LOCATION TEASPOON COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Argiustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Teaspoon very gravelly sandy loam - grassland and open stand of ponderosa pine. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 50 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 2 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
BA--3 to 6 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/3) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 45 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 2 percent stones; slightly acid (pH 6.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bt--6 to 13 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common prominent clay films on ped faces; 45 percent gravel; slightly acid (pH 6.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
R--13 inches; gneiss.
TYPE LOCATION: Teller County, Colorado; 4 miles south of Wrights Reservoir; 2,300 feet south and 1,800 feet west of the northeast corner of Sec. 19, T. 15 S., R. 70 W. U.S.G.S. High Park quad.; Lat. 38 degrees, 44 minutes, 04 seconds N.; and Long. 105 degrees, 15 minutes, 53 seconds.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Average annual soil temperature: 44 to 47 degrees F.
Average summer soil temperature: 59 to 65 degrees F.
Depth to hard bedrock: 8 to 20 inches.
Thickness of the mollic epipedon: 5 to 12 inches and, in extremely thin pedons, commonly includes the upper 2 to 3 inches of the argillic horizon.
Thickness of the solum: 8 to 20 inches. In some pedons a C horizon is present.
Surface of some pedons is covered by a thin O horizon.
Rock fragment content: 35 to 85 percent throughout the pedon. Rock fragments are dominantly gravel 2 mm to about 1 cm in diameter in the B and C horizons of most pedons. Cobble content in the B and C horizons range 0 to 10 percent and stone content ranges 0 to 20 percent.
Content of fine or coarser sand in the B and C horizons: 30 to 50 percent or more.
Reaction: slightly acid through slightly alkaline.
Moisture control section: Dry in some or all parts of the for 90 cumulative days in 9 years out of 10 when the soil temperature at a depth of 20 inches is 41 degrees F. or higher. It is moist in some or all parts for 60 consecutive days or more within the 4 months following the summer solstice in 6 or more years out of 10.
A horizon:
Hue of 5YR through 10YR
Value of 3 through 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma of 2 or 3.
Some pedons have a BA horizon.
Bt horizon:
Hue of 5YR through 10YR
Value of 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma of 2 through 6
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent
Silt content: 15 to 40 percent
Sand content: 50 to 75 percent
Textures: commonly very gravelly sandy clay loam, very gravelly clay loam, or extremely gravelly sandy clay loam and less commonly very channery sandy loam.
COMPETING SERIES:
Bushvalley: Shallow to tuff
Gnojek:Have Bk horizons, have hue of 10YR or yellower, and have sandstone bedrock.
Owlrock: Shallow to limestone
Tolbert:Have MAST of 40 to 44 degrees F., and have hue of 10YR or yellower.
Tolman:Have a moisture control section that is dry in all parts for 90 consecutive days in the 4 month period following the summer solstice. Also, Tolman soils receive most of their precipitation in the period April 1 through June 15.
Zibetod: 14 to 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Teaspoon soils are on pediments, hogbacks, and mountainsides. Slopes range from 5 to 55 percent. The soils formed in residuum from gneiss, sandstone, and granitic rocks. Elevation ranges from 7,000 to 9200 feet. The mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 50 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is 13 to 20 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Casvare, Cathedral, and Comodore soils. These soils lack an argillic horizon, and the Comodore soils have a high content of stones in most horizons. Casvare soils lack bedrock above 20 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to very high runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing. Wood products are sometimes harvested from these areas. Principal native vegetation is scattered to moderately dense stands of ponderosa pine with an understory of mountain muhly, Arizona fescue, needleandthread, Parrys oatgrass, and pine dropseed. In some areas the vegetation is pinyon and juniper, with Scribner needlegrass, blue grama, Indian ricegrass, and true mountainmahogany. This pinyon-juniper community is now considered outside the concept of the series.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: "East slope" parts of mountainous, central Colorado. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lakewood, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fremont County (Fremont County Area), Colorado, 1988.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this soil include:
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 6 inches
Argillic horizon: 6 to 13 inches
Rock fragments content: Greater than 35 percent in the texture control section
Lithic contact: 13 inches
Moisture regime: ustic
Temperature regime: frigid
Taxonomy version: Ninth edition, 2003