LOCATION YELLOWWASH COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, frigid Lithic Ustic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Yellowwash channery loam, rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) channery loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine platy structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; 30 percent channery fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
AC--2 to 10 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) channery loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; 30 percent channery fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 18 inches thick)
R--10 inches; hard, siltstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Moffat County, Colorado; approximately 12 miles southwest of Powderwash, about 800 feet west and 2,000 feet south of the northeast corner of Sec. 18, T. 10 N., R. 99 W.; latitude: 40 degrees, 49 minutes, 42 seconds north; longitude: 108 degrees, 33 minutes, 21 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature ranges from 44 to 46 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature ranges from 62 to 64 degrees F. Depth to the lithic contact ranges from 7 to 20 inches. The soil is calcareous throughout. The control section is typically a channery loam or loam and averages 18 to 27 percent clay, 30 to 50 percent silt, and 30 to 50 percent sand. Content of channery fragments ranges from 10 to 35 percent.
The A horizon has a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 6 or 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist, and a chroma of 3 or 4.
The AC or C horizons have a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist, and a chroma of 3 or 4.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Redcameron (CO) and the Redcreek (WY) series. Both of these soils have less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Yellowwash soils are on hillslopes. Slopes range from 5 to 15 percent. The soils formed in residuum derived from siltstone. Elevation ranges from 6,800 to 7,700 feet. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 11 to 13 inches, and the mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period is about 75 to 95 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brownsto and Castello soils. Both soils are deep.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation consists of Indian ricegrass, needleandthread, streambank wheatgrass, Nevada bluegrass, Wyoming big sagebrush, and shadscale.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur in northwestern Colorado. The series is of small extent. Total area is about 4,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Moffat County (Moffat County Area), Colorado, 1991.
REMARKS: The diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: the ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 2 inches; and the lithic contact at 10 inches. Last revised by the state 12/90.
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Lakewood MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.