LOCATION LEMRAC UT
Established Series
Rev: RSJ/RLB/VLP
07/2013
LEMRAC SERIES
The Lemrac series consists of moderately deep to paralithic contact, well drained, moderately rapid permeable soils that formed dominantly in residual deposits derived Carmel formation alabaster gypsum. Lemrac soils are on structural benches and dissected sideslopes with slopes of 2 to 60 percent. Average annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches and mean annual air temperature of about 49 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-gypseous, hypergypsic, mesic Leptic Haplogypsids
TYPICAL PEDON: Lemrac loam, rangeland. (Colors are for air-dry soil unless otherwise stated)
A--0 to 0.5 inch; brown (7.5YR 5/4) loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; strong thin platy structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; strongly effervescent, moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
Cyy1--0.5 to 19 inches; white (10YR 8/1) gypsifeous loam (more than 70% raw decayed gypsum), very pale brown (10YR 8/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; strongly effervescent, moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 25 inches thick)
Cyy2--19 to 34 inches; white (10YR 8/1) gypsifeous loam (more than 70% raw decayed gypsum), very pale brown (10YR 8/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; strongly effervescent, moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Cr--34 inches; Carmel formation alabaster gypsum.
TYPE LOCATION: Garfield County, Utah; Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument; about 3 miles northeast of the Hole-In-The-Rock road on the Egypt trailhead road; Sunset Flat Quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 33 minutes 39.13 seconds North and longitude 111 degrees 17 minutes 43.66 seconds West, NAD27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic
Mean annual soil temperature: 47 to 54 degrees F.
Depth to paralithic contact: 20 to 40 inches
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent clay
Gypsum content: 40 to 70 percent
A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 4 to 6, dry or moist
This thin horizon (0 to 2 inches thick) is heavily influenced by eolian moved materials with highly contrasting hues, values and chromas unrelated to the underlying horizons.
Cyy horizons
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 5 to 8 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Effervescence: slightly to strongly effervescent
Reaction: slightly to moderately alkaline
Textures: gypsifeous very fine sandy loam, gypsifeous loam, gypsifeous sandy loam
Bulk density: assumed to be low in the range of 1.00 to 1.20 g/cc.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lemrac soils are on structural benches and dissected sideslopes. Slopes are 2 to 60 percent. These soils are formed in residual deposits of alabaster gypsum, commonly from the Carmel formation. The mean annual air temperature is 45 to 52 degrees F. and the annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches. The freeze free period is 120 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Retsabal (UT),
Rizno (UT), and
Progresso (UT) series. Restabal soils are on similar landscape positions, but are shallow. Progresso soils are on low knolls and small benches, over sandstone. Rizno soils are on hills and knolls ande are shallow to hard sandstone bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, slow to medium runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: The soils are used mainly as rangeland, wildlife habitat and recreation. Potential native vegetation is Torrey Mormon tea and gypsum dropseed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Utah areas of Carmel formation geologic materials. This series is of small extent (0 to 10,000 acres). MLRA 35.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Soil Survey, Garfield County, Utah, 2004.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Hypergypsic mineralogy - this soil contain more than 70% raw decayed gypsum in the Cyy1 and Cyy2 horizons
Fine-gypseous particle-size family - this soil contains less than 35 percent particles with diameters of 0.1 to 2 mm
Paralithic contact - the weakly to moderately cemented relatively unaltered Carmel formation alabaster gypsum at 34 inches (Cr horizon)
The name Lemrac is a coined name from the "Carmel" formation.
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Key to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010
Updated and revisions for the correlation of Capitol Reef National Park, January 2013, WWJ
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.