LOCATION SAVER WY
Tentative Series
IRD. IGC-JCK
07/2015
SAVER SERIES
The Saver series consist of very deep, well drained soils that formed in slope alluvium and colluvium. These soils are on alluvial fans and fan remnants. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 191 mm, and mean annual air temperature is about 7 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Saver sandy loam, 2 percent slope in rangeland at an elevation of 1,564 meters (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
A--0 to 13 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots throughout; many very fine vesicular pores; 1 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)
Bw1--13 to 40 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots throughout; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--40 to 72 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots throughout; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 1 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary. (combined thickness of Bw horizons is 59 to 76 cm)
BCk1--72 to 127 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots throughout; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; 2 percent fine irregular calcium carbonate masses in the matrix; 2 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary.
BCk2--127 to 180 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots throughout; common very fine and fine interstitial pores; 10 percent calcium carbonate nodules on bottom of rock fragments; 10 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Park County, Wyoming; 387 meters north and 806 meters west of the southeast corner of section 4, T. 51 N., R. 98 W. YU Bench NW USGS quadrangle; latitude 44 degrees 25 minutes 4.35 seconds N. and longitude 108 degrees 38 minutes 39.19 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature - 8 to 10 degrees C
The Bw horizon contains more than 50 percent (by weight) fine sand or coarser sand.
A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: sandy loam, loamy sand or fine sandy loam
Clay content: 5 to 15 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 10 percent gravel
Reaction: pH 7.2 to 7.8
Bw horizons:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: sandy loam or fine sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 18 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel
Reaction: pH 7.6 to 8.2
BCk horizons:
Hue: 7.5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loamy sand, sand or loamy fine sand
Clay content: 2 to 10 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 5 percent
Reaction: pH 8.0 to 8.4
COMPETING SERIES:
Embudo (NM) - have more than 15 percent of rock fragments in the particle-size control section; have a mean annual soil temperature higher than 10 degrees C
Hessing (NV) - have a lithological discontinuity; have more than 15 percent of rock fragments in the particle-size control section
Koyen (NV) - have more than 15 percent rock fragments in the lower part of the subsoil; have a mean annual soil temperature higher than 10 degrees C
Monue (UT) - have hue redder than 7.5YR; have a mean annual soil temperature higher than 10 degrees C
Quima (NV) - have a mean annual soil temperature higher than 10 degrees C
Unionville (NV) - have a paralithic contact at depths of 50 to 100 cm; have a mean annual soil temperature higher than 10 degrees C
Wall (WY) - have illuvial accumulation of silicate clay; do not have loamy sand textures in the particle-size control section
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - alluvial fans and fan remnants
Elevation - 1,085 - 1,600 meters
Slope - 0 to 15 percent slopes
Parent material - slope alluvium or colluvium
Mean annual precipitation - 127 to 229 mm
Mean annual air temperature - 6 to 8 degrees C
Frost-free period - 110 to 150 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderately rapid to very rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Saver soils are primarily used as rangeland. Principle native plants are rhizomatous wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, prairie Junegrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Wyoming big sagebrush. As this site deteriorates blue grama, threadleaf sedge and prickly pear cactus become the dominate vegetation, with only traces of the reference species persisting.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Saver soils are of small extent in northwestern Wyoming. MLRA 32.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Park County Area, Wyoming, Eastern Part, 2014. The name is taken from a local reservoir.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 13 cm (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - from 13 to 72 cm (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Secondary carbonate accumulation - from 72 to 180 cm (BCk1 and BCk2)
Particle-size control section - from 25 to 100 cm (part of the Bw1, Bw2, and BCk1 horizons)
Saver soils have a mesic temperature regime and an aridic moisture regime.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.