LOCATION CHALKCLIFF UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Sodic Ustic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Chalkcliff very channery loam, on a east facing, concave-linear, 17 percent slope in Wyoming big sagebrush rangeland at an elevation of 5,250 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Fifty percent of the surface is covered with angular sandstone channers.
A--0 to 4 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very channery loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium and thin platy structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, fine, and few medium roots; many very fine, fine, and few medium vesicular pores; 10 percent channers, 5 percent gravel; slightly effervescent, (6 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bk--4 to 14 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) channery loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, fine and few medium roots; common very fine, few fine and medium tubular pores; 20 percent channers, 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent, (8 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated and segregated as less than 1 mm thick coatings on the undersides of rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 13 inches thick)
Bkn1--14 to 24 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very channery loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine, fine, and few medium roots; common very fine and few tubular pores; 25 percent channers, 15 percent gravel; strongly effervescent, (9 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated and segregated as less than 1 mm coats on undersides of rock fragments; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); gradual wavy boundary.
Bkn2--24 to 39 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very channery loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 50 percent channers; strongly effervescent, (10 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated and segregated as less than 1 mm coats on undersides of rock fragments; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); clear smooth boundary.
Bkn3--39 to 60 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) very channery loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 20 percent channers, 10 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent, (9 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated and segregated as less than 1 mm coats on undersides of rock fragments; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0). ( combined thickness of the Bkn horizons is 17 to 32 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Uintah County, Utah; about 3.5 miles southeast of Bonanza, Utah; located about 1,900 feet east and 1,700 feet north of the southwest corner of sec. 28, T.9S., R.25E., SLBM; Walsh Knolls, Utah USGS quad; lat. 40 degrees 00 minutes 16 seconds N. and long. 109 degrees 6 minutes 28 seconds W., NAD 27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is affected by precipitation that falls evenly through the year with a slight increase in late summer and fall. Aridic moisture regime bordering on ustic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 47 to 51 degrees F.
Surface rock fragments: 30 to 60 percent angular fine grain sandstone channers and gravel
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 2 to 5 inches
Depth to horizons with greater than 13 SAR: 13 to 32 inches
Particle-size control section (weighted average): 18 to 27 percent clay and 35 to 60 percent fine grain sandstone rock fragments (predominantly angular channers and gravel)
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist
Carbonate content: 1 to 10 percent
Bk horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist
Texture: channery loam or very channery loam
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent
Sodium adsorption ratio: 0 to 5
Bkn horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist
Calcium carbonate content: 1 to 10 percent
Sodium adsorption ratio: 13 to 20
COMPETING SERIES: Currently there are no competitors in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: slope alluvium or colluvium derived from sandstone
Landform: fan remnants
Slopes: 2 to 25 percent
Elevation: 5,000 to 5,800 feet
Mean annual air temperature: 45 to 49 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 8 to 12 inches
Frost-free period: 110 to 140 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Green River, Gilston, and Walknolls series.
Green River soils occur on floodplains and have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section.
Gilston soils occur on drainageways and have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section.
Walknolls soils occur on hillslopes and are shallow to sandstone bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, low, medium and high runoff, moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: The major uses are rangeland, wildlife habitat, and recreation. The potential native plant community is Wyoming big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, galleta, needleandthread, and shadscale. These soils have been correlated to Semidesert Gravelly Loam (Wyoming Big Sagebrush) -034XY205UT range sites at the type location in Utah.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Utah. LRR D, MLRA 34. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Uintah County, Uintah Area Soil Survey, Utah. 1998. The name taken from a geographic location in the area.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 40 inches. (Bk and Bkn horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 4 inches. (A horizon)
Cambic horizon: The zone from 4 to 14 inches (Bk horizon)
The cation exchange activity class was inferred from laboratory data from similar soils in the Uintah Area Soil Survey.
The classification was changed from calcareous, Ustic Torriorthents to Sodic Ustic Haplocambids 3/1999.
Taxonomic version: Eighth Edition, 1998.
The surface texture modifier was determined following the guidelines outlined in the Utah document, "Procedures for Distributing Rock Fragments on the Surface Layer into the Upper 6 inches of Soil and Subsequent Naming of Map Units, April 1979."