LOCATION MULLIGAN                UT

Established Series
Rev. CSW/JWB
03/2011

MULLIGAN SERIES

The Mulligan series consists of shallow and very shallow, well drained soils that formed in slope alluvium and/or colluvium weathered from calcareous sandstone. Mulligan soils are on structural benches. Slopes range from 2 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 19 cm and the mean annual temperature is about 10.5 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, calcareous, mesic Lithic Torriorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Mulligan channery fine sandy loam, on a west facing, linear, 10 percent slope in rangeland at an elevation of 1,669 meters. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface is covered by 1 percent cobbles, 15 percent channers and 5 percent gravel.

A--0 to 4 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) channery fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3), moist; weak thin platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; 1 percent cobbles, 15 percent channers, 5 percent gravel; slightly effervescent (4 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are finely disseminated throughout; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 9 cm thick)

C--4 to 13 cm; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) fine sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4), moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 10 percent channers; strongly effervescent (7 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are finely disseminated throughout; few faint carbonate coats on bottom surfaces of rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1); abrupt smooth boundary. (9 to 23 cm thick)

R--13 to 23 cm; calcareous sandstone bedrock, few faint carbonate coats on bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Emery County, Utah; about 4 kilometers (2.3 miles) south of the Salt Wash exit of I-70; located about 80 feet west and 1,250 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 23, T. 23 S., R. 7 E.; Big Bend Draw, Utah USGS quad; lat. 38 degrees 47 minutes 58.8 seconds N. and long. 111 degrees 6 minutes 15.4 seconds W., NAD 83

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is usually dry, but intermittently moist during late summer and early fall. Aridic moisture regime.

Mean annual soil temperature: 10 to 11 degrees C
Depth to lithic contact: 10 to 51 cm to bedrock, lithic

Particle-size control section (weighted averages):
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Sand content: greater than 15 percent coarser than very fine sand
Rock fragment content: 5 to 35 percent

A horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6 dry or moist
Texture: channery fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, gravelly fine sandy loam
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Carbonate clay content: 0 to 2 percent
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent total; 0 to 10 percent flagstones, 0 to 10 percent cobbles, 0 to 35 percent channers or gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent
EC (mmhos/cm): 0 to 4
Gypsum: 0 to 2 percent
SAR: 0 to 4
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 8.8

C horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry; 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6 dry or moist
Texture: fine sandy loam, channery fine sandy loam, gravelly fine sandy loam
Clay content: 5 to 20 percent
Carbonate clay content: 0 to 2 percent
Rock fragments: 2 to 35 percent total; 0 to 10 percent flagstones, 2 to 30 percent channers or gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 10 percent
EC (mmhos/cm): 0 to 4
Gypsum: 0 to 2 percent
SAR: 0 to 4
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 8.8

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Closely similar soils are the Braf (UT), Casmos (UT), Farb (NM), Moenkopie (AZ) and Juanalo (CO) series. These soils have a superactive CE activity class. In addition, Braf and Casmos soils have hue yellower than 5YR in the subsoil; Farb, Juanalo, and Moenkopie soils have mean annual soil temperature higher than 11 degrees C. (52 degrees F.)

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: slope alluvium and/or colluvium derived from calcareous sandstone, principally from the Jurassic age Entrada, Carmel, and Summerville Formations.
Landform: structural benches
Slopes: 2 to 35 percent
Elevation: 1,341 to 1,920 meters
Mean annual temperature: 8.9 to 10.0 degrees C
Mean annual precipitation: 152 to 229 mm
Precipitation pattern: Wettest months are July to October and driest months are December and June.
Frost-free period: 130 to 160 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Poncho, Mussentuchit, and Tusher series. The Poncho soils are shallow to a paralithic contact and are on shale hills. The Mussentuchit soils have a gypsic horizon and are on shale hills under Indian ricegrass, galleta, and Mormon tea. The Tusher soils are very deep and have a calcic horizon and are on bench footslopes.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderately rapid permeability; high saturated hydraulic conductivity.

USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation consists of Indian ricegrass, shadscale, rabbitbrush, Mormon tea, and galleta. Utah correlates this soil to Desert Shallow Sandy Loam (Shadscale) RO34XY130UT ecological site.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Utah, Warm Central Desertic Basins and Plateaus; LRR D, MLRA 34B; small extent; about 3,200 hectares (8,000 acres) in Sevier and Emery counties, Utah.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Emery County, Utah, Emery Area, Utah, 2011, Parts of Emery, Carbon, Grand, and Sevier soil survey area. Named for nearby Mulligan Wash. Prior to 2010 Mulligan soils were included in the Moenkopie series.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Series control section: The zone from 0 to 13 cm.
Particle-size control section: The zone from 0 to 13 cm. (A and C horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 4 cm. (A horizon)
Lithic contact: The contact with calcareous sandstone at 13 cm. (R horizon)

The assignment of the cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.

Taxonomic Version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.