LOCATION FARISITA CO+WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic, shallow Ustic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Farisita very gravelly sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 4 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky; common fine roots; 10 percent cobbles and 30 percent pebbles; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
AC--4 to 12 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) coarse sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky; few fine roots; 10 percent pebbles; neutral; clear irregular boundary. (2 to 12 inches thick)
Cr--12 to 24 inches; soft weathered and fractured sandstone with some soil material between fractures. (8 to 24 inches thick)
R--24 inches; hard sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Huerfano County, Colorado; 3 miles north and 8 miles west of Walsenburg, Colorado; 950 feet west, 90 feet north of the SE corner of Sec. 30, T. 27 S., R. 67 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to soft weathered bedrock is less than 20 inches, and depth to a lithic contact is 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments in the particle-size control section range from 10 to 35 percent by volume and are mainly pebbles and cobbles. The soil is dominantly noncalcareous but some pedons have small discontinuous pockets of calcareous material. Mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 to 56 degrees F. The soil ranges from slightly acid through mildly alkaline.
The A and C horizons have a hue of 2.5Y through 7.5YR, value of 4 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist, and chroma of 2 through 6. The fine earth fraction is usually sandy loam, but clay ranges from 10 to 25 percent, silt from 0 to 50 percent, and sand from 40 to 80 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Carracas series. Carracas soils have a ustic moisture regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Farisita soils are on ridges and side slopes of hills. Slopes range from 2 to about 60 percent. The soils formed in material weathered from interbedded, noncalcareous sandstone and conglomerate. Average annual precipitation ranges from 14 to 16 inches and average annual temperature is 46 degrees to 54 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Olney and Fort Collins soils, both of which have a B2t horizon and lack bedrock above a depth of 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; rapid runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used as rangeland. Principal plants are pinyon, juniper, mountainmahogany, oakbrush, blue grama, and Indian ricegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Foothills of southern Colorado and similar areas in neighboring states. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Huerfano County, Colorado, 1980.
REMARKS: Last updated by the State 2/80.
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 Lakewood MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.