LOCATION CASTEE COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, carbonatic, frigid Ustic Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Castee loam, 3 to 12 percent slopes - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; weak thin platy structure parting to moderate medium granular; soft, very friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; 10 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline ( pH 7.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
Bw--2 to 6 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 6 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Bk1--6 to 12 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist, weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 25 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; disseminated; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
Bk2--12 to 23 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; disseminated; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (9 to 14 inches thick)
Bk3--23 to 32 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; 50 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (9 to 13 inches thick)
2Bk4--32 to 53 inches; white (10YR 8/2) gravelly loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) moist, massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; 20 percent pebbles; 45 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; disseminated; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear wavy boundary. (12 to 21 inches thick)
2Bk5--53 to 60 inches; white (10YR 8/2) gravelly loam, light gray (10YR 7/2) moist, massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; 20 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles; 35 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; violently effervescent; disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); (3 to 9 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Moffat County, Colorado; about 5 miles south of Powder Wash; about 1,200 feet east and 350 feet north of the southwest corner of Sec. 28, T. 11 N., R. 97 W.; longitude 108 degrees, 18 minutes, 01 seconds west; latitude 40 degrees, 52 minutes, 41 seconds north.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 44 to 46 degrees F. The mean summer soil temperature is 59 to 65 degrees F. The soil moisture control section is dry 0.6 percent or more of the time the soil temperature at 20 inches is above 41 degrees F. Rock fragments range from 0 to 10 percent above the 2Bk horizon and 20 to 50 percent below the 2Bk horizon. The soil is effervescent at a depth of 0 to 7 inches. Depth to the calcic horizon is 8 to 15 inches. It ranges 25 to 55 percent calcium carbonate equivalent, but the weighted average is 40 to 55 percent. The particle-size control section averages 18 to 30 percent total clay with 12 to 18 percent as noncarbonate clay. Depth to the 2Bk horizon ranges from 30 to 45 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 dry and moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. Reaction is mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 6 or 7 dry, 5 through 7 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4.
The 2Bk horizon has a hue of 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 7 or 8 dry, 5 through 7 moist, and chroma of 2 through 6.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Castello (WY) and Musselshell (MT) series. Castello soils lack lithological discontinuities and lack 20 to 50 percent coarse fragments below depths of 30 inches. Musselshell soils have moisture control sections that are moist in most parts from July 1 to September 1.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Castee soils are on plateaus and breaks. These soils formed in loess deposited on relict fluvial gravel deposits. Slopes range from 3 to 25 percent. Elevation is 6,400 to 7,400 feet. Average annual precipitation is 11 to 13 inches, and average annual air temperature is 42 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free season is 75 to 95 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Grimm, Haterton, Moyerson, Piezon, Rentsac, and Yellowwash soils. The Grimm soil is in a loamy-skeletal family. Haterton, Moyerson, Rentsac, and Yellowwash soils have bedrock above a depth of 20 inches. Piezon soils lack carbonatic families.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability; medium runoff.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for rangeland and wildlife habitat. Vegetation consists of streambank wheatgrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, Nevada bluegrass, prairie junegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, thickspike wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread grass, Wyoming big sagebrush, and shadscale.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Plateaus and breaks of northwest Colorado. The series is of moderate extent. Total area is about 13,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Moffat County (Moffat County Area), Colorado, 1991.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile are: a calcic horizon from 6 to 60 inches, and a particle-size control section with an average of over 40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent. Borollic feature - the soil temperature regime and organic carbon meet the requirements for borollic. Last updated by the state 3/91.