Goblin soil and landscape
General setting: White Rim region of The Maze and Island in the Sky Districts, Canyonlands National Park
Elevation: 3,980 to 5,210 feet (1,214 to 1,587 meters)
Mean annual precipitation: 5 to 9 inches (127 to 229 millimeters)
Mean annual air temperature: 53 to 59 degrees F (11.7 to 15.0 degrees C)
Mean annual soil temperature: 55 to 61 degrees F (12.8 to 16.1 degrees C)
Frost-free period: 175 to 195 days
Major Land Resource Area: 35–Colorado Plateau
Map Unit Composition
Goblin and similar soils: 90 percent
Minor Components:
• Rock outcrop (Moenkopie Formation sandstone, Schnabkaib Member)
• Moderately deep gypsic soils–Desert Gypsum Loam (Torrey Mormon tea)
Taxonomic classification: Loamy-skeletal, gypsic, mesic Lithic Haplogypsids
Landform: Hills
Geology: Moenkopie Formation Sandstone, Schnabkaib Member (Triassic)
Parent material: gypsiferous residuum weathered from sandstone
Slope: 6 to 45 percent, north to northwest aspects
Ground Cover: (% Cover) (fig. 42)
Plant Canopy: 25-30
Litter <5mm: 3-8
Rock Fragments: 12-20
Bare Soil: 0-5
Cyanobacteria Crust: 8-12
Lichen Crust: 30-40
Moss Crust: 0-5
Salt Crust: 0
Gypsum Crust: 5-10
Depth to restrictive feature(s): 6 to 16 inches to bedrock, lithic
Drainage class: somewhat excessively drained
Slowest permeability: 2.0 to 6.0 in/hr (moderately rapid)
Available water capacity total inches: about 0.5 (very low)
Shrink-swell potential: about 1.5 LEP (low)
Flooding hazard: none
Ponding hazard: none
Seasonal water table minimum depth: greater than 60 inches
Runoff class: very high
Hydrologic group: D
Calcium carbonate maximum: about 5 percent
Gypsum maximum: about 40 percent
Salinity maximum: about 8 mmhos/cm (slightly saline)
Sodium adsorption ratio maximum: about 0 SAR (nonsodic)
Ecological site name: Desert Very Shallow Gypsum (Torrey’s Jointfir)
Ecological site number: R035XY142UT
Present vegetation (in most areas): shadscale saltbush, rubber rabbitbrush, galleta,
Torrey Mormon tea, scarlet globemallow, buckwheat
Land capability (non irrigated): 7s
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GOBLIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#goblin
Goblin soil and landscape
General setting: White Rim region of The Maze and Island in the Sky Districts, Canyonlands National Park
Elevation: 3,980 to 5,210 feet (1,214 to 1,587 meters)
Mean annual precipitation: 5 to 9 inches (127 to 229 millimeters)
Mean annual air temperature: 53 to 59 degrees F (11.7 to 15.0 degrees C)
Mean annual soil temperature: 55 to 61 degrees F (12.8 to 16.1 degrees C)
Frost-free period: 175 to 195 days
Major Land Resource Area: 35–Colorado Plateau
Map Unit Composition
Goblin and similar soils: 90 percent
Minor Components:
• Rock outcrop (Moenkopie Formation sandstone, Schnabkaib Member)
• Moderately deep gypsic soils–Desert Gypsum Loam (Torrey Mormon tea)
Taxonomic classification: Loamy-skeletal, gypsic, mesic Lithic Haplogypsids
Landform: Hills
Geology: Moenkopie Formation Sandstone, Schnabkaib Member (Triassic)
Parent material: gypsiferous residuum weathered from sandstone
Slope: 6 to 45 percent, north to northwest aspects
Ground Cover: (% Cover) (fig. 42)
Plant Canopy: 25-30
Litter <5mm: 3-8
Rock Fragments: 12-20
Bare Soil: 0-5
Cyanobacteria Crust: 8-12
Lichen Crust: 30-40
Moss Crust: 0-5
Salt Crust: 0
Gypsum Crust: 5-10
Depth to restrictive feature(s): 6 to 16 inches to bedrock, lithic
Drainage class: somewhat excessively drained
Slowest permeability: 2.0 to 6.0 in/hr (moderately rapid)
Available water capacity total inches: about 0.5 (very low)
Shrink-swell potential: about 1.5 LEP (low)
Flooding hazard: none
Ponding hazard: none
Seasonal water table minimum depth: greater than 60 inches
Runoff class: very high
Hydrologic group: D
Calcium carbonate maximum: about 5 percent
Gypsum maximum: about 40 percent
Salinity maximum: about 8 mmhos/cm (slightly saline)
Sodium adsorption ratio maximum: about 0 SAR (nonsodic)
Ecological site name: Desert Very Shallow Gypsum (Torrey’s Jointfir)
Ecological site number: R035XY142UT
Present vegetation (in most areas): shadscale saltbush, rubber rabbitbrush, galleta,
Torrey Mormon tea, scarlet globemallow, buckwheat
Land capability (non irrigated): 7s
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GOBLIN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#goblin