LOCATION DEGATER COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Ustic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Degater very gravelly silty clay - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) very gravelly silty clay, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; weak thin platy structure parting to weak fine granular; soft, friable, very sticky and very plastic; 50 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bw1--3 to 9 inches; light yellowish brown; (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; moderate very fine angular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; 10 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Bw2--9 to 12 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; 5 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bk1--12 to 22 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; weak medium prismatic structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; 14 percent calcium carbonate equivalent, violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); clear wavy boundary. (8 to 15 inches thick)
Bk2--22 to 30 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) moist; weak medium prismatic structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; 40 percent soft shale fragments; 6 percent calcium carbonate equivalent, violently effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Cr--30 inches; pale olive and gray soft gypsiferous shale bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Moffat County, Colorado; about 1 mile southwest of Elk Springs, Colorado; about 2,600 feet east and 1,500 feet north of the southwest corner of Sec. 36, T. 5 N., R. 99 W. Latitude: 40 degrees, 20 minutes, 17 seconds north; longitude: 108 degrees, 27 minutes, 50 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 to 50 degrees F. Secondary calcium carbonate is at a depth of 10 to 20 inches. The soil is calcareous to the surface. The paralithic contact is at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. The particle-size control section contains 0 to 15 percent rock fragments.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is silty clay or clay. Reaction is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is clay, silty clay, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Reaction is moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline. This horizon contains 0 to 60 percent soft shale fragments that slake upon treatment with sodium hexametaphosphate.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Massadona series. The Massadona soil lacks a paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Degater soils are on hillsides. The soil formed in residuum and colluvium derived from shale. Slopes range from 3 to 30 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,700 to 6,200 feet. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 9 to 11 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from
45 to 48 degrees F. The frost-free period is about 90 to 105 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chipeta, Deaver, competing Massadona soils, and the Pavillion soils. The Chipeta soil is shallow. The Deaver soil lacks a cambic horizon. The Pavillion soil is in a fine-loamy family.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation consists of salina wildrye, western wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, Nuttal saltbush, shadscale and Wyoming big sagebrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur in northwestern Colorado. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Moffat County (Moffat County Area), Colorado, 1991.
REMARKS: The diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are the ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 3 inches; the cambic horizon - the zone from 3 to 12 inches; and the paralithic contact at 30 inches. Last updated by the state 12/90.