LOCATION BANNION UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplodurids
TYPICAL PEDON: Bannion gravelly loam on a 4 percent south facing slope--rangeland. (Colors are for air-dry soil unless otherwise stated).
The soil surface is covered with 5 percent cobbles and 40 percent pebbles.
A--0 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and plastic; few medium, common fine and very fine roots; few very fine pores; 15 percent pebbles; moderately calcareous, carbonates are disseminated; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 4 inches thick).
Bw--3 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and plastic; few medium, common fine and very fine roots; few very fine pores; 5 percent cobbles and 35 percent pebbles; moderately calcareous, carbonates are disseminated; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick).
Bk--9 to 16 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; hard, firm, slightly sticky and plastic; few medium, fine and many very fine roots; few very fine pores; 50 percent pebbles; strongly calcareous, 15 percent strongly cemented lime masses, carbonates are disseminated in remainder of the horizon; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 17 inches thick).
Bkq--16 to 27 inches; white (10YR 8/2) very gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; very hard, very firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and common very fine roots; few very fine pores; 5 percent cobbles and 40 percent pebbles; 40 percent masses that are strongly cemented by lime and silica; strongly calcareous, carbonates are disseminated; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 16 inches thick).
Bkqm--27 inches; indurated duripan with 1 mm thick laminar cap.
TYPE LOCATION: Iron County, Utah; about 9.2 miles north, northeast of Modena; 500 feet north and 1,560 feet west of the southeast corner of section 23, T. 33 S., R 18 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is 47 to 52 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature is 66 to 71 degrees F. The soil is dry for 50 to 60 percent of the time the soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is above 41 degrees F. It is usually dry in some part of the moisture control section for 55 to 70 days out of the 120 days following June 21.
Depth to the duripan ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The particle-size control section averages 14 to 27 percent clay and 35 to 60 percent rock fragments. Rock fragments are dominantly pebbles but include some cobbles. It is slightly calcareous to strongly calcareous throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6 dry and 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is gravelly loam, gravelly sandy loam or very gravelly loam. It is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 to 7 dry and 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is gravelly loam or very gravelly loam with 15 to 45 percent rock fragments. It is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 6 to 8 dry and 5 or 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is mainly very gravelly loam and less commonly extremely gravelly loam.
The Bkq horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 6 to 8 dry and 5 or 6 moist, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is very gravelly sandy loam, extremely gravelly loam or extremely gravelly sandy loam with 35 to 80 percent rock fragments. It is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline. The Bk or Bkq horizons may be absent in some pedons but both are not absent in any pedon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coonskin (ID) and Suepert (ID) series. Coonskin soils are 7 to 15 inches to secondary carbonates. Suepert soils lack secondary carbonates above the duripan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bannion soils are on fan remnants at elevations of 5,100 to 5,900 feet. Slopes range from 1 to 6 percent. These soils formed in alluvium derived dominantly from basic and intermediate igneous rocks. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 50 degrees F. Average annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches. The freeze-free period is 100 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Deerlodge and Garbo soils. Deerlodge and Garbo soils have argillic horizons and are fine-loamy. Deerlodge and soils occur on nearly level fan terraces at slightly lower elevations. Garbo soils do not have a duripan and occur downslope on fan remnants.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland. The native vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, Douglas rabbitbrush, galleta, bottlebrush squirreltail, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, snakeweed and threeawn.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Utah. The soils are of small extent. MLRA 28A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Iron County (Iron-Washington Area), Utah, 1997.
REMARKS: The diagnostic features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 3 inches. (A horizon)
Calcic horizon - a zone of carbonate accumulation from a depth of about 9 to 27 inches. (Bk and Bkq horizon)
Duripan - an indurated lime and silica hardpan occurring at a depth of 20 to 40 inches (Bkqm horizon).
Xeric feature - the soil moisture regime is Aridic bordering Xeric.
The thickness of the duripan and the materials underlying the pan need to be further defined for this series.
The classification is based on the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eighth Edition, 1998". The cation exchange activity class is an estimate based on NASIS data.