LOCATION LONETREE COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, frigid Torriorthentic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Lonetree loamy coarse sand - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A11--0 to 5 inches; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) loamy coarse sand, dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
A12--5 to 12 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) loamy coarse sand, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure that parts to fine granules; slightly hard, very friable; peds are hard, very friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
AC--12 to 22 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) loamy coarse sand, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure that parts to coarse subangular blocks; hard, loose; peds are very hard, very friable; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
C--22 to 60 inches; weak red (10R 5/4) coarse sand, weak red (10R 4/4) moist; massive; very hard, loose; neutral. (Several feet thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Colorado; 1,320 feet south and 300 feet east of the NW corner of Sec. 25, T. 9 S., R. 68 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mollic epipedon ranges from 10 to 16 inches thick. Lonetree soils typically are noncalcareous to depths of more than 60 inches. Base saturation typically is more than 80 percent and ranges from 60 to 100 percent. The 10- to 40-inch control section is loamy coarse sand or coarse sand. A high percentage of the sand fraction is angular and has a large proportion of flat bearing surfaces between sand grains. Rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent, are mainly less than 3 inches in diameter but range from 1/8 to 10 inches in diameter. The solum and C horizons range from slightly acid through mildly alkaline. The mean annual soil temperature is 45 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature is 62 degrees F.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 1 through 3.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR through 10R.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kippen and Ouray series. Kippen soils have hue of 7.5YR or yellower and have mollic epipedons more than 16 inches thick. Ouray soils have moderately coarse textured layers 10 to 24 inches thick in the upper part of the control section, have hue of 7.5YR or yellower, and have small amounts of medium, coarse, and very coarse angular sand.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lonetree soils are on gently to moderately steeply sloping alluvial fans, valley side slopes, and small stream bottoms. Slope gradients range from 0 to 30 or more percent. The soil formed in parent materials derived from reddish-brown arkose beds of the Lyons and Fountain formations. At the type location the average annual precipitation is 17 inches, with peak periods of precipitation in the spring and early summer.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cheeseman soils and the competing Kippen soils. Cheeseman soils have sandy clay loam argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well to somewhat excessively drained; slow runoff; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used principally as native pastureland, however, they are tilled in some localities. Native vegetation is mainly big and little bluestem, sandreed grass, blue grama, and needleandthread.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The foothill areas of east-central Colorado. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Douglas County, Colorado, 1974.
REMARKS: Last updated by the state 8/74.