LOCATION TAUNTON WA+ID OR UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplodurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Taunton fine sandy loam-cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
Ap--0 to 5 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common roots; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick)
Bw--5 to 18 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common roots; few very fine tubular pores; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 19 inches thick)
Bkq--18 to 24 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common roots; few very fine tubular pores; 20 percent gravel-size fragments which are lime-silica cemented; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
2Bkqm--24 inches; white (10YR 8/2) indurated duripan; upper surface has thin smooth laminar cap; laminar cap and matrix are violently effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Adams County, Washington, 250 feet south and 50 feet east of the center of the northwest 1/4 section 16, T. 15 N., R. 28 E. W.M.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 52 to 56 degrees F. Taunton soils are dry in all parts between depths of 8 and 24 inches, or to the top of the duripan if shallower, more than half the time when the soil is warmer than 4l degrees F. (about 105 to l35 days). Depth to secondary carbonates (calcic horizon) is 10 to 25 inches. Depth to the indurated duripan is 20 to 40 inches.
The A horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4 dry or moist. It has weak granular or subangular blocky structure.
The Bw horizon has value of 5 through 8 dry, 3 through 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4 dry or moist. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. It is slightly or moderately alkaline.
The Bk horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 5 through 8 dry, 3 through 67moist, and chroma of 1 through 4. It is silt loam, loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam. It contains 0 to 35 percent gravel size lime silica fragments. It is slightly alkaline through very strongly alkaline. It has 15 to 25 percent calcium carbonate.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Doel, Jestrick, Oupico, Shalake, Skull Creek, Tauncal and Ticeska series. Doel soils lack carbonates above the duripan and have sand below the duripan. Jestrick and Ticeska soils have bedrock directly below the duripan. Oupico soils are calcareous throughout the cambic horizon. Shalake soils average l5 to 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Skull Creek soils do not have a calcic horizon. Tauncal soils are calcareous to the surface when mixed to a depth of 7 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Taunton soils formed in alluvium, some that has been reworked by wind on fan terraces and basalt plains. In Washington and Oregon elevations range from 200 to 2,200 feet. In Idaho elevations are predominantly 3,000 to 5,000 feet but range up to 5,500 feet on south and west-facing slopes. Slopes are 0 to 45 percent. These soils have an arid climate with hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 6 to 12 inches. The average January temperature is 29 degrees F. The average July temperature is 71 degrees F. The mean annual temperature is 48 to 53 degrees F. The frost-free season is 135 to 210 days in Washington and Oregon and 100 to 140 days in Idaho.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Paulville, Scoon, Wiehl and Royal soils. Paulville, Wiehl and Royal soils lack a duripan within 40 inches of the soil surface. Scoon soils are shallow to a duripan.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate permeability above the pan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Livestock grazing and irrigated crops. Native vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, Thurber needlegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, buckwheat and gray rabbitbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Washington, north-central Oregon, and southern Idaho. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Walla Walla County, Washington, 1960.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are an ochric epipedon from the surface to 5 inches, a cambic horizon from 5 to 18 inches, a calcic horizon from 18 to 24 inches, and a duripan at 24 inches. The particle-size control section is the zone from l0 to 24 inches.