LOCATION WARM SPRINGS UT+NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Calcixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Warm Springs fine sandy loam--saltgrass meadow. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 8 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak medium platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; few fine pores; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick.)
Bk1--8 to 15 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; few fine pores; violently effervescent; 15 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.4); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick.)
Bk2--15 to 24 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) fine sandy loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; violently effervescent; 20 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.5); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick.)
Bk3--24 to 37 inches; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; violently effervescent; 24 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 18 inches thick.)
C--37 to 60 inches; light gray (2.5Y 7/2) loamy fine sand, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) moist; massive; hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine pores; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.9).
TYPE LOCATION: Davis County, Utah; about 12 miles southwest of Ogden; approximately 520 feet west of the southeast corner of section 17, T. 4 W., R. 2 W.; USGS Clearfield 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; 41 degrees 4 minutes 29 seconds north latitude and 112 degrees 5 minutes 8 seconds west longitude, NAD83; UTM zone 12N 408794E, 4547611N, NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Typically moist in winter and spring, dry in summer and fall; the soils are dry in all parts of the moisture control section for more than 60 consecutive days following the summer solstice; Xeric moisture regime that borders on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 54 degrees F.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 7 to 12 inches.
Particle-size control section - Clay content: Averages 18 to 25 percent.
A horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 5 to 6 dry, and 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Fine sandy loam or loam.
Organic matter content: 1 to 7 percent.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent.
Effervescence: Strongly effervescent or violently effervescent.
Reaction: Slightly alkaline through strongly alkaline.
Bk horizons - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 30 percent.
Salinity (EC): 2 to 16 mmhos/cm.
Exchangeable sodium: 15 to 60 percent.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline.
Other features: Some pedons have discontinuous weak cementation or carbonate nodules; some pedons have redox concentrations of iron within 40 inches of the soil surface.
C horizon - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 7 moist.
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist.
Texture: Loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, or clay.
Salinity (EC): 2 to 16 mmhos/cm.
Reaction: Strongly alkaline or very strongly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Warm Springs soils are on low lake terraces. These soils formed in lacustrine deposits derived from mixed sedimentary and igneous rocks. Slopes are 0 to 3 percent. The climate is dry subhumid. The mean annual precipitation is 14 to 18 inches. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 52 degrees F., the mean summer temperature is 68 to 73 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 130 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Lakeshore, Refuge, Syracuse, and Leland soils. Lakeshore and Refuge soils have salic horizons. Syracuse soils are coarse-loamy. Leland soils have natric horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; low or medium surface runoff; moderate to slow permeability (high to moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity). Endosaturation is present with an apparent seasonal high water table between 2.0 and 3.3 feet (moderately deep free water occurrence class) between April and September. Cumulative annual duration class is Common.
USE AND VEGETATION: Warm Springs soils are used for pasture, and for cultivated crops under irrigation when drained. Principal uses are for growing small grains, sugar beets, alfalfa, tomatoes, and improved pasture. The dominant native vegetation is black greasewood, alkali sacaton, alkali bluegrass, inland saltgrass, and foxtail barley.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Utah and western New Mexico. These soils are moderately extensive. The series concept and main acreage is in MLRA 28A in Utah. Warm Springs soils in New Mexico are in MLRA 36 (see Remarks section below).
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Davis County (Davis-Weber Area), Utah, 1967.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 8 inches (A horizon).
Calcic horizon - The zone from 8 to 37 inches (Bk1, Bk2, and Bk3 horizons).
Endosaturation feature - The condition of ground water with an upper boundary between 24 and 40 inches at certain times during normal years (parts of the Bk3 and C horizons).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 40 inches (Bk2 and Bk3 horizons and parts of the Bk1 and C horizons).
The revision of November 2005 updated the taxonomic class from Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Calciustolls based on the assumed moisture regime being xeric instead of ustic. There are about 1,700 acres of Warm Springs soils in the Soil Survey of Cibola Area, New Mexico (NM682) that need correlation to another series.
The active cation exchange activity class was added to the taxonomic classification in December 2002 based on soil property data.
ADDITIONAL DATA: The typical pedon at the series type location has partial characterization data by the Soils Laboratory from Utah State University (USU) Logan, UT and is published on pages 144-145, Table 11 of the Soil Survey of Davis-Weber Area, Utah. The pH values in the typical pedon are from saturated paste.