LOCATION BISBEE WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Typic Xeropsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Bisbee loamy fine sand, grazed woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
O--0.5 inch to 0; undecomposed needles, twigs, bark; abrupt smooth boundary. (1/4 to 1 inch thick)
A--0 to 4 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loamy fine sand, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine roots; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
C1--4 to 9 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy fine sand, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; single grained; loose; few fine roots; few fine faint iron stains on sand particles; neutral (pH 6.8); gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
C2--9 to 28 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) loamy fine sand, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; single grained; loose; few fine roots; few fine faint iron stains on sand particles; neutral (pH 6.6); gradual wavy boundary. (15 to 20 inches thick)
C3--28 to 60 inches; multicolored fine sand; single grained; loose; few roots; neutral (pH 6.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Ferry County, Washington; 2,640 feet east and 1,320 feet south of the NW corner sec. 17, T. 36 N., R. 37 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 to 52 degrees F. These soils are usually moist but are dry in all parts between depths of 12 and 35 inches for 75 to 90 days following summer solstice. The particle size control section is dominately fine sand, 0 to 15 percent coarse sand and very coarse sand, and 0 to 10 percent pebbles. The soil is neutral or slightly acid. Some pedons have a thin E horizon.
The A horizon has chroma of 2 or 3. It has more than one percent organic matter.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 moist and chroma of 2 through 4. It is loamy fine sand, loamy sand, fine sand or sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Dart, Ewall, Preston and Santaquin series. Dart soils are 15 to 50 percent coarse sand and very coarse sand in the particle-size control section. Ewall soils are dry for 90 to 105 days in the moisture control section. Preston soils lack an O horizon and are mildly alkaline. Santaquin soils lack an O horizon and have 7.5YR hue or redder throughout.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bisbee soils are on dunelike terraces at elevations of 1,400 to 3,400 feet. Slopes are 0 to 65 percent. These soils formed in eolian and outwash material from acid igneous rocks. The climate is continental with a mean annual temperature ranging from 45 to 50 degrees F., average annual precipitation of 15 to 20 inches and a frost-free season of 100 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bong, Hodgson, Phoebe, Scala, and Springdale soils and the competing Dart soils. Bong soils have a mollic epipedon. Hodgson soils have a fine-textured argillic horizon. Phoebe soils are coarse-loamy and have a mollic epipedon. Scala soils are coarse-loamy. Springdale soils are a sandy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; slow runoff; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Grazed woodland. Some areas are used for dryland crops or orchards. The native vegetation at lower latitudes is ponderosa pine, needlegrass, pinegrass, and kinnikinnick; at higher latitudes it is ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, ceanothus, kinnikinnick, pinegrass, rose, serviceberry, moss, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, and yarrow.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Washington. Bisbee series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ferry County, Washington, 1970.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the pedon are an ochric epipedon from the mineral surface to 4 inches and a particle-size control section from 10 to 40 inches that is loamy fine sand and fine sand throughout.