LOCATION BOCKER WA+OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Bocker very cobbly silt loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) very cobbly silt loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; weak medium and thick platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 20 percent cobbles and 30 percent gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
Bw--2 to 10 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) very gravelly loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; weak fine angular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; common very fine irregular and few very fine tubular pores; 40 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt irregular boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
R--10 inches; basalt.
TYPE LOCATION: Klickitat County, Washington; about 16 miles northeast of Goldendale; 1,400 feet east and 900 feet north of the southwest corner, section 33, T. 6 N., R. 18 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum and of the mollic epipedon and depth to bedrock range from 4 to 10 inches. Average annual soil temperature is 43 to 47 degrees F. These soils are usually moist, but are dry in the moisture control section for 75 to 90 consecutive days. The soils are neutral or slightly acid throughout. The particle-size control section is loam, silt loam, ashy loam or ashy silt loam with 18 to 27 percent clay. It has 35 to 70 percent rock fragments consisting of gravel, cobbles, and stones and an estimated 2 to 15 percent volcanic glass and 0.3 to 1.0 percent Alox +1/2Feox. The solum typically has hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist and chroma of 2 or 3 moist, 2 to 4 dry.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Agassiz, Alomax, Anatone, Bluecanyon, Cedaran, Dipcreek , Falula, Foxol, Gando, Gomine, Grink, Hogsby, Kenypeak (T), Little Pole, Nayrib, Onaqui, Rexmont, Swanner, and Van Wagoner series. Agassiz soils are somewhat excessively or excessively drained, are underlain by fractured limestone at a depth of about 18 inches and lack hue as red as 5YR. Alomax, Anatone, Falula, Onaqui, Swanner and Van Wagoner soils have bedrock at a depth of 10 to 20 inches. Bluecanyon soils are 10 to 20 inches to a lithic contact and have 10 to 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Dipcreek soils are 10 to 19 inches to a lithic contact and have a mean annual soil temperature less than 43 degrees F. Gomine soils are 10 to 20 inches to a lithic contact. Gando soils have an accumulation of lime at 7 to 14 inches and the particle-size control section has 10 to 18 percent clay. Kenypeak soils have less than 15 percent clay in the particle-size control section, have a paralithic contact over a lithic contact, and lack a cambic horizon. Cedaran and Little Pole soils have an aridic soil moisture regime. Grink soils are slightly or moderately alkaline throughout and are 14 to 20 inches deep to bedrock. Foxol soils have a C horizon with moist value of more than 3.5 and are 14 to 20 inches deep to quartzite. Hogsby soils are 10 to 20 inches deep to quartzite or argillite. Nayrib soils have 12 to 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Rexmont soils have a mean annual soil temperature of 37 to 41 degrees F, and a lithic contact with limestone at 8 to 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bocker soils are on plateaus and mountains. Elevations are 2,800 to 6,600 feet. Slopes are 0 to 90 percent. They formed in material weathered from basalt mixed with loess and a small amount of volcanic ash. The summers are cool and dry and the winters are cold and wet with a cover of snow from December through April. The average annual precipitation is 17 to 40 inches, but, ranges to 13 to 17 inches in northeastern Oregon. The average January temperature is 22 degrees F, the average July temperature is 59 degrees F, and the average annual temperature is 41 to 47 degrees F. The frost-free season is 50 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berson, Westbutte, and Wrightman soils. Berson soils lack a lithic contact. Wrightman soils are fine-loamy and are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Westbutte soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock, have a mollic epipedon over 20 inches thick and are loamy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and recreation. The native vegetation is buckwheat, Sandberg bluegrass, Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, stiff sagebrush and low sagebrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Washington and Eastern Oregon; MLRA 9. The soils are moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Morrow County, Oregon, 1977.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 10 inches. (A and Bw horizons)
Lithic contact at 10 inches.
Particle-size control section - the zone from 0 to 10 inches.
Further investigation is needed as to the degree and uniformity of the ash influence of this soil. Extensive areas have been mapped both pre and post Andisol Order. This has resulted in survey areas recognizing ashy modifiers and vitrandic criteria and other survey areas not recognizing ash influence. Both scenarios are included in the current Bocker concept where the shallow and skeletal soil characteristics dominate the use and management of the soil. Future consideration should be given to the factor of aspect and ash influence where north-facing slopes may be better correlated to the ash influence and the south-facing slopes to no ash influence.