Back to photostream

Cowboy soil and landscape

Soil profile: A representative soil profile of the Cowboy series. (Soil Survey of Glen Canyon Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah; by Michael W. Burney, Natural Resources Conservation Service)

 

Landscape: An area of Cowboy clay loam, 3 to 10 percent slopes. Claysprings-Badland complex, 2 to 40 percent slopes is in the background. Cowboy soils are on fan piedmonts, drainageways, and flood plains. Slopes range from 1 to 12 percent. These soils formed on slope alluvium, alluvium, and residuum derived from Mancos Shale. Elevation ranges from 4,800 to 5,700 feet.

 

The Cowboy series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium and slope alluvium derived from Mancos Shale. Cowboy soils are on flood plains drainageways and fan piedmonts. Slopes range from 1 to 12 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 9 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 54 degrees F.

 

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Leptic Haplogypsids

Note: Cowboy soil as used in this survey, is a taxadjunct because the gypsic horizon is deeper than typical for the series. This does not affect use and management of the soils.

 

Soil moisture regime: Typic aridic

Mean annual soil temperature: 54 to 58 degrees F

Depth to paralithic contact: 60 inches or more

Depth to gypsum accumulations: 2 to 10 inches

Depth to gypsic horizon: 3 to 7 inches

Expansive features: cracks to 20 inches, .75 inch wide, 3 or 4 inches apart

Particle-size control section (weighted average):

Clay content: 40 to 60 percent

Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent sedimentary gravel

 

USE AND VEGETATION: Cowboy soils are used for grazing. Native vegetation is bottlebrush squirreltail, Gardner saltbush, and little barley.

 

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwest Colorado; MLRA 35. This series is of small extent.

 

For additional information about the survey area, visit:

www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/arizona/glenca...

 

For a detailed soil description, visit:

soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/COWBOY.html

 

For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:

casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#cowboy

 

1,261 views
7 faves
0 comments
Uploaded on June 1, 2021