Soil Survey of Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona
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United States United States Department of Department Agriculture of the Interior Soil Survey of Natural National Park Walnut Canyon Resources Service Conservation Service National Monument, Arizona How To Use This Soil Survey General Soil Map The general soil map, which is a color map, shows the survey area divided into groups of associated soils called general soil map units. This map is useful in planning the use and management of large areas. Detailed Soil Map The detailed soil map can be useful in planning the use and management of small areas. To find information about your area of interest, locate that area on the Index to Map Sheets. Note the number of the map sheet and go to that sheet. Locate your area of interest on the map sheet. Note the map unit symbols that are in that area. Go to the Contents, which lists the map units by symbol and name and shows the page where each map unit is described. The Contents shows which table has data on a specific land use for each detailed soil map unit. Also see the Contents for sections of this publication that may address your specific needs. i National Cooperative Soil Survey This soil survey is a publication of the National Cooperative Soil Survey, a joint effort of the United States Department of Agriculture and other Federal agencies, State agencies including the Agricultural Experiment Stations, and local agencies. The Natural Resources Conservation Service has leadership for the Federal part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey. Major fieldwork for this soil survey was completed in 2011. Soil names and descriptions were approved in 2011. Unless otherwise indicated, statements in this publication refer to conditions in the survey area in 2011. This survey was made cooperatively by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Park Service. The soil map in this survey may be copied without permission. Enlargement of this map, however, could cause misunderstanding of the detail of mapping. If enlarged, the map does not show the small areas of contrasting soils that could have been shown at a larger scale. Literature Citation The correct citation for this survey is as follows: United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. 2015. Soil survey of Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona. (Accessible online at: http://soils.usda.gov/survey/printed_surveys/) Cover Caption Walnut Canyon as seen from beneath the south rim overlooking the canyon floor inside the park. Map unit 33 (Cosnino-Rock outcrop complex) is on the slopes across the canyon. Map unit 36 (Oxyaquic Ustifluvents) is on the canyon floor. The canyon has been carved out by Walnut Creek as the uplift of the Colorado Plateau has progressed over the last 5 million years. The cut exposed the Toroweap Formation and the Coconino Sandstone. In this photo, the Coconino Sandstone is the rock formation with steep slopes in the lower portion of the canyon cliffs. The Toroweap Formation has more moderately sloping exposures that form blocky joints with weathering. Fragments will eventually break off the Toroweap Formation and fall to the canyon toeslopes, adding to colluvial deposits near the canyon floor. In this narrow upper part of the canyon, this colluvium tends to be removed more quickly by episodes of storms, while in the wider, lower part, rock fragments collect at the base of canyon walls. Additional information about the Nation’s natural resources is available online from the Natural Resources Conservation Service at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/. iii Nondiscrimination Statement The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, whether all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information. The Department prohibits discrimination in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.) If you wish to file an employment complaint, you must contact your agency’s EEO Counselor (http://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/33081.wba) within 45 days of the date of the alleged discriminatory act, event, or personnel action. Additional information can be found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_file.html. If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda. gov/complaint_filing_cust.html or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter by email to program.intake@usda. gov or by mail to: USDA Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 If you are deaf, are hard of hearing, or have speech disabilities and you wish to file either an EEO or program complaint, please contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339 or (800) 845-6136 (in Spanish). If you have other disabilities and wish to file a program complaint, please see the contact information above. If you require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), please contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). iv Contents How To Use This Soil Survey ......................................................................................i Foreword .......................................................................................................................x Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 General Nature of the Park ........................................................................................1 How This Survey Was Made ......................................................................................5 General Soil Map Units ................................................................................................9 1—Chilson-Wilcoxson complex ..................................................................................9 2—Cosnino-Rock outcrop-Lithic Ustorthents association ........................................10 3—Oxyaquic Ustifluvents consociation ....................................................................11 4—Kydestea-Rock outcrop association ...................................................................11 5—Whiskey-Vosburg association .............................................................................12 Detailed Soil Map Units ..............................................................................................13 31—Chilson-Wilcoxson complex, 2 to 8 percent slopes, very rocky ........................14 32—Cosnino-Rock outcrop complex, 5 to 25 percent slopes ..................................23 33—Cosnino-Rock outcrop complex, 25 to 70 percent slopes ................................27 34—Kydestea-Rock outcrop complex, 3 to 25 percent slopes ................................32 35—Lithic Ustorthents-Rock outcrop complex, 25 to 70 percent slopes ..................36 36—Oxyaquic Ustifluvents, 2 to 6 percent slopes ....................................................41 37—Rock outcrop-Kydestea complex, 25 to 60 percent slopes ..............................44 38—Whiskey loam, 2 to 8 percent slopes ................................................................49 39—Vosburg sandy loam, 1 to 5 percent slopes ......................................................54 Ecological Sites ..........................................................................................................61 Definition of ableT Headers and Discussion of Data ................................................63 General Information .................................................................................................64 Descriptions of Forest Ecological Sites ....................................................................66 Descriptions of Rangeland Ecological Sites .............................................................71 Summary ..................................................................................................................77 Use and Management of the Soils ............................................................................79 Interpretive Ratings ..................................................................................................79 Rating Class Terms ..............................................................................................79 Numerical Ratings ...............................................................................................79 Land Capability Classification ..................................................................................80 Prime Farmland ........................................................................................................81 Hydric Soils ..............................................................................................................81 Land Management ...................................................................................................82