LOCATION WETMORE COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Haplustalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Wetmore stony sandy loam, forest. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
Oi--0 inches to 2; needles, leaves, twigs and decaying organic material.
E--2 to 8 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) stony sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; common medium and very fine roots; about 20 percent angular granitic pebbles and 10 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
E/B--8 to 14 inches; pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) stony coarse sandy loam, dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; few nodules of sandy clay loam; common; medium and very fine roots; about 25 percent angular pebbles and 10 percent stones, slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bt--14 to 20 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) very stony coarse sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine angular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; this horizon consists of lamellae and nodules that are heavy coarse sandy loam embedded in a matrix of loamy coarse sand; 40 percent angular pebbles and 20 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
R--20 inches; granite.
TYPE LOCATION: Pueblo County, Colorado; 0.1 mile east and 0.1 mile south of the NW corner of sec. 16, T. 21 S., R. 69 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature ranges 43 to 46 degrees F. and mean summer soil temperature ranges from 55 to 61 degrees F. Depth to bedrock (excluding O horizon) ranges from 8 to 20 inches.
A thin A horizon is present on some pedons.
The E horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 5 through 7, 4 or 5 moist and chroma of 1 through 4.
The Bt horizon is a sandy loam or loamy sand commonly with lamellae and nodules of heavy sandy loam or sandy clay loam. Rock fragments range from 35 to 75 percent and are dominantly angular pebbles of 1 to 3 inch diameter. Hue is 2.5YR through 10YR in the argillic horizon. The soil ranges from moderately acid through neutral.
COMPETING SERIES:
Blackleaf - have Bk horizons
Brickner - hues as yellow as 2.5Y
Jagon - have Bk horizons
Sanchez - continuous argillic horizons with 20-35 percent clay
Tolex - have channery rock fragments
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wetmore soils are on mountain slopes. They formed in thin gravelly coarse textured noncalcareous materials weathered from granite. At the type location the elevation is about 7,000 feet. Slopes range from 5 to 80 percent. The mean annual temperature is 41 to 47 degrees F., and the annual precipitation about 16 to 25 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Allens Park, Juget, Mortenson, Larkson, Pinata, and Vamer soils and the competing Sanchez soils. Allens Park, Mortenson, Larkson, and Pinata soils lack a lithic contact within 20 inches of the surface. Vamer soils have a clayey subsoil. Juget soils have a mollic epipedon and are sandy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Use is primarily for recreation and grazing with minor timber harvest. Vegetation is dominated by ponderosa pine, white fir, and Douglas fir with an understory of shrubs and grasses
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. These soils are moderately extensive but usually occur as small areas.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pueblo County Area, Colorado, 1974.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic Features:
Albic horizon from 2 to 8 inches
Glossic horizon from 8 to 14 inches
Argillic horizon from 14 to 20 inches
Lithic contact at 20 inches
In the 4/2000 OSD update the layer depths were adjusted with the surface, 0 inches, at the top of the Oi horizon.