LOCATION CHIPENHILL WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic, shallow Typic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Chipenhill clay loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 1 inch; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, sticky and plastic; many fine and medium roots; violently effervescent, carbonates disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
AC--1 to 5 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; massive; soft, very friable, sticky and plastic; many fine and medium roots; violently effervescent, carbonates disseminated; many fine clusters of gypsum crystals formed by wetting and drying of parent material; 15 percent soft shale chips which break down on pretreatment; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
C--5 to 11 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) moist; weak medium platy rock structure; soft, very friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; strongly effervescent, carbonates disseminated; many fine soft clusters of gypsum formed by wetting and drying of parent material; 25 percent soft shale chips which break down on pretreatment; mildly alkaline (pH 7.6). (6 to 18 inches thick)
Cr--11 to 60 inches; soft, platy, gypsiferous shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Natrona County, Wyoming; about 8 miles north of the town of Powder River; 200 feet south and 2,520 feet east of the NW corner of sec. 20, T. 37 N., R. 84 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the paralithic contact ranges from 8 to 20 inches. The particle-size control section is clay loam, clay, or silty clay with 35 to 50 percent clay and less than 35 percent fine sand or coarser. The soil is mildly alkaline to strongly alkaline. Hue is 10YR or 2.5Y. The mean annual soil temperature is 48 to 52 degrees F.
The A horizon has value of 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist and chroma of 2 through 4. Rock fragments range from 0 to 35 percent and are mainly rounded pebbles with a few cobbles. EC is 2 to 4 mmhos.
The C horizon has value of 5 through 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist and chroma of 1 through 6. It has 5 to 35 percent soft shale chips which break down on pretreatment. Gypsum ranges from 10 to 30 percent. EC is 4 to 16 mmhos.
The Cr is soft, platy, gypsiferous shale. It is frequently more than 20 feet thick.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Chipeta series. Chipeta soils have 0.5 to 10 percent gypsum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chipenhill soils are on ridges, terrace breaks, and hillsides. They formed in slopewash alluvium and residuum derived dominantly from gypsiferous shale. Slopes range from 5 to 40 percent. Elevation is 5,000 to 6,000 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches, and the mean annual temperature is 45 to 51 degrees F. The frost-free season is 110 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cavegulch and Chipendale soils. Cavegulch and Chipendale soils are deep and have a gypsic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation is mainly western wheatgrass, winterfat, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Gardner saltbush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Wyoming. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Natrona County, Wyoming; 1985.
REMARKS:
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.