LOCATION BREECE CO+MT WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Pachic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Breece coarse sandy loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 18 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coarse sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable; 10 percent gravel; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
A2--18 to 36 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly coarse sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2); moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; 25 percent gravel; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
C--36 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loamy coarse sand; brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable; 25 percent gravel; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Larimer County, Colorado; about .1 mile east of top of hill and .3 mile northwest of Forest Service sign; at the edge of old borrow pit; SW1/4 of section 10, T. 10 N., R. 71 W.; Livermore Mountain Quadrangle; 40 degrees, 50 minutes, 48 seconds north latitude; 105 degrees, 20 minutes, 23 seconds west longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Ustic, dry in parts of the moisture control section for 55 to 65 cumulative days
Mean annual soil temperature: 32 to 46 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature: 58 to 68 degrees F.
Depth to calcium carbonate: 40 inches or greater
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 16 to 50 inches
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline
Base saturatation: 80 to 100 percent
Particle-size control section (weighted average): typically coarse sandy loam
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Sand content: greater than50 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent and are mostly fine and very fine angular granite fragments
A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through 5Y
Value: 3 through 5, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 through 3
Texture: sandy loam or coarse sandy loam
Some pedons have B horizons with colors and texture like the A horizon
C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through of 5Y
Texture: loamy coarse sand, coarse sandy loam, or sandy loam
Clay content: 5-18 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Breeton, Chrishall, Coberly, Dotsero, Hedoes, Klizhin, Parshall, Ruso, and Tuntsa series.
Breeton, Chrishall: have cambic horizons
Coberly: have a paralithic contact between 20 and 40 inches
Dotsero,
Parshall, Ruso: have accumulation of secondary calcium carbonate
Hedoes: has Bw and Bk horizons
Jarmillo: has cambic horizons and derived from rhyolite and tuff
Klizhin: buried argillic below 40 inches depth
Tuntsa: have basalt rock fragments
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: thick noncalcareous alluvium and slope alluvium derived principally from granite
Landform: concave alluvial fans, toe slopes, and small upland drainageways
Slopes: 0 to 40 percent
Elevation: 6,800 to 8,800 feet
Mean annual temperature: 40 degrees F.
Mean summer temperature: 60 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: about 18 inches
Precipitation pattern: peak periods of precipitation in the spring and summer
Frost-free period: 75 to 110 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kassler and Pring soils. Kassler soils are sandy-skeletal. Pring soils have a mollic epipedon less than 16 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium or low runoff; moderately rapid or rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used principally as native pastureland, native hay meadows, and in places for cultivated crops. Native vegetation is mainly bluegrass, fescue, shrubs, and bluestem.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mountainous areas of Colorado and Wyoming. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bitterroot Valley Area, Montana, 1952.
REMARKS:
Breece and Breeton need further research as to competing properties.
Classification was changed from Pachic Haploborolls to frigid Pachic Haplustolls 2/1999.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: the zone from 10 to 40 inches. (Part of the A1, A2, and part of the C horizon)
Mollic epipedon: the zone from 0 to 36 inches. (A1 and A2 horizons)
Last updated by the state 4/01.
Taxonomic version: Eighth Edition, 1998.