LOCATION CHUPE NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Ustic Torrifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Chupe loamy coarse sand--on a narrow flood plain sloping 1 percent to the west at 6,410 feet elevation--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the soil was dry from the soil surface to 48 inches and slightly moist below 48 inches.)
AC--0 to 3 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) loamy coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; weak medium platy structure parting to weak fine granular; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and few very fine roots; few very fine vesicular pores; surface 0.5 inch is recent deposit of alluvium that is fine sandy loam in texture; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
C1--3 to 10 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium, few fine, and common very fine roots; one lense of very fine sandy loam 1 to 3 inches thick and few lenses of finely laminated sand; 20 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary.
C2--10 to 26 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4), gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and common very fine roots; one stratum of silty clay loam at top of horizon with many thin cracks and relict redox concentrations and one stratum of loamy coarse sand; 30 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary.
C3--26 to 31 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 40 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary.
C4--31 to 37 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4), gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; one lamina of loamy sand; 20 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
C5--37 to 42 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) very gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 50 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt irregular boundary.
C6--42 to 50 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and few very fine roots; few fine and few very fine tubular pores; few thin lenses of sandy loam and very fine sandy loam; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6); clear wavy boundary.
C7--50 to 65 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) loamy coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and few very fine roots; two lenses of very fine sandy loam and two thin strata of very gravelly coarse sand; 10 percent gravel; slightly to strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary.
C8--65 to 84 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and few very fine roots; one lense of very fine sandy loam; 10 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary.
C9--84 to 96 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 30 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4). (Combined thickness of the C horizons is more than 80 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; about 2.5 miles west of Agua Fria; 2,150 feet south and 1,500 feet west of the northeast corner of section 35, T.17N., R.8E.; USGS Agua Fria 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 39 minutes 42 seconds North and Longitude 106 degrees 3 minutes 31 seconds West, NAD 27.
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 annual soil temperature: 52 to 54 degrees F.
Lithology of fragments: granite, gneiss, and schist
Particle-size control section weighted averages:
Silicate clay content: less than 8 percent
Rock fragment content: 15 to 35 percent
Mica content: 1 to 5 percent (by grain count)
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline in the surface; slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in sandy subsurface horizons; moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline in loamy subhorizons
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 1 to 3 percent in most horizons; 0 to 1 percent in some sandy horizons
Salinity, mmhos/cm: 0 to 2
Sodicity, SAR: 0 to 1 in the upper part of the profile; 0 to 4 in the lower part of the profile
AC horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Rock fragments: total range is 0 to 10 percent
0 to 5 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
This horizon is a recent stratified deposit and does not qualify as an Ochric epipedon
Upper C horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture: stratified gravelly loamy coarse sand to very gravelly coarse sand; with thin loamy strata, lenses, and laminae ranging in texture from sand to silty clay.
Rock fragments: total range is 15 to 60 percent
15 to 55 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
Lower C horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture: stratified loamy coarse sand to gravelly coarse sand with subhorizons of sandy clay loam and sandy loam commonly present between 40 and 60 inches
Rock fragments: 10 to 30 percent gravel
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bankard,
Draknab,
Ellicott,
Escavada, and
Kwakina soils.
Bankard soils typically have less than 5 percent gravel in the lower part.
Draknab soils have mean annual soil temperature less than 52 degrees.
Ellicott soils are not calcareous above 40 inches.
Escavada and Kwakina soils have less than 5 percent gravel in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chupe soils are on narrow flood plains and flood plain steps of valley floors adjacent to arroyos. They formed in alluvium derived from granite, gneiss, schist, granitic sandstone, and mudstone. Slopes are 0 to 3 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,300 to 7,500 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 9 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 Jaconita, Zepol, and Zia soils. Jaconita soils are sandy-skeletal, have calcic horizons, and occur on backslopes of erosional fan remnants. Zepol soils are fine-silty, have mollic epipedons, and occur on narrow flood plains. Zia soils are coarse-loamy, have ochric epipedons, and occur on adjacent low stream terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained, negligible surface runoff; permeability is rapid to very rapid in the sandy horizons and moderate to moderately rapid in the loamy horizons. These soils are subject to occasional, extremely brief periods of flooding between July and September. Floodwaters have high velocity and are generally less than 5 feet deep. There is a rarely flooded phase that would have floodwaters less than 1 foot deep.
USE AND VEGETATION: Chupe soils are used for livestock grazing, a sand and gravel source, and recreation. The historic climax vegetation is blue grama, sand dropseed, spike dropseed, galleta, black grama, Bigelow's rubber rabbitbrush. The ecological site is Sandy (R036XB113NM).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Chupe soils are of small extent on the southeastern Espanola Basin part 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. Chupe is a name of a wash north of Santa Fe.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Fluventic feature: Alluvial stratification and an irregular organic-carbon distribution.
Taxonomic version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.