LOCATION BICKMORE UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Pachic Argicryolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Bickmore gravelly silt loam, conifers, shrubs and grasses, with about 2 inches of fir needles on the surface. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oi--0 inch to 1; partly decomposed fir needles.
A1--1 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) gravelly silt loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; loose, very friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; many fine and common medium roots; 20 percent gravel; noncalcareous; slightly acid (pH 6.5); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
A12--3 to 17 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly silt loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate coarse granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and common medium and large roots; 20 percent gravel; noncalcareous; neutral (pH 6.6); clear broken boundary. (8 to 14 inches thick)
Bt--17 to 25 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) cobbly silty clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, plastic; many fine and medium roots; common thin clay films on peds; 40 percent cobble; noncalcareous; neutral (pH 6.7); clear irregular boundary. (7 to 21 inches thick)
Btk--25 to 38 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very cobbly silty clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm, sticky, plastic; many fine and medium roots; few thin clay films on peds; 70 percent cobble; strongly calcareous; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt discontinuous boundary. (3 to 17 inches thick)
R--38 to 43 inches; fractured limestone bedrock, about 90 percent rock with material like above the cracks.
TYPE LOCATION: Cache County, Utah; South Cottonwood Canyon; 800 feet south of the NW corner of sec. 30, T.10N., R.3E.; Porcupine Res. USGS quad; Latitude 41 degrees 34 minutes 45 seconds N. and Longitude 111 degrees 39 minutes 36 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mollic epipedon is 16 to 33 inches thick. The combined thickness of the A and Bt horizons is 18 to 36 inches. Depth to limestone bedrock is 20 to 40 inches.
The average annual soil temperature is 40 to 45 degrees F.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 through 5 dry, and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It has weak to moderate, very fine to coarse granular structure. It is slightly acid to neutral.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is dominantly cobbly silty clay loam or cobbly clay loam. It has more than 18 percent clay and more than 35 percent cobble and gravel by volume. Its structure is dominantly moderate medium subangular blocky, but ranges to weak coarse subangular blocky. It has few to many thin clay films on surfaces of peds. It is medium acid to neutral.
The Btk horizon has 15 to 40 percent calcium carbonate.
COMPETING SERIES:
Parkay (UT) soils lack bedrock within a depth of 40 inches.
Redbird (SD) soils lack bedrock within a depth of 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bickmore soils occur on very steep north and east facing mountain slopes at elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 feet. Slope ranges from 5 to 70 percent. These soils formed in colluvium and residuum from limestone. The average annual precipitation ranges from 22 to 35 inches. The mean annual temperature is 38 degrees to 42 degrees F. The frost-free period is 80 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Agassiz, Sheep Creek and Smarts soils. Agassiz, Sheep Creek, and Smarts soils have average summer temperatures of more than 60 degrees F. Also, Agassiz soils are shallow over limestone.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium to moderately rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used as limited rangeland and for wildlife. The native vegetation is Douglas-fir, alpine fir, ninebark, mountain myrtle, snowberry, chokecherry and buckbrush, with an understory of blue wildrye, mountain brome, and slender wheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Utah. This series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cache Area, Utah, 1969.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include:
Mollic epipedon - from the surface to 24 inches (A1, A2 and Bt horizons).
Argillic horizon - from 16 to 37 inches (Bt and Btk horizons).
The classification is based on the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eighth Edition, 1998". Mean annual summer soil temperature needs to be determined to verify the cryic placement.