LOCATION TURLEY NM+COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, calcareous, mesic Typic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Turley clay loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 3 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots; few fine pores; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 16 inches thick)
Ck1--3 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots; few fine and medium pores; few fine specks of calcium carbonate disseminated throughout; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 19 inches thick)
Ck2--10 to 57 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; common fine specks and filaments of calcium carbonates; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (37 to 52 inches thick)
Ck3--57 to 81 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) clay loam, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; few fine tubular pores; common fine soft masses of calcium carbonate; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.6).
TYPE LOCATION: San Juan County, New Mexico, in Glade Canyon near Farmington; 2500 feet south, 500 feet west of the NE corner of Sec. 5, T. 29 N., R. 13 W.; 108 degrees, 13 minutes, 10 second west longitude; 36 degrees, 45 minutes, 21 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature: 51 to 58 degrees F.
Soil moisture: Dry in all parts of the soil moisture control section 75 percent or more of the time the soil temperature is above 41 degrees F. The driest periods are May and June.
Control section: averages 18 to 35 percent clay
Reaction: Mildly to strongly alkaline
Electrical conductivity: 0 to 4 mmhos/cm
Rock fragments: 0 to 10 percent pebbles
A horizon: Hue - 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 5 dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or clay loam.
C horizon: Hue - 7.5YR through 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 7 dry or moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture: sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam or silty clay loam. Strata of silt loam or fine sandy loam are present in some pedons. In the Grand Valley area in Western Colorado the lower C horizons have stratified loam to silty clay loam textures
COMPETING SERIES: The only current competitor is the Norland series. Norland soils have a xeric soil moisture pattern being drier for longer periods during the summer.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Turley soils occur on terraces, fan remnants, and alluvial fans and have slopes of 0 to 8 percent. They formed in moderately fine textured alluvium or eolian materials derived from sandstone and shale. Elevations are 4500 to 6400 feet. The average annual precipitation is 4 to 10 inches. The average annual temperature is about 53 degrees F. The frost-free period is about 140 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Avalon, Fruitland, and Stumble soils. Avalon soils have a calcic horizon. Fruitland soils are coarse-loamy. Stumble soils are sandy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; low runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Irrigated cropland and urban development. Present native vegetation is galleta, blue grama, western wheatgrass and alkali sacaton. Irrigated crops are alfalfa, corn, sorghum, pasture and apples.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The San Juan basin of northwestern New Mexico and the Grand Valley area of western Colorado. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Juan County, Eastern part, New Mexico, 1977.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - zone from the surface to 3 inches.(A horizon)
Entisol feature - Lack of diagnostic horizons and features.
This series has been mapped too broadly in New Mexico. In New Mexico it occurs in both the typic aridic-no big sagebrush zone and the ustic aridic-big sagebrush zone. In any future update those Turley components that occur in the ustic aridic-big sagebrush areas should be correlated to another series. The central concept for this soil is now one of a typic aridic soil moisture regime lacking big sagebrush. The current profile appears very close to having a cambic horizon, thus possibly classifying as a Typic Haplocambid. The original author apparently did not think the secondary carbonates were pedogenic and described them as Ck rather than Bk horizons. Until the type location can be revisited to confirm a cambic with Bk horizons the subgroup will remain as Typic Torriorthents. The classification was changed from fine-loamy, mixed, active, calcareous, mesic Typic Torriorthents to fine-loamy, mixed, active, calcareous, mesic Typic Torriorthents 8/2004.
The active cation exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from similar soils derived in similar parent materials.