LOCATION LOUVIERS CO+MT WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic, shallow Ustic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Louviers clay - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 4 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; strong very fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, very sticky and very plastic; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
C--4 to 14 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; massive; extremely hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (7 to 14 inches thick)
Cr--14 to 20 inches; noncalcareous clay shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Douglas County, Colorado; 400 feet west of the NE corner of the NW1/4 of Sec. 30, T. 7 S., R. 67 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Base saturation ranges from 60 to 100 percent but typically is more than 90 percent. Depth to the paralithic contact ranges from 10 to 20 inches. The control section is usually heavy clay loam or clay, and averages 35 to 60 percent clay. Rock fragments range from 0 to 35 percent by volume, but are generally less than 5 percent. They range from 1/4 to 1 inch in length.
The A horizon has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR, value of 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist, and chroma of 1 through 4. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to mildly alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to mildly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other soils in this family. The Midway and Samsil soils in the same subgroup are calcareous and have montmorillonitic mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Louviers soils are on hills and ridges where shale bedrock occurs close to the surface. Slope gradients range from 0 to 65 percent. The soils formed in thin parent materials weathered from noncalcareous shale. At the type location the average annual precipitation is 17 inches, with peak periods of precipitation occurring in the spring and early summer. The mean annual temperature is 46 to 48 degrees F. The frost-free season is about 125 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bresser and Kutch soils. Bresser soils formed in material weathered from arkose, are deeper and have a medium textured subsoil. Kutch soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches and have a mollic epipedon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used principally as rangeland. Native vegetation is mainly blue grama, junegrass, and dryland sedge.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern and central Colorado and Wyoming. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: El Paso County, Colorado, 1975.