LOCATION BLANDING UT+NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Ustic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Blanding very fine sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for air dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 4 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) very fine sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak thin and medium platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine roots; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bt--4 to 16 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) sandy clay loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure that parts to very weak medium subangular blocky, slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.7); clear wavy boundary. (9 to 25 inches thick)
Btk1--16 to 50 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) very fine sandy loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; extremely hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; moderately calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); clear smooth boundary. (15 to 35 inches thick)
Btk2--50 to 60 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) sandy clay loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, slightly plastic; moderately calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2). (8 to 15 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: San Juan County, Utah; about 6.5 miles south of Blanding; 200 feet south of trail and 0.4 miles west of Utah Highway 47; NW1/4 NE1/4 sec. 33, T.37S., R.22E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to carbonate accumulation: 9 to 30 inches
Organic matter (upper 15 inches): .4 to .9 percent.
Mean annual soil temperature: 52 degrees to 55 degrees F., and the average summer soil temperature ranges from 68 degrees to 73 degrees F.
Soil moisture: In more than 7 out of 10 years, the moisture control section is dry in some parts 25 to 45 consecutive days during the summer and is dry in all parts 50 to 75 percent of the time when the soil temperature is above 41 degrees F. Ustic aridic moisture regime.
A horizon
Value: 3 or 4 moist, 5 or 6 dry,
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: dominantly very fine sandy loam but ranges to fine sandy loam
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
In some pedons thin BA horizons are present above the argillic horizon.
Bt horizon
Value: 3 to 5 moist, 5 or 6 dry
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: dominantly sandy clay loam, but includes very fine sandy loam or loam.
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent clay and less than 15 percent coarser than very fine sand
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline.
Btk or Bk horizons
Value: 4 or 5 moist, 5 or 6 dry
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: very fine sandy loam to sandy clay loam
Calcium carbonate: 3 to 12 percent calcium carbonate
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline.
Buried horizons occur in places at depths below 40 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Depolvo (NM), Hyer (NM), Nepesta (CO), Tensleep (WY), Wilid (CO) and Wyotite (WY) series. Depolvo soils have significant amounts of volcanic ash and mica in their profiles. Hyer soils have an argillic horizon more than 25 inches thick. Nepesta soils have thick Ap horizons and have epipedons that border mollic or anthropic. Wilid soils have a hue of 10YR. Wyotite soils are calcareous throughout and have an Ap horizon 10 to 20 inches thick. In addition, Nepesta, Tensleep, Wilid and Wyotite soils are in LRR-G and LRR-E and are more moist in May and June.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Blanding soils are on uplands and plateaus, at elevations of 5,000 to 6,500 feet in a semiarid climate. Slopes are 2 to 10 percent. These soils formed in eolian deposits derived mainly from sandstone. Average annual precipitation is 8 to 13 inches. The mean annual temperature is 50 degrees to 54 degrees F. The mean summer temperature is 70 degrees to 73 degrees F. The frost-free period is 130 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the the Northdale series. Northdale soils have mollic epipedons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland. Some areas are used for irrigated or nonirrigated cropland. Vegetation is dominantly blue grama, galleta, Wyoming big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, and snakeweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Utah, western Colorado, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico. These soils are of moderate extent. MLRA 35 and 48A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Juan County, Utah, 1952.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 4 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 4 to 16 inches (Bt horizon)
Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy Ninth Edition, 2003.