LOCATION SAYLES WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, nonacid, mesic Typic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Sayles clay - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 5 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; strong medium granular structure; soft, very friable, sticky, plastic; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
Ccs--5 to 60 inches; dark gray (N 4/) clay, very dark gray (N 3/) moist; strong very fine angular blocky structure; soft, very friable, sticky, plastic; visible calcium sulfate occurring throughout the soil mass as nests of crystals or as seams of crystals; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Big Horn County, Wyoming; 1,100 feet south and 1,450 feet west of E1/4 corner sec 17, T.53N., R.101W..
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is 48 to 50 degrees F. Mean summer soil temperature is 62 to 68 degrees F. Accumulation of visible secondary calcium sulfate is not continuous in these soils and ranges from 0 to 5 percent. The soils are mildly or moderately alkaline. Few shale chips occur in some pedons. The control section has 35 to 60 percent clay, 10 to 50 percent silt, and 10 to 50 percent sand. Hue is 5Y through 10YR, value is 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist, and chroma is 1 through 3.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Deaver, Stutzman, and Torchlight series. Deaver and Stutzman soils are uniformly calcareous. Torchlight soils have more than 15 percent exchangeable sodium.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sayles soils are on nearly level to sloping sideslopes of hills or ridges at elevations of 3,800 to 5,200 feet. Slopes typically range from 0 to about 10 percent. These soils formed in thick, noncalcareous, gypsiferous materials weathered from dark gray, gypsiferous shale. At the type location the average annual precipitation is 7 inches with peak periods of precipitation in the spring and early summer months. Mean annual temperature is 45 degrees F. and mean summer temperature is 69 degrees F. Frost-free season is 110 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chipeta, Greybull soils and the competing Deaver and Stutzman soils. Chipeta soils overlie bedrock at depths of 10 to 20 inches. Greybull soils overlie bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; slow to rapid runoff; slow to very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly as rangeland. Native vegetation is primarily bottlebrush, squirreltail, and Gardners saltbush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Big Horn Basin Area, Wyoming. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Big Horn County (Big Horn River Irrigated Area), Wyoming, 1972.
OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 4/73.