LOCATION AGUENA                  NM+TX

Established Series
Rev. DGS/RLB
11/2014

AGUENA SERIES

The Aguena series consists of very deep, excessively drained, moderately rapidly permeable soils that formed in eolian sediments derived dominantly from mixed sources. Aguena soils are on rolling dunes on hills. Slope ranges from 5 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 62 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Ustic Torripsamments

TYPICAL PEDON: Aguena fine sand - rangeland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).

A--0 to 7 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) crushed, fine sand, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) crushed, moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; 5 percent clay, common fine roots and common very fine roots; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); gradual smooth boundary (3 to 9 inches thick).

C--7 to 80 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) crushed, fine sand, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) crushed, moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; 5 percent clay, few fine roots and few very fine roots; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 7.9).

TYPE LOCATION: Otero County, New Mexico; approximately 14.3 miles east and 14.3 miles north of Oro Grande; 400 ft. west and 2150 ft. south of the northeast corner of section 7, T. 20 S., R. 11 E. USGS Culp Canyon topographic quadrangle; latitude: 32 degrees 35 minutes 5.27 seconds north and longitude: 105 degrees 51 minutes 1.02 seconds west. UTM zone 13S, 420198E, 3605387N, NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil Moisture: The moisture control section is usually dry in all parts less than three-fourths of the time that the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. Ustic aridic moisture regime.

Mean annual soil temperature: 61 to 66 degrees F.

Particle-size control section (weighted average):

Clay content: 2 to 8 percent

A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 or 5 moist
Chroma: 4 to 8, dry or moist

C horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 8, dry or moist
Texture: fine sand, loamy fine sand, sand, loamy sand, very fine sand

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Durazo (AZ) and Roswell (NM) soils.
The Durazo soils have buried argillic horizons (2Btb horizons) and have textures coarser than fine sand in the control section. The Roswell soils are moist in the soil moisture control section during May and June and occur in the Great Plains.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Aguena soils are on rolling dunes on limestone hills. They formed in eolian sediments derived dominantly from mixed sources. Slopes range from 5 to 35 percent. Elevation ranges from 4,200 feet to 5, 800 feet. The mean annual air temperature is 60 to 67 degrees F. The frost-free period is 170 to 240 days. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 14 inches. Precipitation falls mostly during the months of July through September. The driest months are March and April.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bissett and Cienega soils. Bissett soils are shallow and very shallow to bedrock and are on limestone hills. Cienega soils are loamy-skeletal and are on fan piedmonts.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Permeability is moderately rapid. Runoff is low on slopes less than 20 percent, medium on slopes greater than 20 percent.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing. Vegetation is of the desert grassland type consisting of giant dropseed, spike dropseed, mesa dropseed, Indian ricegrass, oak spp., littleleaf sumac, sand sagebrush, fourwing saltbush, mesquite, and soaptree yucca.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Trans-Pecos of Texas and southern New Mexico; LRR D, MLRA 42. The series is of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Otero County, New Mexico; 2001.

REMARKS:

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 40 inches (C horizon)

Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 7 inches (A horizon)

Entisol feature: The absence of diagnostic subsurface horizons

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014

Updated competing series section 3/17/08, CEM

Revised for the correlation of Hudspeth County, Texas (Main Part) and Culberson County, Texas (Main Part); July, 2012, NMS

Revised for the correlation of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; October, 2014, NMS

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.