LOCATION SUTHERLAND AZInactive Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic, shallow Calcic Petrocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Sutherland gravelly fine sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) 35 to 55 percent of the surface is covered with gravel and hardpan fragments.
A--0 to 1 inch; brown (7.5YR 5/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine roots; common fine vesicular pores; 28 percent gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (.5 to 3 inches thick)
Bk1--1 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) very gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; common fine irregular and tubular pores; many distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; 37 percent gravel; violently effervescent, 41 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary.
Bk2--8 to 18 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) very gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; few fine tubular pores; many distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; 42 percent gravel; violently effervescent, 60 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bk horizons is 4 to 17 inches)
2Bkm--18 to 42 inches; fractured hardpan; extremely hard, strongly cemented by calcium carbonate; weakly to strongly cemented below laminar cap (.25 to .5 inch thick); violently effervescent; clear smooth boundary. (12 to 42 inches thick)
3Ck--42 to 60 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/3) very gravelly sandy loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/3) moist; massive; hard to very hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; weakly cemented by calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Cochise County, Arizona; southeast of the town of Tombstone; 1250 feet west and 2380 feet north of the southeast corner of section 18, T. 20 S., R. 22 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-September and December-February. Driest during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil Temperature: 62 to 69 degrees F.
Rock Fragments: Averages more than 35 percent
Depth to petrocalcic horizon: 5 to 20 inches. Commonly more than 1 foot thick; some are as much as 42 inches thick; others occur as thin (4 to 10 inch) horizons interlayered with gravelly loamy material.
Depth to calcic horizon: 1 to 20 inches
Organic matter: 1 percent or more in the surface
Reaction: slightly to moderately alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: Averages 40 to 60 percent above the hardpan; ranges from 30 to 60 percent in any one subhorizon
Clay content: averages 5 to 18 percent in the control section
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 through 8 dry, 3, through 5, moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Bk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, loam, fine sandy loam (less than 18 percent clay)
Ck horizon (when present)
Value: 6 or 7, dry or moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, fine sandy loam
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ferrogold (NV), Infantry (NM), Neso (NM), Orrubo (AZ), Paisano (TX), Philder (NM), Sequite (NV), Tencee (NM), Wechech (NV), and Wodovar (NV) series. Ferrogold, Orrubo, Wechech, and Wodovar soils are in the Mohave Desert receive mostly winter precipitation and are usually dry from April through November. Neso soils have mean annual soil temperatures of 59 to 62 degrees F. In addition, Neso soils are in the Pecos-Canadian Plains and Valleys and are more moist in May and June. Orrubo soils have Cr horizons below the hardpan at depths between 17 and 30 inches. Tencee soils are drier in the control section for longer periods (typic/aridic). Philder soils have more than 18 percent clay in the upper part of the B horizon. Infantry, Paisano, and Sequite soils are inactive.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sutherland soils are on fan terraces and have slopes of 1 to 45 percent. These soils formed in fan alluvium from mixed sources. Elevation ranges from 3,800 to 5,200 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches. The mean annual air temperature is 60 to 67 degrees F. The frost-free period is 180 to 250 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Mabray, Stronghold and Tombstone soils. Mabray soils have bedrock at depths less than 20 inches. Stronghold and Tombstone soils are very deep.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well and somewhat excessively drained; medium runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Sutherland soils are used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and Watershed research. The present vegetation is creosotebush, tarbush, whitethorn acacia, bush muhly and fluffgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Arizona. This series is not extensive. MLRA is 41.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cochise County, Arizona; Soil survey of Cochise County, Arizona, Douglas-Tombstone Part; 1996.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 1 inch (A horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 1 to 18 inches (Bk1, Bk2 horizons)
Petrocalcic horizon - The zone from 18 to 42 inches (2Bkm horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.