LOCATION LAIRD CO+ID NEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Calciustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Laird fine sandy loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 18 centimeters (0 to 7 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium angular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granular; soft, very friable; common very fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
A2--18 to 46 centimeters (7 to 18 inches); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium angular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granular; soft, very friable; common very fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of A horizon is 18 to 56 centimeters (7 to 22 inches) thick)
Bw--46 to 69 centimeters (18 to 27 inches); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; common very fine roots; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 41 centimeters (0 to 16 inches) thick)
2Bk--69 to 117 centimeters (27 to 46 inches); light gray (2.5Y 7/2) very fine sandy loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly plastic; few very fine roots; few fossilized shells, medium soft masses of calcium carbonate in matrix estimated to consist of 30 percent calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (25 to 102 centimeters (10 to 40 inches) thick)
2C--117 to 152 centimeters (46 to 60 inches); light gray (5Y 7/2) loamy fine sand, olive gray (5Y 5/2) moist; common medium distinct pale yellow (5Y 7/4) iron masses along root channels and in the matrix, olive (5Y 5/4) moist; single grain; loose; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Yuma County, Colorado; about 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of Wray; 46 meters (150 feet) north and 762 meters (2,500 feet) east of the SW corner of Sec. 14, T. 4 N., R. 44 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mollic epipedon thickness: 18 to 51 centimeters (7 to 20 inches)
Solum thickness: 30 to 152 centimeters (12 to 60 inches)
Rock fragments: generally less than 5 percent but range up to 15 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent calcic horizon: typically about 30 percent but ranges from 15 to 40 percent
In some uncultivated pedons: lime leached to about 15 centimeters (6 inches)
Exchangeable sodium: increases with increasing depth, more than 15 percent to the Bk horizon in some pedons
Distinct mottles in the lower control section: relict in nature
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: fine sandy loam or loamy fine sand
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline
Bw horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or loam
Reaction: moderately to very strongly alkaline
2Bk horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 5 to 8, 4 to 7 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam
Reaction: moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline
2C or C horizon:
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 6 to 8, 4 to 7 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or loam
Textures below 102 centimeters (40 inches): Loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or fine sand
This horizon is noncalcareous in some pedons and buried horizons are common in some pedons.
Reaction: 7.4 to 9.0
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Graystone,
Greenhope,
Guy,
humbarsprings and
Sidney series.
Graystone soils are on hillslopes, terraces and fans.
Greenhope soils contain 15 to 35 percent rock fragments.
Guy and humbarsprings soils generally have more than 15 percent rock fragments in their particle-size control section.
Sidney soils have a paralithic contact at depths of 102 to 152 centimeters (40 to 60 inches).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landforms: swales of sandhill valleys
Slopes: 0 to 3 percent
Elevations: 1006 to 1219 meters (3,300 to 4,000 feet)
Parent material: wind reworked sand overlying marly material which contain fossilized shells and in calcareous loamy lacustrine sediments
Gravelly deposits of the Grand Island formation may underlie the marly material which is in the soil profile.
Mean annual temperature: 11 degrees C. (51 degrees F.)
Mean summer temperature: 22 degrees C. (71 degrees F.)
Average annual precipitation: 43 centimeters (17 inches) 33 centimeters (13 inches) falls during April through September
Frost-free season: 145 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Bayard,
Haxtun,
Jayem,
Manter, and
Valent soils.
Bayard, Jayem, and Valent soils lack a calcic horizon.
Haxtun and Manter soils have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage: well drained
Runoff: low
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: high
USE AND VEGETATION: The soils are used for irrigated cropland and rangeland.
Principal native plants are little bluestem, western wheatgrass, blue grama, and inland saltgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Colorado and adjoining counties in Nebraska. The series is not extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Yuma County, Colorado, 1976.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this pedon:
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 46 centimeters (0 to 18 inches)
Cambic horizon: 46 to 69 centimeters (18 to 27 inches)
Calcic horizon: 69 to 117 centimeters (27 to 46 inches)
Additional data include NSSL sampling on pedons S88NE057-21, S88NE057-22, and S88NE-057-23. Some soils in this setting may have had a water table with a capillary fringe reaching the surface as evidenced by carbonates at the surface and the presence of saltgrass and some rushes. It appears that the apparent water tables have receded because of change in climate, drainage, or extensive use of ground water for irrigation.
Last updated by the state 10/91.
Modified format by LRM in 1/2006 to include metric conversion and change permeability to saturated hydraulic conductivity.