LOCATION HOSKIN UT+CA IDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Argixerolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Hoskin cobbly loam - native grasses and shrubs. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Al--0 to 7 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/3) cobbly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; many fine and medium and large roots; 40 percent gravel and cobbles; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary. (7 to 19 inches thick)
B2t--7 to 16; brown (7.5YR 5/4) very cobbly heavy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure that parts to weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; many fine pores; common thin clay films; 60 Percent gravel and cobbles; neutral (pH 7.0); gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 25 inches thick)
C--6 to 28 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) very cobbly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots; many fine pores- soil matrix is noncalcareous with lime on underside of coarse fragments; 80 percent cobbles and stones; neutral (pH 6.8).
R--28 to 32 inches; weathered consolidated conglomerate.
TYPE LOCATION: Cache County, Utah; 6 1/2 miles south and 1 mile west of Hardware Ranch; 100 feet west and 100 feet south of the NE corner or sec. 21, T.9N., R.3E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mollic epipedon ranges from 7 to 20 inches thick. The combined thickness of the Al and B2t horizons ranges from 15 to 39 inches. Weathered bedrock is at depths of 22 to 40 inches. Coarse fragments are mainly cobble and gravel size rounded or slightly angular andesite, quartzite or sandstone rock fragments ranging from 20 to 50 percent in the Al horizons and 35 to 80 percent in the B2t and C horizons. The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 39 to 43 degrees F., the mean summer temperature at a depth of about 20 inches ranges from 60 to 65 degrees F. The soils are moist for 55 to 65 percent of the time but are dry for 60 to 75 consecutive days in the summer and autumn in the 8 to 24 inch section. The cation exchange capacity/clay ratio is about 1.0 to 1.4. Base saturation is more than 75 percent throughout the upper 30 inches.
The Al horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 through 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is neutral or slightly acid.
The B2t horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 3 through 6. The soil has moist value of 4, chroma of 4 or contains less than 1 percent organic matter below depth of 20 inches. The B2t horizon is cobbly or very cobbly sandy clay loam or clay loam, or very cobbly heavy loam. It has continuous moderately thick to few thin clay films. This horizon has weak to moderate, fine to coarse subangular blocky structure. It ranges from mildly alkaline to medium acid and is 8 to 25 inches thick.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist, and chroma of 4 through 6. It is very cobbly loam, very cobbly sandy loam, or very gravelly loam. This horizon is slightly acid to mildly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Agassiz, Bradshaw, Forsey, Holmes, Horrocks, Rasband, St. Marys, Stemilt, and Yeates Hollow series. Agassiz soils are less than 20 inches deep over fractured limestone. Bradshaw and St. Marys soils lack argillic horizons and have very gravelly sandy loam control sections. Forsey, Horrocks, and Stemilt soils are deeper than 40 inches to bedrock. Holmes soils have very gravelly light loam or very gravelly sandy loam argillic horizons with 10YR hue. Rasband soils have gravelly loam argillic horizons containing less than 35 percent gravel in the upper part of the control section. Yeates Hollow soils have very cobbly clay argillic horizons with more than 35 percent clay.
SETTING: Hoskin soils are at elevations of 5,300 to 8,000 feet above sea level on moderately sloping to very steep, dominantly south and west facing mountain slopes and terminal moraines. Slope gradients are 10 to 70 percent. these soils formed in residuum and colluvium from sandstone, quartzite, and conglomerate. The climate is moist subhumid with warm dry summers and temperature is 39 to 49 degrees F., mean summer temperature is 59 to 65 degrees E. The average annual precipitation is 18 to 27 inches, falling mostly as snow. Frost-free season is 70 to 90 days.
PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Agassiz soils and the Ant Flat, Charcol, Etchen, Henefer, Lucky Star, Moweba, Scave, Scout and St. Marys soils. Ant Flat soils have clay argillic horizons that are not gravelly or cobbly. Charcol soils have Al horizons more than 20 inches thick, A2 horizons, and the top of the argillic horizon is at depths below 40 inches of the surface. Etchen soils lack mollic epipedons. Henefer soils are more than 40 inches deep to bedrock and have less than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. Lucky Star and Scave soils have albic horizons and have average summer temperature of less than 59 degrees F. Moweba soils have mollic epipedons more than 20 inches thick and lack argillic horizons. Scout soils lack both mollic epipedons and argillic horizons and have very gravelly sandy loam control sections. St. Marys soils lack argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained or somewhat excessively drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderate to moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly for watershed and for spring to fall grazing by livestock and wildlife. The native vegetation is bluebunch wheatgrass, bitterbrush, tall native bluegrass, prairie junegrass, slender wheatgrass, oniongrass, basin wildrye, balsamroot, buckwheat, herbaceous sage, big sagebrush, serviceberry, snowberry, and oakbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mountain areas in northern Utah. This series is moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lakewood, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cache County, Utah, 1972.
REMARKS: The Hoskin soils were formerly classified as Brunizems.
OSED scanned by NSSQA. Last revised by state 11/74.
The superactive cation exchange activity class was added in 03/2003 to the taxonomic classification by the National Soil Survey Center on request of the Lakewood MLRA office, without review of the soil series property data. The remainder of this document has not been updated.