LOCATION KILN                    NM+UT

Established Series
Rev. VGL/JAW/KLS
01/2023

KILN SERIES

The Kiln series consists of shallow, well drained soils that formed in material derived from limestone. Kiln soils are on uplands, ridges and mountains and have slopes of 3 to 40 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 460 mm. The mean annual air temperature is about 7 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Argiustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Kiln stony loam - forest. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated)

Oi--0 to 3 cm; raw and partially decomposed pine needle and oak leaf litter.

A--3 to 16 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/4) stony loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak thin platy structure parting to weak very fine granular; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 30 percent stones and pebbles; many fine and very fine roots; few fine pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); clear smooth boundary. (8 to 13 cm thick)

Bt--16 to 29 cm; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) stony clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common thin continuous clay films on faces of peds; about 30 percent stones; common fine and medium roots; few fine pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt clear boundary. (10 to 38 cm thick)

R--29 cm; extremely hard, dense limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: McKinley County, New Mexico; about 4 km south of McGaffey in NE1/4 sec. 21, T. 13 N., R. 16 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of solum and depth to bedrock--18 to 50 cm
Rock fragment content--10 to 35 percent
Reaction--pH 6.6 to 7.8

A horizon
Hue--10YR or 7.5YR
Value--3 through 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma--3 or 4 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Texture--stony loam, stony silt loam or stony clay loam

B horizon
Hue--7.5YR or 5YR
Value--4 or 5 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma--2 through 4
Texture--stony or cobbly silty clay loam or clay loam
In some pedons the bottom of rock fragments are coated with lime.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Beenom, Coni and Hauser series in the same family and the Chilson series. Beenom soils are underlain by sandstone and have 10YR hue. Coni soils are slightly acid throughout. Chilson soils are clayey. Hauser soils contain free carbonates at depths of 15 to 25 cm.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform--gently to steeply sloping uplands, ridges and mountains
Elevation--2125 to 2750 meters
Slope--3 to 40 percent
Parent material--limestone residuum
Climate--semiarid continental
Mean annual precipitation--380 to 510 mm
Mean annual air temperature--6 to 8 degrees C
Frost-free period--120 to 140 days

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: None listed

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to medium runoff; and moderate permeability

USE AND VEGETATION: Multiple use for timber production, wildlife, summer and fall livestock range. Vegetation is ponderosa pine, alligator juniper, pinyon pine, Gambel oak, with an understory of Oregon grape, blue grama, lupine, Arizona fescue, squirreltail, mountain muhly, muttongrass, sideoats grama, and little bluestem.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kiln soils are of moderate extent in northcentral New Mexico and southeastern Utah; MLRAs 39 and 48A

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Zuni Mountains Area, New Mexico 1964

REMARKS: Converted to metric and O horizons were updated to start at zero. Competing series section was not updated. 12/2022

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.