LOCATION LEAL                    CO

Established Series
Rev. AJC/JEB/KLS
09/2022

LEAL SERIES

The Leal series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in glacial till. These soils are on mountain side slopes and glacial moraines. Slopes are 2 to 40 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 850 mm and mean annual air temperature is about 1 degree C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic Spodic Dystrocryepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Leal loam - woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

Oi--0 to 5 cm; undecomposed needles, bark, and twigs.

Oe--5 to 10 cm; partially decomposed organic material; smooth boundary.

E--10 to 20 cm; light gray (10YR 7/2) light loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) moist; moderate thick and medium platy structure that parts to fine granular structure; soft, very friable; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 cm thick)

Bs--20 to 45 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure that parts to fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable; many dark colored silt and sand sized pellets; 20 percent pebbles and stones; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 46 cm thick)

C--45 to 162 cm; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) gravelly sandy loam, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable; 30 percent stones and pebbles; moderately acid (pH 5.8).

TYPE LOCATION: Grand County, Colorado; SE 1/4 SE 1/4 Sec. 4, T. 2 S., R. 76 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness--25 to 60 cm
Depth to bedrock or any strongly contrasting substratum--more than 100 cm
Texture--light loam or sandy loam
Clay content--5 to 18 percent
Sand content--35 to 70 percent
Rock fragment content--10 to 35 percent, mainly pebbles, cobbles or stones

E horizon
Hue--2.5Y or 10YR
Value--7 or 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma--2 or 3
Reaction--pH 4.0 to 5.4

Bs horizon
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value--5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma--3 through 6
Reaction--pH 4.6 to 5.4

C horizon
Hue--5Y through 10YR
Reaction--pH 4.6 to 6.0; pH generally increases with depth

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in this family. Bottles soils are similar but have a sandy control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform--mountain side slopes and glacial moraines
Elevation--3050 to 3350 meters
Slope--2 to 40 percent
Parent Material--glacial till derived from many kinds of rocks
Mean annual precipitation--700 to 1000 mm, with peak periods of precipitation in spring and summer
Mean annual air temperature--0 to 3 degrees C

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; permeability is rapid.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used as native pastureland, for forestry, and recreational purposes. Vegetation is mainly spruce and fir and small amounts of lodgepole pine with ground cover of vaccinium and buffaloberry.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Leal soils are moderately extensive in the mountains of central Colorado. MLRA 48A

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grand County (Soil Survey of the Fraser Experimental Forest), Colorado

REMARKS: Converted to metric, updated formatting, and O horizons were updated to start at zero. Competing series section was not updated. 5/2022

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.