LOCATION BALLER                  CO

Established Series
Rev. DM-RHM-KLS
05/2023

BALLER SERIES

The Baller series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from sandstone. Baller soils are on upland hills, hogbacks and homoclinal ridges in the foothills of central Colorado. Slopes are 2 to 30 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 460 mm and the mean annual air temperature is about 8 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Baller very stony fine sandy loam, grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 25 cm; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very stony fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; 50 percent stones and cobbles, mostly sandstone; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (15 to 51 cm thick)

C--25 to 38 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very stony fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; 60 percent stones and cobbles, mostly sandstone; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 36 cm thick)

R--38 cm; noncalcareous hard sandstone.

TYPE LOCATION: Boulder County, Colorado; approximately 305 meters south and 457 meters west of the northeast corner of section 7, T. 2 N., R. 70 W.; USGS Lyons topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees, 10 minutes, 21 seconds N. and long. 105 degrees, 16 minutes, 6 seconds W.; NAD 83

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - soils are moist in April, May and June
Mean annual soil temperature - 8 to 14 degrees C
Mean summer soil temperature - 15 to 22 degrees C
Thickness of mollic epipedon - 16 to 50 cm
Organic carbon - 0.7 to 2 percent in the mollic epipedon; decreasing uniformly with increasing depth
Base saturation - 80 to 100 percent
Depth to lithic contact - 25 to 50 cm

Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content - 5 to 18 percent
Sand content - 52 to 80 percent with more than 35 percent fine sand or coarser
Rock fragment content - 35 to 75 percent consisting mainly of cobbles and stones of sandstone lithology

A horizon
Hue: 5Y through 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam or fine sandy loam
Reaction: pH 6.1 to 7.8

C horizon
Hue: 5Y through 7.5YR
Texture: sandy loam or fine sandy loam
Reaction: pH 6.1 to 7.8
Note: This horizon is generally noncalcareous but can be inconsistently calcareous in the few centimeters immediately above bedrock in some pedons. This horizon may be absent in some pedons and the mollic epipedon may extend to bedrock.

COMPETING SERIES:
Boriana (AZ) - have rock fragments of granitic lithology
Demayo (CO) - have more than 18 percent clay in the control section; have rock fragments of basalt lithology
Docdee (NM) - have more than 18 percent clay in the control section
Far (AZ) - have a typic ustic soil moisture regime and are driest in May and June
Huachuca (AZ) - have a typic ustic soil moisture regime and are driest in May and June
Lozen (TX) - have more than 18 percent clay in the control section

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - upland hills, hogbacks and homoclinal ridges
Elevation - 1,650 to 2,200 meters
Slope - 2 to 30 percent
Parent material - slope alluvium and colluvium over residuum derived from sandstone
Mean annual air temperature - 7 to 10 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation - 410 to 510 mm
Precipitation pattern - peak periods of precipitation occur during the spring and summer
Frost-free period - 110 to 135 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderately rapid permeability above bedrock.

USE AND VEGETATION: Baller soils are used principally for recreation, building sites, wildlife, woodland, quarry sites and limited grazing as native pastureland. Native plants include ponderosa pine, three-leaf sumac, mountain mahogany, green rabbitbrush, blue grama, cactus, yucca, green needlegrass, sand dropseed, and scattered juniper.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Baller soils are of moderate extent in the foothills along the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains in central Colorado; MLRA 49.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Boulder Area, Colorado, 1971.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 25 cm (A horizon)
Lithic contact - 38 cm to hard sandstone bedrock (R horizon)
Particle-size control section - 25 to 38 cm (C horizon)

Baller soils have a mesic soil temperature regime and an ustic soil moisture regime bordering on aridic.

Converted to metric, formatting updated to current standards, competing series section updated. 04/2020

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.