LOCATION BALMORHEA TX+NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, thermic Cumulic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Balmorhea silty clay loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 18 inches, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay loam; black (10YR 2/1) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, very sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores; about 3 percent by volume of fragments of tufa mostly less than 1/2 inch in size; few fine fragments of snail shells; calcareous, moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
A--18 to 28 inches, dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay loam; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, very sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores; about 5 percent by volume of fragments of tufa mostly less than 3/4 inch in size; few fine fragments of snail shells; calcareous, moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 24 inches thick)
Ab--28 to 34 inches, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay; black (10YR 2/1) moist; few fine distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores; about 5 percent by volume of fragments of tufa mostly less than 3/4 inch in size; few fragments of snail shells; calcareous, moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
C1--34 to 40 inches, gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay loam; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) mottles and few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores, about 10 percent by volume of fragments of tufa mostly less than 1/2 inch in size; few fine fragments of snail shells; calcareous, moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 18 inches thick)
C2--40 to 54 inches, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay loam; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few fine fragments of tufa; few fine powdery bodies of calcium carbonate; calcareous, moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 27 inches thick)
C3--54 to 60 inches, pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam; brown (10YR 4/3) moist; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine fragments of tufa; few fine powdery bodies of calcium carbonate; calcareous, moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Reeves County, Texas; 1.8 miles southwest of Balmorhea Post Office on U.S. Highway 290; then 0.15 mile southeast on county road, and 25 feet southwest of road in field.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Combined thickness of the A horizons ranges from - 24 to 48 inches
Particle size control section - The 10- to 40-inch control section is silty clay loam or clay loam, containing 28 to 35 percent silicate clay. Buried layers of silty clay or clay are common
Most pedons contain about 1 to 20 percent fragments of tufa and snail shells. In some pedons there are thin strata containing up to 50 percent fragments of tufa
Mottles - gray, grayish brown, yellowish brown, and yellowish red varying from none to common throughout the profile
Saline and wet phases occur
A horizons
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silty clay, silty clay loam, clay loam, loam, or silt loam.
Structure: weak to moderate fine granular or subangular blocky and medium subangular blocky.
C horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR and 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 7
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silty clay, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Balmorhea soils are on nearly level to depressional areas that are, or were formerly, spring fed marshes. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. The soil formed in recent calcareous silty and loamy alluvium. The climate is arid to semiarid continental. The average annual temperature is about 58 degrees to 68 degrees F., the average annual precipitation ranges from 8 to 16 inches, and Thornthwaite P-E indices about 12 to 22. Elevation ranges from 2500 to 3700 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Dalby, Reeves, Toyah, and Verhalen series. Dalby and Verhalen soils have intersecting slickensides. Reeves soils lack a mollic epipedon and have gypsic mineralogy. Toyah soils are fine-loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; slow surface runoff; moderately slow permeability. A water table is at depths of 2 feet in places.
USE AND VEGETATION: Irrigated cropland and pasture, and rangeland. Crops are cotton, barley, alfalfa, and grain sorghum. Present native vegetation consists of alkali sacaton, fourwing saltbush, mesquite trees, broom snakeweed, and salt cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Trans-Pecos area of southwest Texas and southern New Mexico. These soils are of minor extent; probably about 8 to 10 thousand acres. MLRA 42.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Reeves County, Texas; 1922.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic Epipedon - 0 to 34 inches
Cumulic feature - Represented by stratification of textures
Soil Taxonomy: Ninth Edition 2003
ADDITIONAL DATA: Lincoln Laboratory data available from the Type Location. Sample Nos. 73L1360 through 73L1365. NSSL sample S73TX389001