LOCATION ESCALANTE               UT+ID NV

Established Series
Rev. JVC/JBF
05/2012

ESCALANTE SERIES

The Escalante series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from igneous and sedimentary rocks. Escalante soils are on alluvial flats, lake plains, inset fans, fan aprons, fan skirts, and fan remnants. Slopes are 0 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 250 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Xeric Haplocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Escalante sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 13 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common coarse, medium, and fine roots; common medium, fine and very fine pores; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 40 cm thick)

BA--13 to 28 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine and very fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common coarse, many fine and very fine roots; common medium, fine and very fine pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick)

Bk1--28 to 66 cm; pink (7.5YR 7/4) loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common medium, fine and very fine roots; common medium, fine and very fine pores; strongly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated in matrix, few fine carbonate masses; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary.

Bk2--66 to 84 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine roots; many medium, common fine and very fine pores; strongly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bk horizons is 30 to 130 cm)

Bk3--84 to 140 cm; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fine sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and very fine roots; common medium, fine and very fine pores; 10 percent gravel; slightly effervescent, carbonate coats on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 84 cm thick)

2C--140 to 152 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly coarse sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and very fine roots; many medium, few fine and very fine pores; 20 percent gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).

TYPE LOCATION: Iron County, Utah; about 3.5 kilometers (2.2) miles south of Beryl Junction; located about 50 feet south and 1,600 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 9, T. 36 S., R. 16 W.; Beryl Junction USGS quad; latitude 37 degrees 40 minutes 39 seconds N and longitude 113 degrees 39 minutes 21 seconds W; NAD 83

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in winter and spring and for brief periods in late summer due to convection storms; aridic bordering on xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8.5 to 12 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature: 20 to 24 degrees C.
Depth to calcic horizon: 8 to 64 cm.
Depth to the base of the calcic horizon: 64 to more than 152 cm.
Depth to lithologic discontinuity: Gravelly or very gravelly sandy layers are deeper than 100 cm.

Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 8 to 18 percent.
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent, mainly gravel.

A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 6, dry or moist.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline through strongly alkaline.

Bk horizon; and BA horizon (when present):
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 5 to 8 dry, 4 to 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 6, dry or moist.
Texture: Sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or very fine sandy loam; some pedons have thin subhorizons of sandy clay loam, loamy sand or silt loam.
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent gravel.
Structure: Massive or subangular blocky.
Consistence: Soft to hard dry, friable to firm moist, nonsticky to moderately sticky, nonplastic or slightly plastic.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent in some part of the calcic horizon. Deeper subhorizons range from 3 to 30 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or very strongly alkaline; slightly alkaline in the BA horizon in some pedons.
Salinity: Non-saline or very slightly saline.
Other features: Lower Bk horizons have too little carbonate to be part of the calcic horizon in some pedons.

C horizon (when present):
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y.
Value: 5 to 8 dry, 3 to 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 6, dry or moist.
Texture: Loam, Sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, are most typical; some pedons have subhorizons of very fine sandy loam, silt loam, or sandy clay loam.
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent gravel.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 3 to 30 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline through very strongly alkaline.

2C horizon (when present):
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist.
Texture: coarse sand, sand, or fine sand.
Rock fragments: 5 to 60 percent gravel.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adkins, Atlanta, Bertelson, Briabbit, Crestline, Declo, Eoyote, Kecko, Sagehill, Somsen, and Strevell series.

Adkins soils have 5 to 15 percent calcium carbonate in the calcic horizon
Atlanta soils have very gravelly or extremely gravelly horizons within the particle-size control section.
Briabbit soils are moderately deep to paralithic contacts.
Bertelson soils are influenced by volcanic tuff and have estimated bulk density less than 1.2.
Crestline soils have cambic horizons and the particle-size control section averages gravelly sandy loam.
Declo soils are dominantly loam, silt loam, and very fine sandy loam in the particle-size control section and do not receive intermittent summer precipitation that affects the moisture control section.
Eoyote soils do not receive intermittent summer precipitation that affects the moisture control section.
Kecko soils have cambic horizons and are not effervescent above 52 cm.
Sagehill soils have cambic horizons, are stratified in the lower part of the Bk horizon, and contain 2 to 8 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
Somsen soils are moderately deep to lithic contacts.
Strevell soils are moderately deep to a lithologic discontinuity with loamy-skeletal horizons.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Alluvium derived from igneous and sedimentary rocks
Landform: Alluvial flats, lake plains, inset fans, fan aprons, fan skirts, and fan remnants
Slopes: 0 to 15 percent
Elevation: 700 to 2,140 meters
Mean annual temperature: 7 to 11 degrees C.
Mean annual precipitation: 200 to 360 mm
Climate: The climate is semiarid-continental with cool, moist winters and warm, dry summers with brief periods of summer convection storms in late summer.
Frost-free period: 100 to 150 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Antelope Springs, Beryl, Heist, Taylorsflat, and Uvada soils. Antelope Springs and Uvada soils have natric horizons. Antelope Springs soils have more than 18 percent clay and Uvada soils have more than 35 percent clay in their natric horizons and occur at slightly lower positions on the landscape. Beryl soils do not have calcic horizons and have some silica cementation. Heist soils do not have calcic horizons and are gravelly in the particle-size control section. Taylorsflat soils are fine-loamy in the particle-size control section. Beryl, Heist, and Taylorsflat soils are intermixed with the Escalante soils on the landscape.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; very low to medium surface runoff; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Escalante soils are used mainly for livestock grazing, but small areas are cultivated. Present vegetation is Douglas rabbitbrush, Wyoming big sagebrush, broom snakeweed, Indian ricegrass, sand dropseed, and bottlebrush squirreltail. These soils are correlated to Semidesert ecological sites in Utah.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Utah and Southern Idaho. This series is extensive. MLRAs 11, 25, 28A.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Iron County (Beryl-Enterprise Survey Area), Utah, 1942.

REMARKS:
Areas mapped in the MLRA 11 and 25 areas may not the have brief periods of moisture during the late summer due to convection storms which is characteristic of the series.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 18 cm. (A horizon and part of the BA horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 28 to 84 cm. (Bk1 and Bk2 horizons)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 25 to 100 cm. (Bk1, Bk2, and parts of the BA and Bk3 horizons)

ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL pedons sampled as Escalante include 77UT021003, 68UT027060, 90UT027003, and S07UT027001.

Previous authors and editors include RLT/RSJ/MJD.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.