LOCATION BLOODSTONE WYTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, frigid Aridic Lithic Ustorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Bloodstone gravelly loam, on a southwest facing, linear-linear 55 percent slope in mountain mahogany, bluebunch wheatgrass, and ponderosa pine at an elevation of 5,740 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)
A--0 to 1 inch; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) gravelly loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak fine and very fine granular structure; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine tubular pores; about 25 percent gravel; surface covered with about 25 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; carbonates disseminated; about 11 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
C--1 to 12 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) very gravelly loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; massive; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; about 50 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; carbonates disseminated; about 12 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 18 inches thick)
R--12+ inches; hard, fractured, red calcareous sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Johnson County, Wyoming; about 850 feet south and 180 feet east of the northwest corner, Section 35, T.49 N., R.83 W.; lat. 44 degrees 10 minutes 41 seconds N. and long. 106 degrees 49 minutes 12 seconds W.; NAD 1983. Klondike Ranch SW USGS topographic quadrangle.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature: 44 to 47 degrees F.
Surface rock fragments: 0 to 40 percent gravels.
Depth to lithic contact: 7 to 20 inches to red calcareous sandstone.
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 10 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 75 percent gravels and channers.
A horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry; 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: loam, silt loam, sandy loam
Rock fragments: 15 to 60 percent gravels and channers Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 15 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline
C horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry; 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: loam, silt loam - some pedons have layers of sandy loam
Rock fragments: 35 to 75 percent gravels and channers
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 15 percent
Gypsum: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Gompers series.
Gompers: shallow to a lithic fractured shale contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: colluvium over residuum derived from red calcareous sandstone.
Landform: scarps and hogbacks.
Slopes: 20 to 60 percent.
Elevation: 5,300 to 6,000 feet.
Mean annual air temperature: 42 to 45 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 15 to 19 inches. Frost-free period: 70 to 105 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Abac (dry phase) and
Fetterman series.
Abac (dry phase) soils are on backslopes of scarps and hogbacks; have a paralithic contact within a depth of 20 inches.
Fetterman soils are on footslopes and toeslopes of scarps and hogbacks; have a paralithic contact between 20 and 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; high to very high runoff; moderate saturated hydraulic conductivity above the lithic contact (R horizon).
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland, recreation, and wildlife habitat, especially for deer and elk in the winter. Native vegetation is mountain mahogany, bluebunch wheatgrass and ponderosa pine. This soil has been correlated to the Rocky Hills 15-19 Northern Plains R043BY434WY ecological site at the type location in Wyoming.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Bloodstone soils are of small extent in northeastern Wyoming.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado.
SERIES PROPOSED: Johnson County (Northern Johnson Area), Wyoming, 2005.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Particle-size control section: The zone from 0 to 12 inches. (A, C horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 1 inch. (A horizon)
Lithic contact: The contact with sandstone at 12 inches. (R horizon)
Taxonomic version: Ninth edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 2003.