LOCATION ASHCROFT                CO

Established Series
Rev. RHM/KLS
09/2022

ASHCROFT SERIES

The Ashcroft series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium or material weathered from conglomerate. Ashcroft soils are on hills, ridges, mountain slopes, or fans and have slopes of 2 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 510 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 1 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive Typic Haplocryalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Ashcroft sandy loam, forested. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

0i1--0 to 3 cm; undecomposed twigs, bark, and needles.

0i2--3 to 5 cm; partially decomposed organic material.

E--5 to 21 cm; pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) sandy loam, dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; weak platy structure in some places; soft, very friable; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)

Bt1--21 to 35 cm; reddish brown (2.5YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure that parts to moderate fine granules; slightly hard, very friable; thin discontinuous clay films on horizontal and vertical faces of peds, clay bridges between sand grains, and clay coatings on sand grains; approximately 15 percent pebbles and cobbles; the peds in the upper part of this horizon may have gray coatings; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 30 cm thick)

Bt2--35 to 71 cm; reddish brown (2.5YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure that parts to moderate fine subangular blocks; slightly hard, very friable; thin discontinuous clay films on peds; clay bridges between sand grains, and clay coatings on sand grains; 25 percent pebbles and cobbles; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (30 to 45 cm thick)

BC--71 to 86 cm; reddish brown (2.5YR 5/3) gravelly loamy sand, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) moist; single grained; soft, very friable; few thin discontinuous clay films on some peds and clay coatings on some sand grains; 20 percent pebbles and cobbles; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 25 cm thick)

C--86 to 127 cm; weak red (10R 5/3) gravelly sand, weak red (10R 4/3) moist; single grained; loose; 20 percent pebbles and cobbles; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (25 cm to more than 1 meter thick)

R--127 to 137 cm; hard conglomerate.

TYPE LOCATION: Gunnison County, Colorado; adjacent to Italian Creek Trail in Sec. 28, T. 13 S., R. 84 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness--50 to 125 cm or more
Depth to bedrock--100 cm to more than 3 meters; however, most areas of this soil have bedrock at depths of 120 to 150 cm
Depth to non-contrasting coarse textured material--50 to 100 cm
Rock fragment content--0 to 35 percent gravel and cobbles
Reaction--pH 5.5 through 7.0

E horizon
Hue--5YR through 2.5YR
Value--6 to 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma--2 through 4
Structure is typically weak platy or granular but is weak subangular blocky in some pedons. Dry consistence is soft or slightly hard.

Bt horizon(s)
Hue--5YR through 10R
Value--5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma--3 through 5
Texture--sandy loam
Clay content--7 to 18 percent
This horizon has medium to coarse, moderate to strong subangular blocky structure. Dry consistence is slightly hard or hard.

C horizon
Hue--5YR through 10R

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Lake Creek series. Lake Creek soils have more than 35 percent coarse fragments in the solum and have bedrock at depths of less than 100 cm.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform--upland hills, ridges, or mountain sides, and alluvial fans associated with these landforms
Elevation--2750 to 3500 meters
Slope--2 to 60 or more percent
Parent material--formed in alluvial fan materials or deep residuum weathered from reddish-colored conglomerate
Mean annual precipitation--510 mm, with peak periods of precipitation occurring during the spring and summer
Mean annual air temperature--about 1 degrees C
Frost-free period--less than 60 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderate permeability

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland, for forestry, and for recreational purposes. Principal native vegetation is lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, vaccinium, mosses, and lichens.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ashcroft soils are of moderate extent in the mountainous areas of central Colorado; MLRA 48A

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Taylor River Area, Gunnison, Colorado, 1975

REMARKS: Converted to metric and O horizons were updated to start at zero. Competing series section was not updated. 2/2022

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.