LOCATION ANSEL WY+CO MT
Established Series
Rev. JFY/PSD/KLS
03/2022
ANSEL SERIES
The Ansel series consists of deep and very deep well drained soils that formed in alluvium on alluvial fan aprons and footslopes. Permeability is moderate. Slopes are 0 to 45 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 460 mm, and the mean annual air temperature is about 6 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive Ustic Haplocryalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Ansel loam-on a south-facing concave slope of about 8 percent under lodgepole pine. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--0 to 5 cm; pine needles and twigs; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 8 cm thick)
Oe--5 cm to 8 cm; decomposed organic matter; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 cm thick)
E--8 to 21cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium platy structure parting to moderate fine granular, vesicular; hard, friable; many very fine and few coarse roots; less than 5 percent pebbles; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 20 cm thick)
Bt--21 to 84 cm; brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist broken and brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist crushed; strong fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and plastic; many very fine and few coarse roots in upper part; continuous moderately thick clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent pebbles; slightly acid (pH 6.1); diffuse wavy boundary. (15 to 50 cm thick)
C--84 to 160 cm; variegated gray (2.5Y 5/1) brown (7.5YR 5/4), brown (7.5YR 5/4), and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very fine sandy loam, dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 5 percent small, flat fragments, pebbles, and cobbles; slightly acid (pH 6.1).
TYPE LOCATION: Fremont County, Wyoming; in the SE1/4, NE1/4 of Sec. 30, T30N, R99W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--2 to 8 degrees C
Mean summer soil temperatures--4 to 8 degrees C
Rock fragment content--0 to 35 percent, but usually less than 15 percent, small, flat fragments, pebbles, and cobbles
The soils are noncalcareous throughout.
E horizon
Hue--10YR or 2.5Y
Value--5 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma--2 through 4, dry or moist
Reaction--pH 6.1 to 7.6
Bt horizon
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value--5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma--2 through 6, dry or moist
Texture--clay loam or sandy clay loam
Clay content--20 to 35 percent clay
Silt content--15 to 50 percent silt
Sand content--20 to 60 percent sand with more than 15 percent fine sand or coarser
Reaction--pH 6.1 to 7.6
C horizon
Hue--2.5YR or 7.5YR
Texture-typically loam or very fine sandy loam, but may be fine sandy loam, gravelly sandy loam, or gravelly sandy clay loam
Reaction--pH 6.1 to 7.6
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Castelleia,
Edloe, Erickson,
Graysill(T),
Grimstone,
Haviland(T),
Hierro,
Indart,
Lick,
Limber,
Peeler,
Perceton,
Sapphire,
Schofield,
Shule,
Swifton,
Tongue River,
Trapper,
Uinta,
Whitefish, and
Woodrock series. Castelleia soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments above a depth of 100 cm. Edloe, Limber, Sapphire, Schofield, Shule,
Swapps, and Woodrock soils have a lithic contact above a depth of 100 cm. Erickson soils have a strongly acid Bt horizon. Grimstone, Indart, Perceton, Polvadera, and Tongue River soils have a paralithic contact above a depth of 100 cm. Hierro and Uinta soils have a Bt horizon with hue redder then 7.5YR. Lick, Peeler, and Swifton soils have a thick E&B horizon between the E and Bt horizons.
Tahoma soils lack an E horizon. Trapper and Whitefish soils have a continuous horizon of carbonate accumulation.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform--alluvial fan aprons and footslopes
Elevation--2,125 to 2,900 meters
Slope--0 to 45 percent
Parent material--alluvial deposits derived from schist, granite, and gneiss
Mean annual precipitation--380 to 510 mm
Mean annual air temperature--1 to 6 degrees C
Frost-free period--less than 80 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow or medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for wildlife habitat, recreation, grazing, and forestry. Principal native vegetation is lodgepole pine. Elk sedge, mountain bromegrass, and shrubby cinquefoil are the principal understory vegetation.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ansel soils are of moderate extent in the mountainous areas of Wyoming, Montana, and northern Colorado; MLRAs 43B, 48A
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fremont County, Wyoming, Lander Area; 1975.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Albic horizon--8 to 21 cm (E horizon)
Argillic horizon--21 to 84 cm (part of Bt horizon)
Particle-size control section--21 to 71 cm (part of Bt horizon)
Converted to metric and O horizons were updated to start at zero and formatting updated. 2/2022
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.