LOCATION MUSQUIZ                 TX

Established Series
Rev. RAC/ACT
10/2012

MUSQUIZ SERIES

The Musquiz series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils on uplands. These nearly level to gently sloping soils formed in clayey and loamy alluvium on valleys and plains bordering igneous hills and mountains. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Calcidic Argiustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Musquiz loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 7 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; few fine quartz and weathered igneous gravel; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary (4 to 10 inches thick).

Bt1--7 to 17 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) clay, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium angular blocky structure; very hard; firm; many fine quartz and weathered igneous gravel; few thin patchy clay films; neutral; clear smooth boundary (6 to 10 inches thick).

Bt2--17 to 30 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay, dark red (2.5YR 3/6) moist; moderate fine angular blocky structure; hard, firm; distinct clay films on surfaces of peds; many fine quartz and weathered igneous gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary (6 to 18 inches thick).

Bk1--30 to 40 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) gravelly clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure; hard, friable; 15 percent calcium carbonate concretions and masses; 15 percent rounded and angular weathered igneous gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary (6 to 20 inches thick).

Bk2--40 to 60 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure; hard, friable; 5 percent calcium carbonate coated gravel and concretions; 5 percent angular rhyolite gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Jeff Davis County, Texas; 3 miles south of Fort Davis; 200 feet west of State Highway 118 and the center of the west boundary of Section 8, Block 2 of H. & T. C. Ry. Co. Survey. Latitude: 30 degrees, 33 minutes, 18 seconds north; Longitude: 103 degrees, 51 minutes, 53 seconds west.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - The moisture control section in normal years is dry in some or all parts for six-tenths or more of the cumulative days per year when the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. Aridic ustic moisture regime.

Thickness of solum: 40 to greater than 60 inches

Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 24 to 36 inches

Rock fragment in the control section: 0 to 15 percent

Depth to calcic horizon averages: 30 to 50 inches in the majority of pedons

A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR. 10YR
Value: 3 or 5, dry or moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: loam, clay loam
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline

Bt1 horizon
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 3 or 5, dry or moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: clay loam, clay
Clay content: upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon ranges from 35 to 55 percent

Bt2 horizon
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6, dry or moist
Chroma: 4 to 6, dry or moist
Texture: clay, silty clay - some pedons in the lower part of the Bt horizon has loam or clay loam
Rock fragments: contains 1 to 30 percent by volume of partially weathered and soft, weakly cemented to indurated, volcanic fragments

Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6, dry or moist
Chroma: 4 to 6, dry or moist
Textures: clay loam, loam, silty clay loam
Rock fragments: 5 to 30 percent igneous rock fragments
Calcium carbonate equivalent: ranges from 15 to 25 percent

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Blacktail (AZ) series. Blacktail soils have calcic horizons from 15 to 30 inches deep.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on valleys and plains bordering igneous hills and mountains. Slopes are dominantly 0 to 2 percent, but range to 5 percent. These soils developed in loamy and clayey alluvium and colluvium from mixed, but dominantly igneous sources (trachytic and rhyolitic rock). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 14 to 20 inches, and mean annual air temperature ranges from 59 to 67 degrees F. Frost-free period ranges from 180 to 240 days and elevation ranges from 4,000 to 6,695 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boracho, Espy, Sanmoss, and Medley series. Boracho and Espy soils are on higher, older geomorphic surfaces, and have a petrocalcic horizon at depths less than 20 inches. Sanmoss and Medley soils occur on lower, younger geomorphic surfaces and have less than 35 percent clay in the control section. In addition, Boracho and Sanmoss soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately slow. Runoff is low on slopes less than 1 percent, medium on 1 to 5 percent slopes.

USE AND VEGETATION: Use is mainly for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Most areas have a good cover of short and mid grasses. Blue grama is usually the principal grass.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Texas. MLRA 42. The series is extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jeff Davis County, Texas; 1971.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 17 inches (A and Bt1 horizons)

Argillic horizon - the zone from 7 to 30 inches (Bt horizons)

Calcic horizon - the zone from 30 to 60 inches (Bk horizons)

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010

Update and revisions for Recorrelation of Brewster County, Texas, Main Part, 2/12/08, CEM

Revised for the correlation of Presidio County, Texas ; Oct, 2012, WWJ

ADDITIONAL DATA: Data is available in a Thesis by Larry F. Ratliff for Masters of Science Degree, Texas Technological College, Lubbock, Texas; (also published in Soil Science, Vol. 110, No. 4; pp. 268 to 277) and Lincoln Laboratory, Samples Nos. 66L168 through 66L170.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.