LOCATION PEELER CO+MTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive Ustic Glossocryalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Peeler gravelly sandy loam - forest. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; undecomposed organic material consisting mainly of needles, bark, and twigs.
Oe--2 to 3 inches; partially decomposed organic material like that of the horizon above.
E--3 to 11 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly coarse sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; weak thin platy structure parting to weak fine granular; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 15 percent pebbles, mostly fine angular granite fragments; slightly acid (pH 6.2); gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 16 inches thick)
E/B--11 to 19 inches; (E part) light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly coarse sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; (B part) brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure parting to weak medium granular; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; clay films on some faces of peds and in some root channels and pores; the horizon consists of seams and nodules of material like that of the underlying horizon embedded in a lighter colored matrix like that of the overlying horizon; 15 percent fine angular granite pebbles, slightly acid (pH 6.4); gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Bt--19 to 35 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; nearly continuous clay films on faces of peds and fillings in root channels and pores; 25 percent fine angular pebbles; slightly acid (pH 6.4); gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 28 inches thick)
BCt--35 to 43 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; peds are extremely hard, very friable; few faint clay films on some faces of peds and in some root channels and pores; 25 percent fine angular granite pebbles; slightly acid (pH 6.4); gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
C--43 to 63 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) gravelly coarse sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; extremely hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 25 percent angular granite pebbles; neutral (pH 6.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Gunnison County, Colorado; on east side of Park Cone, directly south of Taylor River Reservoir in Sec. 29, T. 14 S., R. 82 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depths are measured from the top of the mineral soil surface.
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is affected by precipitation that is distributed evenly throughout the year, with the exception of a significant peak during July and August. June and October are usually the driest months. These soils are thought to be dry in some part of the moisture control section for 45 or more days (cumulative) in normal years. The soil moisture regime is ustic bording on udic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 36 to 42 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature: 40 to 44 degrees F
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 17 to 60 inches
Rock fragments average 10 to 35 percent in the 10 to 40 inch section and are mainly 1/8 inch to 10 inches in diameter, and mostly less than 1 inch. Rock fragments are mostly granite or gneiss with some schist.
A horizon (if present):
Hue: 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 2 through 5 moist
Chroma: 1 through 4
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral.
E horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 3 through 7 moist
Chroma: 1 through 6
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral.
Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 1 through 6
Texture: typically sandy clay loam, with gravelly or cobbly modifiers, but averages 18 to 35 percent clay, 5 to 28 percent silt, and 40 to 75 percent sand with more than 35 percent fine or coarser sand
Base saturation: 60 to 100 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral.
BCt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 through 6
Texture: sandy clay loam, coarse sandy loam, or sandy loam
Base saturation: 60 to 100 percent
Reaction is slightly acid or moderately acid.
C horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Texture: coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam with gravelly modifiers in some pedons
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: These are
Franconi and
Releep.
Franconi is moderately deep to paralithic and lithic contact
Releep is moderately deep to grus and deep to hard granite
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Parent material: slope alluvium and colluvium derived from granite and granitic gneiss
Landform: mountain slopes
Slopes: 2 to 60 percent
Elevation: 7,200 to 10,000 feet
Mean annual temperature: 34 to 42 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 18 to 35 inches
Frost-free period is 20 to 75 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Schofield and Tax soils. Schofield soils have a lithic contact above a depth of 40 inches. Tax soils have discontinuous argillic horizons in which silicate clay is accumulating in lamellae.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly as native pasture land, or for recreation or forestry purposes. Principal native vegetation is lodgepole pine, spruce, and fir with a moderate understory of brush and grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: High mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The series is of moderate extent. LRR E, MLRA 48A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Colorado, 1973.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 19 to 43 inches. (Bt and BCt horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 3 to 11 inches. (E horizon)
Albic horizon: The zone from 3 to 11 inches. (E horizon)
Glossic horizon: The zone from 11 to 19 inches. (E/B horizon)
Argillic horizon: The zone from 11 to 43 inches. (E/B, Bt, and BCt horizons)
The series concept was narrowed to better reflect the original concept for the soil. The series is now defined as having an ustic soil moisture regime; having formed in slope alluvium and colluvium derived from granite and granitic-gneiss on mountain slopes; and having paramicaceous mineralogy. The horizon depths were also corrected to recognize the top of the soil surface starting at the Oi horizon.
Classification changed from Typic Cryoboralf to Glossic Cryoboralfs 1997.
Classification changed from mixed Glossic Cryoboralfs to paramicaceous Ustic Glossocryalfs 1998. In 1999 the paramicaceous mineralogy was changed to mixed, superactive.
Taxonomic version: Eighth Edition, 1998.