LOCATION MENBAR WY+CO ID MT
Established Series
Rev. HBR/CBR
10/2026
MENBAR SERIES
The Menbar series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that formed in alluvium, slope alluvium, or glaciofluvial deposits derived from igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, or metasedimentary rock. These soils are on mountain valleys, flood-plain steps, stream terraces, outwash fans, fan remnants, drainageways, moraines, swales, mountain slopes, draws, flood plains Slopes are 0 to 35 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 575 mm, and the mean annual air temperature is about 2.8 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive Aquic Cumulic Haplocryolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Menbar clay loam in rangeland. (Colors are for dry [RC-NIFI1.1]soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 5 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate very fine granular structure; soft, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary.
A2--5 to 23 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate very fine subangular blocky; hard, friable, very sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine roots; common very fine irregular and few very fine to medium tubular pores; slightly effervescent, finely disseminated calcium carbonates; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary.
A3--23 to 50 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, very sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine irregular and few very fine and fine tubular pores; slightly effervescent, finely disseminated calcium carbonates and common[RC-NIFI2.1] fine soft masses of calcium carbonate; few small distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) iron concentrations; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary.
C--50 to 152 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stratified moderately thick lenses of sandy loam, sandy clay loam, and clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) and dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; 3 to 5 cm thick black lenses in lower part; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common small faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) iron concentrations; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Uinta County, Wyoming; USGS Lonetree USGS topographic quadrangle; latitude 41.069728 degrees north, longitude 110.126673 degrees west, datum WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature--1.6_to_6.6 degrees C
Thickness of mollic epipedon--40 to 94 cm
Depth to redoximorphic features--23 to 56 cm, iron concentrations
Saturation during normal years--60 to 100 cm [RC-NIFI3.1]
Organic matter content--2 to 5 percent in the A horizon and decreases irregularly with depth
Particle-size control section (weighted averages)
Clay content--18 to 35 percent
Total rock fragments--0 to 15 percent
A horizons
Value--3 to 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture (less than 2 mm fraction)--loam, silt loam, clay loam
Clay content--12 to 35 percent
Iron concentrations--0 to 10 percent
Rock fragments--0 to 15 percent - 0 to 6 percent gravel, 0 to 5 percent cobbles, 0 to 5 percent stones
Calcium carbonate equivalent--0 t0 1 percent
Reaction--5.8 to 8.4
Thickness--10 to 51 cm
C horizon
Hue--2.5Y or 10YR
Value--5 to 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma--1 to 3
Texture (less than 2 mm fraction)--loamy sand, sandy clay loam, sandy loam, silty clay loam
Clay content--5 to 35 percent
Iron concentrations--15 to 30 percent
Rock fragments--0 to 15 percent - 0 to 6 percent gravel, 0 to 3 percent cobbles, 0 to 3 percent stones
Calcium carbonate equivalent--0 t0 2 percent
Reaction--7.4 to 8.4
Some pedons have a lithologic discontinuity below 100 cm.
COMPETING SERIES:
Idmonton (ID)--soils have 2Bw horizons present in all pedons
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform--mountain valleys, flood-plain steps, stream terraces, outwash fans, fan remnants, drainageways, moraines, swales, mountain slopes, draws, flood plains
Elevation--1,520 to 2,650 meters
Slope--0 to 20[RC-NIFI4.1] percent
Parent material--alluvium, slope alluvium, or glaciofluvial deposits derived from igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, or metasedimentary roc
Climate--long, cold winters; cool, moist springs; short, [cool or warm] summers
Mean annual precipitation--380 to 1,130[RC-NIFI5.1] mm
Mean annual air temperature--0.6 to 5.6 degrees C
Frost-free period--30 to 85 days
Flooding--none to occasional[RC-NIFI6.1]
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained, 0.5 to 150.0 um/sec.
USE AND VEGETATION: Menbar soils are primarily used for grazing and also irrigated hayland and pasture. The potential native vegetation is sedges, grasses such as basin wildrye, tufted hairgrass and cinquefoil, willow, iris, and narrowleaf cottonwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Menbar soils are of moderate extent in Southwestern Wyoming, northeastern Utah, northern Colorado, and southeastern Idaho; MLRAs 34A, 43B, 47.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Henrys Fork soil survey area, Utah and Wyoming, 1990.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Mollic epipedon (Cumulic feature)--0 to 50 cm (A1, A2, and A3 horizons); an irregular decrease in organic carbon is inferred from the stratification.
Distinct redox concentrations--23 to 152 cm (A3 and C horizons)
Particle-size control section--25 to 100 cm (part of A3 and C horizons)
Menbar soils have a cryic temperature regime and an aquic moisture regime.
Taxonomic version: Twelfth Edition, 2014
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.