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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20093223.tiff • • • SOIL REPORT-PIERCE NORTH GRAVEL PIT Soil Description Soils at the Pierce North site include gravelly alluviums(haplaquolls-fluvaquents)associated with the channel of Lone Tree Creek. The site contains Altvan fine sandy loams (unit 1). These soils are very well drained with moderate wind and water erosion potential. The Altvan soils are suitable for non-irrigated agricultural,typically winter wheat. Altvan soils in the area are used for rangeland pasture where livestock are managed to prevent overgrazing. The site also contains Bankard loamy fine sands (unit 12). Bankard loamy fine sands are excessively drained, typically are found in floodplains. Wind erosion potential is high. The Bankard soils are suitable for non-irrigated rangeland pasture where livestock are managed to prevent overgrazing. The 1981 soil survey identifies the areas of Altvan fine sandy loams as good for roadfill material but too sandy for expectation of gravel deposits. The 1981 soil survey identifies the areas of Bankard similarly although Weld County's experience at the adjacent Pierce pit in Section 7, T8N, R65 W, is that sufficient larger gravel deposits do exist in the subsurface to provide suitable • road base material. Top soil at the Pierce North site is sparse and very thin,typically less than 6 inches thick. Soils at the Pierce North site are described on Sheet 26 of 43 in the Soil Survey of Weld County, Colorado—Northern Part published in 1981 by the Soil Conservation Service. • M:\DAVE B\Pierce North\Weld USR permit\SOIL REPORT.doc 2009-3223 • • • soil survey of Weld County, Colorado Northern Part • United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service in cooperation with Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station • • • • soil survey of Weld County, Colorado Northern Part By James A. Crabb, Soil Conservation Service Fieldwork by James A. Crabb, Peter L. Smith, and Dwight E. Curtiss, Soil Conservation Service United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service and Forest Service, in cooperation with Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station WELD COUNTY, NORTHERN PART, is in the alluvium, wind-modified alluvium, and exposed wean • northeastern part of Colorado. It is north of Denver and bedrock, which borders the escarpments to the nortl east of the Rocky Mountains. The total area is 1,429,520 The most easily observable physiographic area is acres, or about 2,233 square miles. Greeley, the county escarpments that extend across the survey area fror seat, is in the southern part of the county. west to east. "Chalk Bluffs" and "Pawnee Buttes" a Most of the acreage in the survey area is used as this area. The escarpments are rolling to steep, and rangeland and nonirrigated cropland. A small acreage is consist of rock outcroppings of siltstone that commc used as irrigated cropland. have a cap of sandstone. Deposits of material derivr Descriptions, names, and delineations of soils in this from siltstone, sandstone, and some shale are direr soil survey do not fully agree with those on soil maps for below the escarpments. The escarpments are used adjacent counties. Differences are the result of better mainly for cattle grazing and wildlife habitat. knowledge of soils, modifications in series concepts, To the north and at a higher elevation than the intensity of mapping, or the extent of soils within the escarpments is a gently undulating to rolling high plc survey. The soils on this plain formed in alluvium and residu derived from sandstone. The high plain has agriculk. general nature of the survey area value. The survey area is drained by numerous intermitte This section discusses the physiography, drainage, creeks. Some of the major creeks in the western pa and relief and the climate in the survey area. It also the survey area are Spring, Lone Tree, Owl, and Crc discusses the Pawnee National Grassland. Creeks. They flow in a southerly direction through V- survey area and join the South Platte River outside I physiography, drainage, and relief area. The major drainageways in the eastern part of the The survey area is in the northern part of the Colorado area are Sidney Draw and Cedar and Pawnee Creel Piedmont. It is in three distinct physiographic areas. A Sidney Draw flows in a northeasterly direction throui knowledge of the location and nature of these areas the survey area and joins Lodgepole Creek in NebrE helps in understanding the soils and agriculture in the Cedar and Pawnee Creeks drain to the east and joir survey area. South Platte River in Logan County. The largest part of the survey area is on a gently Elevation in the survey area ranges from undulating to rolling plain. This part has great agricultural approximately 6,350 feet at the extreme northweste • value. The soils on the plain formed mainly in alluvium. corner to 4,300 feet where Pawnee Creek flows fror Also on the plain are some areas of reworked old area to the east. i en / rR. • • +I a a. N LO mCO m m to n n T s. c-I v l0 CO a a , m d P N �. J\ a m n LS 2M I- .n LO � ^ N m � m eyK a" In • II d � — a in a • m C J d an d a Hello