LOCATION PINELLI            WY+MT
Established Series
Rev. PSD/MCS/SSP
05/1999

PINELLI SERIES


The Pinelli series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in thick, calcareous, alluvium and slope alluvium derived principally from sedimentary bedrock. These soils are on alluvial fans and valley sideslopes with slopes ranging from 0 to 30 percent. The mean annual temperature is about 42 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 14 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Ustic Haplargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Pinelli loam - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 3 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; strong fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)

Bt1--3 to 6 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate granular; hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few faint clay skins on faces of peds and discontinuous clay skins in root channels; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)

Bt2--6 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium prismatic structure parting to strong fine angular and subangular blocky; very hard, very friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; faint continuous clay skins on faces of peds, in root channels, and as rims about the entrance to some soil pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 35 inches thick)

Btk--16 to 21 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium angular blocky structure parting to moderate fine angular blocky; extremely hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; faint patchy clay skins on faces of peds and in root channels; strongly effervescent, visible secondary calcium carbonate occurring as concretions and in thin seams and streaks; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); diffuse wavy boundary. (3 to 18 inches thick)

Bk--21 to 60 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; massive; very hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; strongly effervescent, visible secondary calcium carbonate occurring as concretions and in thin seams and streaks; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).

TYPE LOCATION: Carbon County, Wyoming; SE1/4, NW1/4 of sec. 3, T. 18 N., R. 89 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature: 42 to 46 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature: 61 to 65 degrees F.
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 6 to 30 inches
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent mostly gravel 1/2 inch to 3 inches in diameter

A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 5Y
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Chroma: 1 through 4 dry or moist
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 5Y
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 1 through 6 dry or moist
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, sandy clay, or clay and has 35 to 50 percent clay, 5 to 45 percent silt, and 15 to 60 percent sand with more than 15 percent as fine or coarser sand
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

Bk horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 5Y
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 1 through 6 dry or moist
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam and has 18 to 40 percent clay and 15 to 35 percent fine sand or coarser
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 4 to 14 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Boettcher and Kather series.

Boettcher and Kather: have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: alluvium and slope alluvium derived principally from sedimentary bedrock
Landform: alluvial fans, alluvial flats, playas, benches, and valley sideslopes
Slopes: 0 to 30 percent
Elevation: 5,500 to 7,800 feet
Mean annual temperature: 40 to 45 degrees F.
Mean summer temperature: about 62 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 10 to 17 inches
Frost-free period: 75 to 110 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Boettcher soils and the Forelle soils. Forelle soils are fine-loamy.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderately slow or slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used as native pasture land. Native vegetation is big sagebrush, western wheatgrass, and Sandberg bluegrass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and southern Wyoming and northwestern Colorado. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Blanco County, Colorado; 1979.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon--0 to 3 inches (A)

Argillic horizon--3 to 21 inches (Bt1,Bt2,Btk)

Secondary calcium carbonate--16 to 60 inches (Btk, Bk)

Classification was changed from Borollic Haplargids to frigid Ustic Haplargids 2/1999.

Taxonomic version: Eighth Edition, 1998.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.