LOCATION BASCAL NM
Established Series
Rev. CDL/RJA
12/2016
BASCAL SERIES
The Bascal series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in gravelly calcareous loamy alluvium. Bascal soils are on old alluvial terraces. Slopes are 1 to 25 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Ustic Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Bascal gravelly sandy loam--rangeland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).
A1--0 to 2 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine roots; few very fine pores; 25 percent calcium carbonate coated gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary (2 to 7 inches thick).
A2--2 to 7 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine pores; 25 percent calcium carbonate coated gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary (5 to 8 inches thick).
Bk1--7 to 18 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; 40 percent gravel thickly coated with calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary (10 to 13 inches thick).
Bk2--18 to 36 inches; pink (7.5YR 8/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, pink (7.5YR 7/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, moderately sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; 35 percent gravel thickly coated with calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary (18 to 24 inches thick).
2Bk3--36 to 60 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 8/6) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and non-plastic; 35 percent gravel thickly coated with calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Chaves County, New Mexico; 3,675 feet south and 528 feet west of the northwest corner, sec. 31, T. 6 S., R. 26 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic moisture regime
Mean annual soil temperature: 59-62 degrees F.
Depth to calcic horizon: 6 to 20 inches.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 60 percent.
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent weighted average; 30 to 40 percent gravel, 5 to 10 percent cobbles.
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent weighted average of control section.
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 4 or 6
Effervescence: slightly to strongly effervescent
Texture: gravelly sandy loam, gravelly loam
Bk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 5 to 7 moist
Chroma: 4 or 6
Texture: very gravelly loam, very gravelly clay loam, very gravelly sandy clay loam. Discontinuities below 30 inches with very gravelly coarse sandy loam or very gravelly fine sandy loam textures occur in some pedons.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 60 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bankston (NM),
Bascom (NM),
Cienega (TX),
Crotalus (NM)(T), and
Mule (AZ) series. Bankston soils are moderately deep. Bascom soils are in the Great
Plains and are more moist in
May and June. Cienega soils have mean annual soil temperatures of 62 to 67 degrees F. Crotalus soils formed in colluvium derived from tuff at the base of mountains and have calcic horizon from 20 to 35 inches.. Mule soils have less than 18 percent clay in the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bascal soils are on old alluvial terraces and have slopes ranging from 1 to 25 percent. The soils formed in gravelly, loamy calcareous sediments. Elevations range from 3,400 to 5,000 feet. The average annual precipitation is about 11 to 17 inches of which more than one-half occurs in the summer months during heavy thunderstorms. The mean annual temperature is 57 to 61 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 180 to 246 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Alama,
Pajarito,
Reakor,
Sotim, and
Upton soils. Alama, Reakor, and Sotim soils contain less than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. Upton soils contain less than 35 percent rock fragments and have a petrocalcic horizon at a depth of less than 20 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principal use is livestock grazing. Native vegetation is primarily black grama, blue grama, sand dropseed, four-wing saltbush, javelina bush, and creosotebush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern New Mexico. MLRA 42. Bascal soils are of limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chaves County (north part), New Mexico, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: the zone from 0 to 7 inches (A horizon)
Calcic horizon: the zone from 7 to 60 inches (Bk horizon)
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 Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico; September, 2016, NMS
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL, Lincoln, NE, Sample No. S78NM-5-4.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.