LOCATION BRUSSETT CO+MT WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, frigid Aridic Argiustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Brussett loam - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocks that part to moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
B1--6 to 9 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and fine prisms that part to strong fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; thin nearly continuous clay films on peds; few visible bleached sand grains on faces of soil aggregates; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
B21t--9 to 13 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and fine prisms that part to strong fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; thin nearly continuous clay films on peds; few visible bleached sand grains on faces of soil aggregates; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
B22t--13 to 26 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium and fine prisms that part to strong medium and fine angular blocky structure; very hard, firm; thin nearly continuous clay films on peds; few bleached sand grains on faces of peds; mildly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 18 inches thick)
B31t--26 to 39 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; moderate medium prisms that part to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; thin patchy clay films on peds; mildly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 16 inches thick)
B32ca--39 to 51 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak coarse prisms that part to weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; few patchy clay films on vertical faces of peds; few visible lime mycelia; calcareous; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cca--51 to 69 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure; slightly hard, very friable; lime mycelia and lime coatings on faces of peds; calcareous; strongly alkaline
TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Colorado; 1,200 feet west and 600 feet north of the SE corner of Sec. 21, T. 10 S., R. 65 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to a lithic or paralithic contact is more than 60 inches. Mineralogy is mixed, but montmorillonite is the principal clay type. The mean annual soil temperature is about 45 degrees F. but ranges from 43 to 47 degrees F.
The A1 horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 to 5 dry, and 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3 crushed. Texture in uneroded areas is loam or silt loam.
The B2t horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is silty clay loam, clay loam, or heavy loam and has 24 to 35 percent clay, 30 to 50 percent silt, and less than 15 percent fine and coarse sand. B3ca horizons are normal, but are absent in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Granath and Ralph series. Granath soils have hue of 7.5YR through 10R. Ralph soils have paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Brussett soils are on fans, terraces, and uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 10 percent. The soils formed in deep, transported silt loam or loam materials deposited as glacio-lacustrine, glacial meltwaters, stream alluvium, or as eolian sediments. The climate is cool, semiarid, continental with long, cold, dry winters and warm moist springs and summers. The mean annual precipitation at the type location is 17 to 21 inches, with peak periods of precipitation during the spring and early summer. The mean annual temperature is about 43 degrees F, but ranges from 41 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period (32 degrees F.) is 115 to 125 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Jarre and Peyton soils, both of which have fine-loamy control sections.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: The Brussett soils are used mainly for cropland and rangeland. The principal native vegetation is needleandthread grass, western wheatgrass, prairie junegrass, mountain muhly, blue grama, and widely spaced Gambel oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Along the eastern side of mountainous areas in Colorado. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: El Paso County, Colorado, 1975.
REMARKS: Last updated by the state 5/75.