LOCATION BISPEN                  UT

Established Series
Rev. RSJ/RLB
09/2018

BISPEN SERIES

The Bispen series consists of deep, excessively drained, rapidly permeable soils that formed in sandy eolian deposits and alluvium derived from Navajo sandstone. These soils are on dunes structural benches with slopes of 2 to 30 percent. Average annual precipitation is 10 inches and mean annual air temperature is about 49 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, mesic Ustic Torripsamments

TYPICAL PEDON: Bispen fine sand-rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated).

A--0 to 4 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) fine sand, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)

C--4 to 52 inches; yellow (10YR 7/6) fine sand, brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (38 to 55 inches thick)

R--52 inches; Navajo formation sandstone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Garfield County, Utah; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument; about 2,600 feet north and 800 feet west of the southeast corner of section 28, Township 34 South, Range 4 East; about 1.25 miles southwest of McGrath Point Bench between the confluence of Willow Patch and Sand Creeks; Calf Creek Quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 49 minutes 18.72 seconds North and longitude 111 degrees 27 minutes 40.61 seconds West, NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - The soils are dry in parts of the moisture control section for 75 to 90 days during the winter and dry in all parts of the moisture control section greater than 50 percent of the time when the soil temperature at 20 inch depth is more than 41 degrees F. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.

Mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 56 degrees F.

Depth to bedrock - 40 to 60 inches

Particle-size control section

Clay content - 0 to 10 percent

A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Effervescence: noncalcareous

C horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 8, dry or moist
Texture: fine sand, loamy fine sand, sand, loamy sand
Effervescence: noncalcareous
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline
Some pedons have thin Cr horizons formed in residuum from Navajo sandstone

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Mespun (UT), Reepo (UT), and Santrick (UT) series. Mespun soils are very deep (more than 60 inches deep). Reepo and Santrick soils are moderately deep to unweathered Navajo sandstone bedrock.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material: sandy eolian deposits and alluvium derived from Navajo Sandstone. Landform sand sheets and dunes on structural benches. Elevation is at 5,000 to 7,000 feet with a slope of 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual air temperature is 45 to 54 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation is 9 to 14 inches. Frost-free period is 120 to 165 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Nalcase, Antone, and Mespun soils. Nalcase soils are 5 to 20 inches deep to Navajo sandstone. Antone soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to Navajo sandstone. Mespun soils are very deep.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained, low runoff; rapid permeability above the bedrock.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Native vegetation is four-wing saltbush, sand sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, and galleta.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Utah and northern Arizona. The soils of this series are not extensive (less than 10,000 acres). MLRA 35.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Soil Survey, Garfield County, Utah, 2004. The name "Bispen" is a derivative of a geographic name from a nearby isolated flat, "Big Spencer Flat".

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon area:

Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 4 inches (A horizon)

Siliceous mineralogy - soils formed directly from Navajo sandstone contains more than 90 percent silica minerals (dominantly quartz)

Lithic contact - the boundary with hard Navajo sandstone at 52 inches (R layer)

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.

Updates and revisions for the correlation of Navajo Mountain Area (AZ711), May 19, 2008, CEM
Updates and revisions for the correlation of Kane County (UT642) CEM

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.