LOCATION MOONSHINE UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, frigid Aridic Lithic Ustorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Moonshine flaggy fine sandy loam, on a southwest facing, convex-concave, 18 percent slope in a pinyon-Utah juniper rangeland at an elevation of 7,440 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
The surface is covered by 10 percent flagstones and 10 percent channers.
A--0 to 3 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) flaggy fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, few medium roots; many very fine and fine, few medium irregular pores; 5 percent channers and flagstones; very slightly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
C1--3 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine, few medium roots; common very fine and fine, few medium tubular pores; 5 percent channers; very slightly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary.
C2--15 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine, fine, and medium roots; few very fine, fine, and medium tubular pores; 10 percent channers; very slightly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (combined thickness of the C horizon is 7 to 18 inches thick)
R--19 inches; unweathered sandstone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Uintah County, Utah; about 8 miles east of Dinosaur Quarry on the Yampa Plateau; about 1,700 feet west and 500 feet north of the southeast corner of sec. 30, T.4S., R.25E., SLBM; Split Mountain, Utah USGS quad; lat. 40 degrees 26 minutes 16 seconds N. and long. 109 degrees 8 minutes 27 seconds W., NAD 27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is affected by precipitation that falls evenly through the year with a slight increase in late summer and early fall. Ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 44 to 47 degrees F.
Depth to lithic contact: 10 to 20 inches to sandstone
Surface rock fragments: 15 to 25 percent (predominantly sandstone flagstones and channers)
Particle-size control section: 5 to 18 percent clay; 0 to 15 percent rock fragments (predominantly channers)
A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist
Rock fragments: 5 to 10 percent (flagstones and channers from sandstone)
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 4 to 6 dry or moist
Texture: fine sandy loam or sandy loam
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: There are no current competitors.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: eolian deposits and slope alluvium derived from sandstone
Landform: hillslopes
Slopes: 4 to 25 percent
Elevation: 6,400 to 7,200 feet
Mean annual air temperature: 42 to 45 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 12 to 16 inches
Frost-free period: 90 to 110 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cortyzack, Ironco, Sheecal, and Waterhill series.
Cortyzack soils occur on hillslopes and are very deep.
Ironco and Waterhill soils occur on fan remnants and are very deep.
Sheecal soils occur on hillslopes and are moderately deep to weathered shale.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium runoff, moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are primarily used for rangeland, wildlife habitat, and recreation. The potential native plant community is pinyon pine, Utah juniper, bluebunch wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, birchleaf mountainmahogany, Mormon tea, and Salina wildrye. These soils have been correlated to Upland Shallow Loam (Pinyon-Utah Juniper) - 034XY322UT range sites in Utah.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Utah. LRR D, MLRA 34. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Uintah County, Uintah Area Soil Survey, Utah. 1998. The name is taken from a geographic location in the area.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 19 inches. (C1 and C2 horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from the surface to 3 inches. (A horizon)
Lithic contact: The contact with sandstone bedrock at 19 inches. (R layer)
The surface texture modifier was determined following the guidelines outlined in the Utah document, "Procedures for Distributing Rock Fragments on the Surface Layer into the Upper 6 inches of Soil and Subsequent Naming of Map Units, April 1979."
The cation exchange activity class was inferred from laboratory data from similar soils in the Uintah Area Soil Survey.
The classification was changed from Lithic Ustorthent to Aridic Lithic Ustorthent 8/98.
Taxonomic version: Eighth Edition, 1998.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Percent calcium carbonate determined by calcimeter.