LOCATION SANPETE UT+NVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Xeric Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Sanpete gravelly fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for air-dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 8 cm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; common very fine pores; 30 percent coarse fragments, dominantly gravel; strongly effervescent; carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 8 cm thick)
A2--8 to 28 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 5/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; common very fine and few fine pores; 18 percent coarse fragments, dominantly gravel; strongly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (13 to 30 cm thick)
Bk1--28 to 43 cm; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly sandy loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; common very fine pores; 50 percent coarse fragments, dominantly gravel; violently effervescent, carbonates are disseminated and coated on the rock fragments and accumulated in soft rounded accretions; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear wavy boundary. (23 to 40 cm thick)
Bk2--43 to 120 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) extremely gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; common very fine pores; 65 percent coarse fragments, dominantly gravel; violently effervescent, carbonates are disseminated and coated on the rock fragments and accumulated in soft rounded accretions; moderately alkaline (pH 8.3); clear wavy boundary. (28 to 70 cm thick)
C--120 to 150 cm; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; 45 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent, carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Sanpete County, Utah; 3 miles south and 5 miles west of Gunnison; 30 feet east of telephone pole on south side of road, about 412 feet north and 600 feet east of the southwest corner of Section 3, T. 20 S., R. 1 W.; USGS Redmond Canyon 7.5 minute quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 5 minutes 31 seconds N. and long. 111 degrees 54 minutes 25 seconds W. UTM Zone 12 421567e 4327370n, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually dry; moist in winter and spring and for brief periods in late summer due to convection storms. (Aridic bordering on xeric soil moisture regime.)
Mean annual soil temperature: 8.5 to 12 degrees C
Mean summer soil temperature: 18 to 20 degrees C
Depth to calcic horizon: 10 to 38 cm
Calcium carbonate equivalent: More than 40 percent
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 10 to 27 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 80 percent, and ranges from gravel to stones
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Reaction: Moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline
Bk horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR or 5YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 6, dry or moist
Texture: Loam, silt loam or sandy loam
Rock fragments: 35 to 80 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 70 percent
Gypsum: 0 to 2 percent
SAR: 0 to 13
Reaction: Moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline
C horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR or 5YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: Loam, sandy loam or sand
Rock fragments: 25 to 80 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 30 to 70 percent
SAR: 0 to 13
Gypsum: 0 to 2 percent
Reaction: Moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Sandall (UT) series. Sandall soils have bedrock at 50 to 100 cm.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sanpete soils occur on alluvial fans, alluvial flats and foothills. Slope range is 1 to 30 percent. These soils formed in alluvium from limestone, sandstone, shale, and igneous rock. These soils occur at elevations of 1,520 to 2,015 m. The climate is semiarid to dry subhumid with a mean annual air temperature of about 7 to 11 degrees C., mean summer temperature of about 18 to 20 degrees C. and average annual precipitation is about 200 to 300 mm. The freeze-free period ranges from 100 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Amtoft, Arapien, Atepic, Centerfield, Fontreen, Genola, Linoyer, Lisade, Mayfield, Rapho, and Sigurd soils. Arapien, Linoyer, Lisade, and Genola soils lack coarse fragments. Centerfield, Genola, Linoyer, Mayfield, Rapho, and Sigurd soils lack calcic horizons. Fontreen soils have mollic epipedons. Amtoft and Atepic soils are less than 50 cm to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well to somewhat excessively drained; medium to high runoff; moderate and moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for rangeland and for irrigated crops of alfalfa, small grains and pasture. The principal vegetation is Indian ricegrass, needleandthread grass, winterfat, bud sage, black sagebrush, and shadscale. These soils are correlated to Semidesert ecological sites in Utah.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and northern Utah. MLRA 28A. This series is moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Reno, Nevada
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Richfield Area, Utah, 1944.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 25 to 100 cm.
Ochric epipedon: The zone from the surface of the soil to 28 cm. (A1 and A2 horizon)
Calcic horizon: The zone from 28 to 120 cm. (Bk1 and Bk2 horizons)
Xeric feature: Soil moisture regime is Aridic bordering Xeric.
This soil was reclassified from a Xerollic Calciorthids to a Xeric Haplocalcids on 9/94.