LOCATION MANDERFIELD UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Calcic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Manderfield loam - irrigated cropland (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, and slightly plastic; many fine roots; neutral (pH 7.3); abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bt--5 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak medium to moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky, plastic; many fine roots; many medium pores; few faint clay films; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (8 to 15 inches thick)
Bk--16 to 24 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky, plastic; many fine roots; strongly effervescent; carbonates are in the soil mass and coatings on the gravel; moderately alkaline (pH 8/3); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
2Ck--24 to 60 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loamy sand; brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine roots; strongly effervescent with carbonate coatings on the gravel; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); clear wavy boundary.
TYPE LOCATION: Beaver County, Utah; 1.35 miles north of Beaver City Post Office; southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 9, T.29 S., R.7 W.; lat. 38 degrees 17 minutes 43.47 seconds N. and long. 112 degrees 38 minutes 26.10 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the 2Ck horizon is 18 to 30 inches. The mean annual soil temperature is 47 to 50 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is 65 to 67 degrees F. These soils are dry in the 4 to 12 inch depth less than 50 percent of the time the soil temperature is above 41 degrees F., and are continually dry for 50 to 70 consecutive days during the summer months in more than 6 out of 10 years. The moisture regime is xeric bordering aridic
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR and chroma of 2 or 3. It is neutral or mildly alkaline.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist and chroma of 2 to 4. Value of 5 dry and 3 moist extend to depths of less than 20 inches. The Bt horizon is loam or clay loam containing 20 to 35 percent clay. This horizon has weak medium or moderate fine subangular blocky structure. It has secondary carbonate accumulations of 3 to 10 percent in the soil mass and as thin coatings on the gravel.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6 dry, 4 moist and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is gravelly loam or very gravelly sandy clay loam. Reaction is moderately alkaline.
The 2Ck horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is very gravelly loamy sand or extremely gravelly sandy loam. Reaction is moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline. The 2Ck horizon has 45 to 90 percent gravel and 0 to 10 percent cobbles that are thinly coated with carbonates.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bingham (UT) and Millard (UT) series. Bingham soils have 15 to 35 percent rock fragments throughout the argillic horizon. Millard soils are 7.5YR or redder.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Manderfield soils are on old alluvial fans, fan terraces and outwash plains at elevations of 5,800 to 6,500 feet. Slopes are mostly 1 to 6 percent, but small areas range up to 30 percent. The soils formed in 20 inches of medium textured alluvium over a deep layer of river washed gravel and sand or loamy sand derived from intermediate igneous rocks. The climate is semiarid. Mean annual temperature is 45 to 48 F., average summer temperature is 66 to 68 degrees F., average annual precipitation is 12 to 14 inches. The average frost-free period is 90 to 110 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: This is the Murdock soils. Murdock soils lack Bt horizons and have a petrocalcic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow and medium runoff; moderate to moderately slow over rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used as rangeland for cattle and sheep or for irrigated cropland for alfalfa, small grains, and pasture. The present vegetation is big sagebrush, perennial grasses, juniper pinyon or range seedings of crested wheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alluvial fans and outwash plains immediately adjacent to Beaver and Manderfield in Southern Utah. This series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Beaver County, Utah, 1972.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to 16 inches.
Argillic horizon - the zone of clay accumulation from 5 to 16 inches.
Calcic horizon - the zone of carbonate accumulation from 16 to 24 inches.
In Utah it is correlated with upland range sites.
This soil was reclassified from an Aridic Calcic Argixerolls to Calcic Argixerolls in 9/94 based on annual ppt of 12 to 14 inches and upland range sites.
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Reno MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.