LOCATION CHARALITO NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Ustic Torrifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Charalito sandy loam--on an inset fan sloping 1 percent to the south at 5,719 feet elevation--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on September 21st, 2001, the soil was dry throughout.)
A--0 to 1 inch; light gray (10YR 7/1) gravelly sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and common very fine roots; 25 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles; 40 percent paragravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 9 inches thick)
AC--1 to 5 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) gravelly sandy clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine and medium granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and common very fine roots; 20 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; 35 percent paragravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
C1--5 to 22 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive parting to single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; very few fine and very few very fine roots; 20 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; 45 percent paragravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary. (combination of C horizons are 51 to 80 inches thick)
C2--22 to 40 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) gravelly sandy clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; very few fine and very few very fine roots; 20 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; 20 percent paragravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary.
C3--40 to 81 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), paragravelly sandy loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; very few fine and very few very fine roots; 10 percent gravel and 2 percent cobbles; 20 percent paragravel; violently effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as very few very fine filaments visible in matrix; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; about 1.5 miles west of the town of Cerrillos on North side of Waldo road; USGS Madrid 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 27 minutes 16.5 seconds North and Longitude 106 degrees 9 minutes 8.3 seconds West.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is intermittently moist in some part from July to October and December to March. The soils are driest in May and June. The soil moisture regime is torric (aridic) bordering on ustic.
Mean ananual soil temperature: 50 to 52 degrees F.
Lithology of fragments: monzonite, shale, gneiss, and schist
Thickness of the ochric epipedon: 1 to 10 inches thick
Particle-size control section (weighted averages)
Silicate clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Sand content: 60 to 70 percent
Fine sand and coarser content: 15 to 25 percent
Rock fragment content: 5 to 35 percent
Salinity, mmhos/cm: 0 to 0.5 throughout
Sodicity, SAR: 0 to 1 in the upper part of the profile; 0 to 4 in the lower part of the profile
A horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist
Rock fragments: total range is 15 to 35 percent
0 to 55 percent gravel
0 to 10 percent cobbles
Paragravel content: up to 40 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 8 to 14 percent
AC horizon (not present in some pedons)
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist
Texture: gravelly loam, gravelly coarse sandy loam, gravelly very fine sandy loam, gravelly sandy clay loam
Rock fragments: total range is 15 to 35 percent
15 to 30 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 8 to 14 percent
Paragravel content: up to 35 percent
C horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist
Texture: gravelly sandy loam, gravelly coarse sandy loam, paragravelly sandy loam, gravelly sandy clay loam
Note: these horizons are typically stratified
Rock fragments: total range is 10 to 35 percent
10 to 30 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 11 to 14 percent
Paragravel content: up to 35 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Cameo,
Clarkelen,
Colorow,
Glenberg,
Innacutt,
Kornman, Quitchupah,
Radnik,
Redbank, and
Tapicito series.
Cameo soils do not have fragments of monzonite, granite, gneiss, and schist.
Clarkelen, Glenberg, and Kornman soils are more moist in June.
Colorow soils have redox features and endosaturation below 40 inches.
Innacutt and Redbank soils have hue redder than 10YR.
Kornman soils have thick ochric epipedons with high levels of nitrogen and phosphates.
Radnik soils have mean annual soil temperature higher than 52 degrees F.
Tapacito soils have less than 5 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Charalito soils are on inset fans and flood plain steps of valley floors. They formed in alluvium derived from shale, sandstone and monzonite. Slopes are 1 to 3 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,300 to 7,300 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 13 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 50 to 52 degrees F. The frost-free period is 150 to 170 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Paraje, Puertecito and Sandoval soils. Paraje soils have argillic and calcic horizons and are on lower backslopes of hills. Puertecito soils are shallow, have argillic horizons, and are on shoulders and backslopes of hills. Sandoval soils are shallow and are on shoulders and backslopes of low hills.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, negligible surface runoff; permeability is moderate. These soils are subject to occasional, extremely brief periods of flooding between July and September. Floodwaters may have high velocity and are generally less than 1 foot deep.
USE AND VEGETATION: Charalito soils are used for wildlife, livestock grazing, a sand and gravel source, and recreation. The historic climax vegetation is blue grama, sideoats grama,little bluestem, galleta, New Mexico feather grass, and oneseed juniper. The ecological site is Gravelly (R036XB114NM).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Charalito soils are of small extent on the northern Galisteo Basin part of the Mexican Highlands section of the Basin and Range province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Santa Fe Area Soil Survey Update; 2008. Charalito is the Spanish word for the Rio Grande silvery minnow.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: The zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 5 inches. (A and AC horizon)
Fluventic feature: Alluvial stratification and an irregular organic-carbon distribution.
The 12/2007 revision changes the CE activity class from active to superactive.
Taxonomic version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.