LOCATION VOATS OREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Fluventic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Voats fine sandy loam - idle land, on a 1/2 percent slope at an elevation of 2720 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and few fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 10 percent fine gravel; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary.
A2--2 to 5 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/3) dry; strong thin platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and few coarse tubular pores; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt wavy boundary.
A3--5 to 10 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and few coarse tubular pores; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 8 to 20 inches)
AC--10 to 16 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
2C--16 to 60 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very gravelly sand, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; single grain; loose; few very fine roots in upper 10 inches; many pores; 35 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 7.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Union County, Oregon; about 1/2 mile east of Island City on the bank of the Grande Ronde River, 350 feet north of the SW corner of section 35, T. 2 S., R. 38 E. (Latitude 45 degrees, 20 minutes, 29 seconds N, Longitude 118 degrees, 02 minutes, 01 seconds W)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 47 to 53 degrees F. The soils are usually moist but are dry between depths of 12 and 35 inches for 60 or more consecutive days following the summer solstice. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick. Depth to the stratified loamy sand and sand is 10 to 20 inches. Depth to bedrock is 60 inches or more. The particle-size control section averages more than 35 percent rock fragments and more than 50 percent very fine sand.
The A horizon has value of 2 or 3 moist, 3 to 5 dry and chroma of 1 to 3 moist and dry. It has 0 to 10 percent gravel.
The AC horizon, when present, has value of 2 or 3 moist, 4 or 5 dry, and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. It has weak or moderate subangular blocky structure or is massive. It has 0 to 10 percent gravel.
The 2C horizon is stratified sand and loamy sand with 0 to 10 percent stones, 0 to 30 percent cobbles, and 25 to 45 percent gravel.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Camas and Freewater series. Camas soils have mean annual soil temperature of 53 to 55 degrees F., are slightly acid or medium acid in the C horizon and have 20 to 50 percent rock fragments in the upper 15 inches of the profile. Freewater soils have a mean annual soil temperature of about 55 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Voats soils are on flood plains broken by old stream channels and occur at elevations of 1,600 to 4,000 feet. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. These soils formed in stratified alluvium of mixed mineralogy. The climate is characterized by cool wet winters and hot dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 25 inches. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 51 degrees F. The frost-free period is 50 to 120 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Catherine, La Grande, Umapine, and Veazie soils. Catherine and La Grande soils are fine-silty. Umapine soils are coarse-silty, are not well drained, and are salt affected. Veazie soils have contrasting textures, are deeper than 20 inches to stratified sand and very gravelly sand, and have a mollic epipedon more than 20 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate over very rapid permeability. These soils are frequently to occasionally flooded for brief periods during the snowmelt and spring runoff; where protected by man made structures, the flooding is rare.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used mainly for pasture. Other uses are livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Potential native vegetation is bluebunch wheatgrass, basin wildrye, timothy, Kentucky bluegrass, sedges, rushes, and scattered willow, alder, hawthorne, and rose.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Upland valleys of northeastern Oregon; MLRA 9, 10, 43. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Union County, Oregon, 1978.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - from the surface to 16 inches (A1, A2, A3, and AC horizons)
Particle-size control section - 10 to 40 inches.
Fluventic feature - a mollic epipedon that is 16 inches thick and an irregular decrease in organic carbon with increasing depth based on the nature of the parent material.