutive days following the summer solstice.
Depth to sandy-skeletal horizons - 10 to 19 inches
Volcanic ash influence - 7 to 14 inches thick
Estimated properties of the volcanic ash influenced layers:

Moist bulk density - 1.20 to 1.40 g/cc
Volcanic glass content - 5 to 20 percent
Acid-oxalate extractable aluminum plus one-half of the acid-oxalate extractable iron - 0.4 to 1.0 percent
15-bar water retention - 5 to 10 percent for air dried samples
The control section averages 35 to 60 percent rock fragments
Reaction - neutral to moderately acid
Estimated base saturation (ammonium acetate)- more than 60 percent in all horizons at a depth between 10 and 30 inches

A horizon
Value - 4 to 6 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma - 1 to 3 dry or moist
Texture - ashy coarse sandy loam or sandy loam with total rock fragment content of 15 to 35 percent
Gravel content - 15 to 25 percent
Cobble content - 0 to 10 percent
Some pedons have stony or cobbly surface layers.

Bw horizon
Value 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma 2 to 4 moist and dry
Texture gravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, gravelly ashy sandy loam, very gravelly ashy sandy loam or very gravelly ashy coarse sandy loam with total rock fragment content of 15 to 50 percent
Gravel content - 20 to 40 percent
Cobble content - 0 to 10 percent

C1 horizon
Hue - variegated, 10YR or 2.5Y
Value - 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma - 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture - loamy sand, sand, loamy coarse sand, or coarse sand with total rock fragment content of 30 to 60 percent
Gravel content 20 to 50 percent
Cobble content 0 to 15 percent

C2 horizon
Hue - variegated, 10YR, or 2.5Y
Value - 6 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma - 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture - loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sand, or coarse sand with total rock fragment content of 35 to 70 percent
Gravel content - 25 to 50 percent
Cobble and stone content - 5 to 30 percent

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Similar soils in other families are Hallcreek, Kartar, Scala, and Spens series. Hallcreek soils have a volcanic ash mantle 7 to 14 inches thick with bulk density of 0.75 to 0.85 g/cc, volcanic glass content of 30 to 60 percent, acid-oxalate extractable aluminum plus 1/2 iron of 1.0 to 2.0 percent. Kartar soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Scala soils are coarse-loamy. Spens soils do not have a cambic horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Springdale soils are on terrace treads and risers. Elevation is 1,400 to 4,000 feet. Slopes are 0 to 70 percent. Springdale soils formed in sandy and gravelly glaciofluvial deposits mixed with minor amounts of loess and volcanic ash in the upper part. The climate is characterized by warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 15 to 23 inches. The mean annual temperature is about 47 degrees F. The frost-free period is 100 to 130 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bisbee, Cedonia, Clayton, Dart, Donavan, Garrison, Hagen, Hudnut, Hunters, Marble, Phoebe, Raisio, Spens, Stevens, Wapal, Winthrop, and the competing Spens soils. Bisbee, Dart, Hagen, and Marble soils are sandy and are on terraces. Cedonia and Hunters soils are fine-silty and are on terraces. Clayton, Donavan, Hudnut, Phoebe, and Stevens soils are coarse-loamy. In addition, Donavan, Phoebe, and Stevens soils have a mollic epipedon. Clayton soils are on lake terraces and Stevens soils are on side slopes of hills and mountains, and Hudnut and Phoebe soils are on outwash terraces. Garrison and Raisio soils are loamy-skeletal and have a mollic epipedon. Garrison soils are on outwash terraces and Raisio soils are on side slopes of mountains. Spens soils do not have a cambic horizon and are on terrace escarpments. Wapal soils do not have a cambic horizon, are frigid, and are on terrace escarpments. Winthrop soils have a mollic epipedon and are on fans and terraces.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; moderately rapid permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for urban development, homesites, timber production, livestock grazing, recreation and wildlife habitat. The potential natural vegetation is ponderosa pine with an understory of common snowberry, white spirea, Saskatoon serviceberry, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, arrowleaf balsamroot, creeping barberry, silky lupine, and pinegrass. At higher elevations some Douglas-fir is in the overstory.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Washington; MLRA 6, 43A, 44. Springdale series is of moderate extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Stevens County, Washington, 1913.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Oi, A, and AB horizons)
Cambic horizon - the zone from 3 to 13 inches (AB and Bw horizons)
Vitrandic feature - the zone from 1 to 13 inches (A, AB, and Bw horizons)
Particle-size control section - the zone from 11 to 41 inches (part of the Bw horizon, the C1 and part of the C2 horizon) with a weighted average of rock fragments of 57 percent.

This soil occurs in four soil survey areas; Spokane, North Ferry, Okanogan, and Stevens County. The classification of the Springdale pedons in the Spokane, Stevens, and Okanogan reports should probably be Vitrandic Haploxerepts; in the North Ferry report the classification should be Vitrandic Haploxerolls and a new series was established called Leiko.

The description reflects a change in classification as of 5/00, from sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Vitrandic Xerochrepts to sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Vitrandic Haploxerepts.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial laboratory data is available for this series. Sample number S57WA063-8, pedon number 40-1036, NSSL, Lincoln, NE 8/87.