LOCATION MUSINIA UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Torrifluventic Haploxerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Musinia silty clay loam, rangeland. (Colors are for air-dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak very coarse granular structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine pores; slightly effervescent; carbonates are disseminated; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual smooth boundary. (7 to 17 inches thick)
C--7 to 60 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few fine pores; strongly effervescent; thin seams and weak visible flecks of carbonate at a depth of 15 to 20 inches; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Iron County, Utah; center of sec. 9, T. 36 S., R. 16 W. Latitude 37 degrees, 40 minutes, 13 seconds N.; Longitude 113 degrees, 39 minutes, 03 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Dry in the moisture control section 50 to 55 percent of the time the soil temperature is above 41 degrees F. and are dry for more than 90 consecutive days. Aridic bordering xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 47 to 54 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature: 67 to 73 degrees F.
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 7 to 20 inches.
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3.
Texture: Silt loam, loam, clay loam or silty clay loam.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline.
Bw (when present) and C horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR.
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 4.
Texture: Dominantly silt loam or silty clay loam with less than 15 percent coarser than very fine sand in the particle-size control section, but ranges to sandy loam or to gravelly material below a depth of 40 inches.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Musinia soils are on alluvial flats, alluvial fans and flood plains at elevations of 4,600 to 6,000 feet. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. The soils formed in alluvium from igneous and sedimentary rocks. The climate is semiarid. The average annual precipitation ranges from 8 to 14 inches. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 52 degrees F. mean summer temperature is 65 to 70 degrees F. The freeze-free period is 100 to 145 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Monroe, and Rustico soils. These soils have mollic epipedons that are greater than 20 inches thick. They occur in concave landscape positions downslope of the Musinia soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow to medium runoff; moderately slow or slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for irrigated cropland and range for cattle and sheep. The potential vegetation is big sagebrush, Indian ricegrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, bluebunch wheatgrass and needleandthread. Irrigated crops include alfalfa and small grains.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Semiarid areas in southwestern and central Utah. MLRA 28A. This series is inextensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Richfield Area, Utah, 1947.
REMARKS: The diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: The dark colored zone from the soil surface to a depth of 7 inches. (A horizon)
Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 40 inches (part of the C horizon).
Torrifluventic feature: Organic carbon content is 0.3 or more in all horizons within 125 cm of the mineral surface. In places with mollic epipedons less than 10 inches thick it is assumed there is a regular decrease in organic carbon with depth.
The classification is based on the "Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006".