LOCATION CABINSPRING OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy-skeletal, glassy, frigid Vitritorrandic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Cabinspring ashy gravelly loam--on a hill sloping 23 percent to the west at an elevation of 5,800 feet--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on October 6, 2000 the soil was dry throughout.)
A1--0 to 8 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly ashy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate coarse, medium, and fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and many fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 25 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick)
A2--8 to 12 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly ashy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and many fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 30 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
AB--12 to 24 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly ashy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and many fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 30 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--24 to 30 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly ashy clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and common fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 40 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 16 inches thick)
2Bt2--30 to 36 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely stony clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate very fine angular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine and few very fine roots; common very fine tubular and common very fine irregular pores; many (80 percent) distinct brown (10YR 4/3) clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 20 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles, and 30 percent stones; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
2R--36 inches; fractured rhyodacite; cracks are spaced 6 to 8 inches apart and contain illuvial clay.
TYPE LOCATION: Lake County, Oregon; in the Glass Buttes along the access road to the radio tower atop the summit of Glass Butte; approximately 1,400 feet north and 2,400 feet west of the southeast corner of section 27, T. 23 S., R. 22 E.; USGS Glass Butte 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 43 degrees 32 minutes 43.3 seconds north latitude and 120 degrees 03 minutes 51.2 seconds west longitude, NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Usually moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; Aridic moisture regime that borders on xeric.
Mean annual soil temperature - 42 to 45 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 20 to 30 inches, includes the Bt1 horizon in some pedons.
Depth to base of argillic horizon - 30 to 40 inches.
Depth to bedrock - 30 to 40 inches to a lithic contact.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 35 to 45 percent;
Rock fragments: Average 40 to 70 percent, mainly gravel. Lithology of fragments are volcanic rocks such as rhyodacite.
A horizons
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Organic matter content: 2 to 4 percent.
Volcanic glass content: 30 to 75 percent in coarse silt through fine sand fractions.
Bt1 horizon
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Very gravelly ashy loam, very gravelly ashy clay loam, or very cobbly ashy clay loam.
Clay content: 24 to 35 percent.
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent.
Volcanic glass content: 30 to 75 percent in coarse silt through fine sand fractions.
2Bt2 horizon (when present)
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Clay content: 40 to 50 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cagas, Derallo, Glassbutte, Jacksplace, and Slockey series.
Cagas soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts. Derallo soils are deep to paralithic contacts. Glassbutte soils are very deep. Jacksplace soils have mollic epipedons less than 20 inches thick and average 18 to 27 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Slockey soils have 27 to 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are intermittently moist for 10 to 20 days cumulative between July and September due to convection storms.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cabinspring soils are on the hills and mountains. They typically occur on south and west-facing backslope positions. These soils formed in volcanic ash and colluvium over residuum weathered from rhyodacite. Slopes are 20 to 50 percent. Elevations range from 4,700 to 6,000 feet. The climate is semiarid and characterized by cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 14 inches, the mean annual temperature is 40 to 43 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 50 to 70 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Derallo and Jacksplace soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; high surface runoff; slow permeability (moderately low or moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity).
USE AND VEGETATION: Cabinspring soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The potential native vegetation is mountain big sagebrush, Idaho fescue, and bluebunch wheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Oregon. These soils are not extensive with about 2,600 acres of the series mapped to date. MLRA 23.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lake County (Northern Part), Oregon, 2006.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 30 inches (A1, A2, AB, and Bt1 horizons).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 24 to 36 inches (Bt1 and 2Bt2 horizons).
Vitrandic intergrade feature - The zone from the soil surface to 30 inches (A1, A2, AB, and Bt1 horizons).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 36 inches to underlying hard, unweathered bedrock (2R layer).
Particle-size control section and ashy-skeletal substitute class with glassy mineralogy - The zone from 24 to 36 inches (Bt1 and 2Bt2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Volcanic glass content determined locally by optical grain counts using a polarizing petrographic microscope.