LOCATION PHERSON UT

Established Series
Rev. GWL/VT/SAC
03/2017

PHERSON SERIES

The Pherson series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from sandstone and shale. Pherson soils are on alluvial fans, flood-plain steps and in drainage ways. Slopes range from 2 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 10 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 47 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Ustic Torrifluvents

TYPICAL PEDON: Pherson gravelly loam, on a north facing, concave shape, 5 percent slope in black greasewood rangeland at an elevation of 5,120 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface is covered by 70 percent cobbles and gravel.

A--0 to 4 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; common very fine and fine vesicular pores; 20 percent gravel; very slightly effervescent, (3 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)

BCk--4 to 16 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; single grain; loose, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, few medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; 10 percent channers and 40 percent gravel; slightly effervescent, (5 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated and segregated in coatings on the underside of rock fragments less than 1 mm thick; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

C1--16 to 36 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, few medium roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; 5 percent cobbles, 10 percent channers and 40 percent gravel; slightly effervescent, (7 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); diffuse wavy boundary.

C2--36 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; 5 percent cobbles, 10 percent channers and 40 percent gravel; slightly effervescent, (7 percent calcium carbonate equivalent), carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).

TYPE LOCATION: Uintah County, Utah; about 8 miles south and 10 miles west of Bonanza; located about 1,000 feet south and 2,600 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 32, T. 10 S., R. 23 E., SLBM; Asphalt Wash, Utah USGS quad; lat. 39 degrees 54 minutes 35 seconds N. and long. 109 degrees 20 minutes 58 seconds W., NAD 27

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture regime: The moisture control section is affected by precipitation that falls evenly through the year with a slight increase in late summer and early fall. Aridic moisture regime, bordering on ustic.

Mean annual soil temperature: 48 to 51 degrees F.
Surface rock fragments: 25 to 70 percent (predominantly gravel from sandstone and shale)
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 3 to 8 percent

Particle-size control section:
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent (predominantly gravel from sandstone and shale)

A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 4
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent (predominantly gravel)
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline
Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR): 3 to 15 percent

BCk or C horizons:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Texture: stratified layers of very gravelly loam through very gravelly loamy sand and very gravelly sandy loam. Dominantly loamy-skeletal textures.
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent
Gypsum: 0 to 2 percent
Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR): 5 to 15 percent

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: alluvium derived from sandstone and shale.
Landform: alluvial fans, drainage ways, and flood-plain steps
Slopes: 2 to 15 percent
Elevation: 4,800 to 7,000 feet
Mean annual air temperature: 45 to 52 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 8 to 12 inches.
Frost-free period: 110 to 160 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Walknolls, Yarts, Mikim, Lanver, and Turzo series. Gompers and Walknolls soils are shallow to bedrock and on hillslopes.
Lanver soils are moderately deep to bedrock and on tablelands.
Yarts, Mikim, Hickerson, and Turzo soils contain less than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section and on alluvial flats.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, very slow and low runoff, moderately rapid permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for rangeland and wildlife habitat. Potential native vegetation is mainly black greasewood, shadscale, bottlebrush squirreltail, alkali sacaton, galleta and Indian ricegrass. These soils are correlated to Alkali Flat (Black Greasewood) - 034XY006UT range sites in Utah.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Utah. LRR D, MLRA 34B. This series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Uintah County, Uintah Area Soil Survey, Utah. 1998. The name is coined.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 40 inches. (BCk, C1, and C2 horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 4 inches. (A horizon)

Secondary carbonates: The presence of secondary carbonates in the zone from 4 to 16 inches. Rock fragment coats and pendants. Not recognized as a calcic horizon because no decrease in carbonates was observed in lower horizons. (BCk horizon)

The cation exchange activity class was inferred from laboratory data from similar soils in the Uintah Area Soil Survey.

Taxonomic version: Twelfth Edition, 2014.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.