LOCATION SAXBY UT+IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Xeric Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Saxby very stony silt loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 10 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very stony silt loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; common very fine pores; 40 percent basalt stones on the surface and in the horizon; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 15 cm thick)
Bw--10 to 30 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely cobbly silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots; common very fine pores; strongly effervescent; 60 percent coarse fragments; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); gradual irregular boundary. (18 to 25 cm thick)
Bk--30 to 45 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) extremely cobbly silt loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; very hard, friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; violently effervescent; 60 percent coarse fragments; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.2); abrupt irregular boundary. (10 to 20 cm thick)
R--45 cm; fractured basalt with weakly cemented lime accumulations in voids and cracks.
TYPE LOCATION: Box Elder County, Utah; about 13 miles southwest of Golden Spike National Monument; 1,550 feet west and 1,400 north from the center of section 25, T.9N., R.8W.; SLBM ; USGS Rozel Point NW 7.5 minute quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 29 minutes 3.33 seconds N and longitude 112 degrees 42 minutes 59.5 seconds W; UTM Zone 12 356695e 4593939n, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in winter and spring and for brief periods in late summer due to convection storms; aridic bordering on xeric soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 8.5 to 10.5 degrees C.
Mean summer soil temperature: 20 to 23.5 degrees C.
Depth to lithic contact: 35 to 50 cm.
Depth to calcic horizon: 25 to 38 cm.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: 15 to 26 percent.
Rock fragments: 40 to 80 percent, mainly gravel and cobbles. Lithology of the fragments is mostly basalt.
A horizon
Value: 5 or 7 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Rock fragments: 20 to 70 percent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline through strongly alkaline.
Bw horizon
Value: 5 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Silt loam or loam.
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent, mainly gravel and cobbles.
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline.
Bk horizon
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 4 to 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist.
Texture: Silt loam or loam.
Rock fragments: Average 40 to 80 percent, mainly gravel and cobbles.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kinghorn, Murphill, Samor and Soma series.
Kinghorn soils have dominant hue of 5YR and are underlain by conglomerate. Murphill soils have less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are formed in residuum from vitric tuffs, with lime and silica cementing the crack fractures. Samor soils have a thin lime pan above the bedrock and lack Bw horizons. Soma soils lack a cambic horizon and are underlain by sandstone, limestone, or quartzite.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Saxby soils are on lake terraces, foothills, hillslopes and mountainsides at elevations of 1,295 to 2,044 meters. The soils formed in colluvium, residuum and alluvium derived from basalt overwashed with lacustrine sediments. Some areas are influenced by loess. Slopes are dominantly 10 to 30 percent but range from 1 to 60 percent. The climate is semiarid with hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Average annual precipitation is 200 to 300 mm, average annual air temperature is 7 to 10.5 degrees C, and the frost-free period is 90 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bram, Etil, Palisade, and Sanpete series. All of these soils lack bedrock above 50 cm. Bram, Etil, and Palisade soils lack coarse fragments in the textural control section. Sanpete soils formed in alluvium from limestone and have a carbonatic mineralogy. Bram soils are on low terraces and alluvial fans. Etil soils are on low areas near salt playas and beach areas of the Great Salt Lake. Palisade and Sanpete soils are on alluvial fans.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to high runoff; moderate permeability; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing. Potential natural vegetation is big sagebrush, low sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, and Sandburg bluegrass. This series is correlated with Semidesert ecological sites in Utah.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Utah and southcentral Idaho. The series is moderately extensive. MLRA 25 and 28A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Box Elder County (East Box Elder Area), Utah, 1969.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 25 cm (A horizon).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 10 to 30 cm (Bw horizon).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 30 to 45 cm (Bk horizon).
Lithic contact - The zone at approximately 45 cm (R layer).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 18 cm (part of the Bw horizon and the Bk horizon).
The series concept needs to be redefined. There appears to be a difference in the use of the soil in the ID708-UT601-UT602 areas and the use of the soil in UT608, UT634 and UT626. Clay contents in the control section are lower in the northern surveys than in the southern areas.
This soil was reclassified from Lithic Xerollic Calciorthids to Lithic Xeric Haplocalcids on 9/94.