LOCATION SUZIPON UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, mesic Lithic Torripsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Suzipon loamy fine sand, 16 percent slope in rangeland at an elevation of 4700 feet. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface is covered by 15 percent gravel and 10 percent cobble. The rock fragments are all Navajo sandstone.
A--0 to 8 inches; reddish yellow (5YR 6/6) loamy fine sand, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; weak fine and medium granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; many very fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; 10 percent gravel and 1 percent cobble; noneffervescent, neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
R--8 inches; Navajo Formation sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Kane County, Utah; about 2 miles southeast of the Dry Fork Coyote Trailhead to Spooky and Peekaboo Canyons; located about 2,000 feet south and 400 feet west of the northeast corner of sec. 31, T. 38 S., R. 7 E.; Big Hollow Wash USGS quad; lat. 37 degrees 27 minutes 53 seconds N. and long. 111 degrees 10 minutes 41 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: the soil moisture control section is typic aridic
Mean annual soil temperature: 54 to 59 degrees F.
Depth to lithic contact: 5 to 20 inches to Navajo sandstone
Particle-size control section (weighted average)-
Clay content: 1 to 6 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent, dominantly gravel sized Navajo sandstone
A/C horizons
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Clay content: 1 to 6 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent, dominantly gravel
Other features: Combined AC horizons are also commonly found in many pedons of the Suzipon series; the properties of these horizons do not vary from the above range.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Nalcase (UT) series. Nalcase soils are in the ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Suzipon soils are on dunes and sand sheets on structural benches. The soils formed in residuum and eolian sand derived from Navajo sandstone. Slopes range from 2 to 15 percent. The mean annual air temperature is 52 to 57 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is 6 to 9 inches. The frost-free period is 160 to 190 days. Elevation ranges from 4,500 to 5,200 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Peekaboo, Spooky and Ranion series. The Peekaboo soils are 20 to 40 inches deep over Navajo sandstone. The Spooky soils are 40 to 60 inches deep over Navajo sandstone. The Ranion soils are more than 60 inches deep.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained, very low to low runoff, rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat and recreation. Potential native vegetation is blackbrush, Cutler mormontea, Indian ricegrass, and galleta.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-Central Utah. The soils of this series are of small extent (less than 10,000 acres). MLRA 35.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kane County, Utah, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument soil survey area, 2004.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (A horizon)
Lithic contact - the contact with Navajo sandstone at 8 inches (R horizon)
Siliceous mineralogy - soils formed directly from Navajo sandstone contains more than 90 percent silica minerals (dominantly quartz)
Taxonomic Version, Ninth Edition, 2003
Updated competing series section June 24, 2008, CEM