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Map Unit Description: Archuleta- Sanchez complex, 12 to 65 percent slopes —La <br />Plata County Area, Colorado <br />SLOPE ABOVE EAST CLRWTR DITCH a KING II <br />MINE <br />Soils that have profiles that are almost alike make up a soil series. All the soils of <br />a series have major horizons that are similar in composition, thickness, and <br />arrangement. Soils of a given series can differ in texture of the surface layer, slope, <br />stoniness, salinity, degree of erosion, and other characteristics that affect their use. <br />On the basis of such differences, a soil series is divided into soil phases. Most of <br />the areas shown on the detailed soil maps are phases of soil series. The name of <br />a soil phase commonly indicates a feature that affects use or management. For <br />example, Alpha silt loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes, is a phase of the Alpha series. <br />Some map units are made up of two or more major soils or miscellaneous areas. <br />These map units are complexes, associations, or undifferentiated groups. <br />A complex consists of two or more soils or miscellaneous areas in such an intricate <br />pattern or in such small areas that they cannot be shown separately on the maps. <br />The pattern and proportion of the soils or miscellaneous areas are somewhat similar <br />in all areas. Alpha -Beta complex, 0 to 6 percent slopes, is an example. <br />An association is made up of two or more geographically associated soils or <br />miscellaneous areas that are shown as one unit on the maps. Because of present <br />or anticipated uses of the map units in the survey area, it was not considered <br />practical or necessary to map the soils or miscellaneous areas separately. The <br />pattern and relative proportion of the soils or miscellaneous areas are somewhat <br />similar. Alpha -Beta association, 0 to 2 percent slopes, is an example. <br />An undifferentiated group is made up of two or more soils or miscellaneous areas <br />that could be mapped individually but are mapped as one unit because similar <br />interpretations can be made for use and management. The pattern and proportion <br />. of the soils or miscellaneous areas in a mapped area are not uniform. An area can <br />be made up of only one of the major soils or miscellaneous areas, or it can be made <br />up of all of them. Alpha and Beta soils, 0 to 2 percent slopes, is an example. <br />Some surveys include miscellaneous areas. Such areas have little or no soil <br />material and support little or no vegetation. Rock outcrop is an example. <br />Additional information about the map units described in this report is available in <br />other soil reports, which give properties of the soils and the limitations, capabilities, <br />and potentials for many uses. Also, the narratives that accompany the soil reports <br />define some of the properties included in the map unit descriptions. <br />La Plata County Area, Colorado <br />7— Archuleta- Sanchez complex, 12 to 65 percent slopes <br />Map Unit Setting �- <br />Elevation: 7,000 to 8,500 feet <br />Mean annual precipitation: 18 to 22 inches <br />Mean annual air temperature: 40 to 45 degrees F <br />Frost -free period: 90 to 110 days <br />Map Unit Composition �Uc.,.� //u0A <br />Archuleta and similar soils: 45 percent <br />Sanchez and similar soils: 30 percent/ <br />�► _ �` <br />Natural Resources <br />Conservation Service <br />Web Soil Survey <br />National Cooperative Soil Survey <br />11,17,2009 <br />Page 2 of 4 <br />