LOCATION CHEADLE MT+CO UT WYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive Lithic Haplocryolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Cheadle channery loam, grassland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
A1--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) channery loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; moderate fine and very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots, common medium roots; 25 percent channers; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
A2--7 to 15 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) extremely channery loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine and very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots, common medium roots; 55 percent channers, 10 percent pebbles; pockets of disseminated lime and lime coatings on undersides of rock fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
Bk--15 to 19 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) extremely channery loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak fine and very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and very fine roots in mattings between rock fragments; 55 percent channers, 20 percent pebbles; disseminated lime and continuous faint lime coatings on undersides of fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
R--19 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) fractured hard sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Fergus County, Montana; 825 feet west and 1,120 feet south of the NE corner of sec. 29, T. 14 N., R. 18 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Mean annual soil temperature - 37 to 47 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature - less than 59 degrees F.
Moisture control section - between 4 and 12 inches or between 4 inches and the lithic contact if less than 12 inches.
Mollic epipedon thickness - 7 to 16 inches.
Rock fragments - mainly sandstone.
Depth to bedrock - 10 to 20 inches.
Depth to Bk horizon - 7 to 16 inches.
A1 horizon - Hue: 2.5Y, 10YR, or 7.5YR
Value: 3, 4, or 5 dry; 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1, 2 or 3
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 60 percent--0 to 50 percent pebbles, channers, cobbles, and stones
Reaction: pH 6.1 to 7.8
A2 horizon - Hue: 2.5Y, 10YR, or 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry; 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1, 2, or 3
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 75 percent--0 to 65 percent channers, cobbles, and stones; 10 to 55 percent pebbles
Reaction: pH 6.6 to 9.0
Bk horizon - Hue: 2.5Y, 7.5YR, or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry; 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2, 3 or 4
Texture: loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 75 percent--0 to 65 percent channers, cobbles, and stones; 20 to 50 percent pebbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 3 to 10 percent
Lime coatings on fragments: few faint to continuous distinct
Reaction: pH 7.4 to 9.0
COMPETING SERIES:
Arrowpeak (MT) - does not have a horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Clamp (OR) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation; have a xeric moisture regime.
Dollarhide (ID) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Eyre (CO) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Irigul (WY) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Irson (WY) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Jonlake (NV) - does not have a horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation; have a xeric moisture regime.
Labshaft (WY) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation; have a xeric moisture regime.
Milling (WA) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Poin (MT) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Rogert (CO) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation.
Schwacheim (CO) - does not have horizon of secondary carbonate accumulation; have a udic moisture regime.
Starley (WY) - has more than 35 percent calcium carbonate in the Bk horizon; less than 35 percent fine and coarser sand in the control section.
Topeki (NV) - does not have horizon of secondary calcium carbonate accumulation; have a xeric moisture regime.
Udel (NV) - does not have a horizon of secondary carbonate accumulation; less than 10 inches deep to the bedrock; have a xeric moisture regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform - bedrock-floored plains, hills, escarpments and mountains.
Elevation - 4,600 to 7,800 feet. (In Colorado the elevations range to 9,000 feet.)
Slope - 2 to 70 percent.
Parent material - materials derived mainly from hard sandstone, but may be underlain by hard phyllitic shale, argillite, quartzite, or igneous rock. (In Colorado the soils have formed in gneiss and schist.)
Climate - long, cold winters; moist springs; moist summers.
Mean annual precipitation - 15 to 30 inches. (In Colorado it is as low as 12 inches.)
Mean annual temperature - 35 to 45 degrees F.
Frost-free period - 50 to 90 days.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cheadle soils are used mainly for native grass range. Potential native vegetation is mainly bluebunch wheatgrass, prairie junegrass, fringed sagewort, lupine, Idaho fescue, clubmoss, and shrubby cinquefoil.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cheadle soils are extensive in central Montana and along the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Reconnaissance Soil Survey of Central Montana, 1946.
REMARKS: Soil Interpretations Records: MT0087, MT0841, MT0202. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: a mollic epipedon from the soil surface to 15 inches (A1, A2 horizons); a horizon of calcium carbonate accumulation from 15 to 19 inches (Bk horizon); a particle-size control section from 10 to 19 inches (A2, Bk horizons); and a lithic contact at a depth of 19 inches. Cheadle soils have a cryic temperature regime and an ustic moisture regime that borders on udic.