Soil catenas of calcareous tills, Whiskey Basin, Wyoming, USA

We describe catenas developed on calcareous moraines of Pinedale (∼21–15 ka) and Bull Lake (>130–100 ka) ages at Whiskey Basin on the eastern flank of the Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA. We sampled one catena of each age from each of two separate moraine fields: the Jakeyʹs Fork and Torrey Creek valleys. Soils of the Bull Lake catena at Jakeyʹs Fork are more developed than those of the corresponding Pinedale catena: they have thicker sola, more horizons, more pedogenic clay, and more pedogenic carbonate presumably, because of their greater age. The Weighted Mean Profile Development Index does not distinguish between the Torrey Creek catenas. Pedogenic carbonate content is greater in the Torrey Creek Pinedale catena than the corresponding Bull Lake catena, and pedogenic clay is greater in the Bull Lake catena. Catenas on the Jakeyʹs Fork moraines are generally more developed than corresponding catenas on the Torrey Creek moraines. We suggest that differences in catena development mostly result from the differences in slope length between the Jakeyʹs Fork and Torrey Creek catenas. The Jakeyʹs Fork catenas are shorter than those of the Torrey Creek, which appears to lessen the role that topographic position plays in catena development.