LOCATION LARIMER CO+NM WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Ustic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Larimer fine sandy loam - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 4 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; strong very fine granular structure; soft, very friable; 5 percent gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
B--4 to 7 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) light loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granules; slightly hard, very friable; 5 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bt--7 to 18 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) heavy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine and medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and fine subangular blocks; peds are hard, very friable; thin nearly continuous clay films on peds; 5 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
Bk--18 to 22 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocks; hard, very friable; few thin patchy clay films on horizontal and vertical faces of peds; 5 percent gravel; some visible calcium carbonate occurring as concretions and as coatings on pebbles; calcareous; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 6 inches thick)
Ck1--22 to 30 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) gravelly sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; 20 percent gravel; visible secondary calcium carbonate occurring as concretions, in thin seams and streaks, as coatings on pebbles and in finely divided forms; moderately alkaline; diffuse wavy boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
2Ck2--30 to 60 inches; relatively clean gravel, cobbles, and sand, chiefly of quartzite, gneiss, and granite; approximately 80 percent gravel and cobbles; a small amount of calcium carbonate as coatings on the pebbles and sand in the upper part; moderately alkaline. (Several feet thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Larimer County, Colorado; approximately .2 mile west and 600
feet south of the northeast corner of Sec. 16, T. 9 N., R. 68 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to solum: 15 to 30 inches
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: Typically noncalcareous 8 to 24 inches but they may be calcareous at the surface where the soil has been recharged.
Depth to sand and gravel: 20 to 40 inches
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 8 to 17 percent
Sand content: 15 to 25
Rock fragments: 0 to 25percent in the solum, 50 to 90 percent in the substratum
Size: gravel
A horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: fine sandy loam or loam
Clay content: 10 to 27 percent
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline
B horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y to 7.5YR
Value: of 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: heavy loam or light clay loam
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent clay
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline
Ck horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y or 10YR
Reaction: moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 8 to 20 percent.
COMPETING SERIES:
The current competitors are
Devargas,
Tenorio, and
Vernal series.
Similar series still classified as Ustollic Haplargids are
Naturita,
Wanetta and
Yoder series.
Naturita soils have a calcic horizon and have contrasting 2C horizons at depths of less than 20 inches.
Vernal soils have hue redder than 7.5YR.
Wanetta soils have an increase in value from coated to rubbed soil in the A and B horizons and have more than one percent organic carbon in the upper 15 inches.
Yoder soils are not calcareous above depth of 40 inches.
Naturita soils are calcareous at depths of less than 40 inches, and have a calcic horizon.
Devargas soils have a lithologic discontinuity of sandy skeletal material at 26 to 40 inches.
Tenorio soils have calcareous 2C horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material: old mixed alluvial deposits
Landform: high terraces or old alluvial fans
Slope: nearly level to gently sloping
Mean annual temperature: 47 degrees F.; summer temperature, 67 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 15 inches
Precipitation pattern: approximately 9 inches falls during the months of April through August
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the
Fort Collins,
Stoneham, and
Nunn soils.
Fort Collins and Stoneham soils do not have contrasting horizons above depth of 40 inches.
Nunn soils have a mollic epipedon and have more than 35 percent clay in the argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage: well drained
Runoff: medium to low
Permeability: moderate above the gravel and very rapid within the gravel.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used as irrigated cropland or for native pastureland. Principal native vegetation is blue grama, western wheat, needle and thread grass, and some cactus.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Colorado and Wyoming. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fort Collins Area, Colorado, 1927.
REMARKS: Last updated by the state 3/74.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile are:
Argillic horizon: 7 to 18 inches (Bt horizon)
Calcic horizon: 18 to 60 inches (Bk and Ck horizons)
Updated the classification, competing series and placed in semitab format. LRM 03/01