LOCATION SHANO WA+OR+IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Shano silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated. All textures are apparent field textures).
Ap--0 to 8 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; many very fine and fine irregular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 19 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse and medium prismatic structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2--19 to 33 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 16 to 36 inches)
Bk1--33 to 42 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few roots; common very fine tubular pores; violent effervescence; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); common concentric hard (cicada) nodules; gradual wavy boundary.
Bk2--42 to 57 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few roots; common very fine tubular pores; few concentric hard (cicada) nodules; strong effervescence; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bk1 and Bk2 horizons is 17 to 35 inches.)
Bk3--57 to 67 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few roots; few very fine tubular pores; strong effervescence; intermixed with pockets of soft, very friable material; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Grant county, Washington; 150 feet south and 1,000 feet east of northwest corner sec. 19, T. 19 N., R. 30 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 55 degrees F. These soils are continuously dry in all parts between depths of 4 and 12 inches from about May 1 to October 1. Depth to calcium carbonate is 12 to 45 inches. The particle-size control section contains 5 to 10 percent clay and less than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine. The upper 7 inches, after mixing, contains less than 1 percent organic matter. Some pedons are stratified at depths of 40 to 60 inches.
The A horizon has value of 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist and chroma of 2 to 4 moist and dry. Reaction is neutral to moderately alkaline.
The Bw horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist and chroma of 2 to 4 moist and dry. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
The Bk horizon has value of 5 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4 moist and dry. Texture is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. It has 2 to 15 percent calcium carbonate equivalent. Reaction is slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Owyhee,
Sagemoor, and
Warden series.
Owyhee soils calcic horizon at a depth of 12 to 24 inches; 20 to 35 inches to laminae (Bkq and C horizons)
Sagemoor soils 14 to 24 inches to carbonates; 15 to 30 inches to laminae (2C horizons)
Warden soils stratified silt loam or stratified silt loam and very fine sandy loam in the lower part of the particle-size control section (2Bk horizon); 40 to greater than 60 inches to stratified 2C horizons; 40 to greater than 60 inches to a duripan
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Shano soils are on terraces, uplands, plateaus, and hills at elevations of 500 to 2,300 feet (2,900 to 4,200 feet in Idaho). Slopes range from 0 to 65 percent. These soils formed in loess. Shano soils are in a semiarid climate with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The mean annual precipitation is 6 to 10 inches. The average January temperature is 28 degrees F. and the average July temperature is 72 degrees F. The mean annual temperature is 47 to 54 degrees F. The frost-free season is 120 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Burke, Esquatzel, Prosser, and Scooteney soils. Burke soils are on uplands and have a duripan at 20 to 40 inches. Esquatzel soils are on bottomlands and have a mollic epipedon. Prosser soils are on plateaus and have a lithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. Scooteney soils are on alluvial fans and are coarse-loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow to medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for dryland wheat production, livestock grazing, and irrigated crop production. Native vegetation is bluebunch wheatgrass, beardless wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Idaho fescue, Cusick bluegrass and Wyoming big sagebrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Washington, eastern Oregon, and southern Idaho. MLRA 7, 8. Series is extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Adams County, Washington, 1966.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches
Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 19 inches
Zone of carbonate accumulation from 33 to 67 inches
Particle-size control section - the zone from 10 to 40 inches (part of Bw1, Bw2 and part of Bk1 horizons)
This soil reclassified 07/1999 based on amendment 17 of Soil Taxonomy to reflect superactive mineralogy.
ADDITIONAL DATA: S61 Wash-13-14-(1-6); Riverside Lab Nos. 61351-61356 and S61 Wash-13-15-(1-6): Riverside Lab Nos. 61357-61362.