LOCATION BERLAND NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Argiustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Berland loam -- on a structural bench sloping 1 percent to the southwest at 8,910 feet elevation -- rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the soil was moist from 0 to 5 inches and dry from 5 to 9 inches.)
A-- 0 to 2 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate thick platy structure parting to moderate medium granular; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and many very fine roots; common very fine irregularly shaped pores; 5 percent gravel and channers; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (1 or 2 inches thick)
Bt1-- 2 to 6 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; few thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; slightly acid (pH 6.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
Bt2-- 6 to 9 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/3) sandy clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 5 percent gravel and 5 percent channers; slightly acid (pH 6.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 or 3 inches thick)
2R-- 9 inches; hard sandstone bedrock
TYPE LOCATION: San Juan County, New Mexico; on the Navajo Indian Reservation about 7 miles southwest of Toadlena; 1,600 feet south and 2,250 feet east of the northwest corner of section 13, T.22N., R.20W; Latitude 36 degrees 8 minutes 36 seconds North, and Longitude 108 degrees 55 minutes 36 seconds West.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Typically, the soil moisture control section (SMCS) is moist in all parts from January to May and intermittently moist in some part from June to December. The SMCS is moist in all parts less than 40 percent of the time (cumulative), when the soil temperature at 20 inches is 41 degrees F or higher. Typic ustic moisture regime.
Soil temperature - 42 to 44 degrees F.
Soil depth - 6 to 10 inches to bedrock
Reaction - medium or slightly acid
Particle - size control section - clay content: 18 to 35 percent
Sand content 35 to 65 percent fine sand or coarser
Rock fragments - 0 to 15 percent total
Depth to base of Mollic epipedon - 6 to 10 inches
Depth to base of Argillic horizon - 6 to 10 inches
Organic matter content: 1 to 3 percent
A horizon
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent
0 to 5 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent channers (less than 3 inches)
0 to 5 percent flagstones (less than 10 inches long)
Reaction: medium to slightly acid
Bt horizons
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent
0 to 5 percent gravel
0 to 10 percent channers (less than 3 inches long)
Reaction: slightly acid to neutral
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Beje (UT), Bonjea (WY), Cedric (MT), Coni (CO), Connieo (MT), Kiln (NM), Skyute (CO) and Viewpoint (NM) series. Beje, Bonjea, Cedric, and Connieo soils are moist in the soil moisture control section during May and June. Coni, Skyute, and Viewpoint soils have bedrock at 10 to 20 inches. Kiln soils contain up to 35 percent rock fragments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Berland soils are on structural benches and knolls of undulating plateaus. They formed in alluvium derived from Tertiary sandstone. Slopes range from 1 to 15 percent. Elevation ranges from 8,400 to 9,200 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 20 to 22 inches with more than 50 percent falling as snow from winter storms. The mean annual temperature is 40 to 42 degrees F. The average frost-free period is 80 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Akhoni, Bikeyah, Captom, Klizhin and Retaw soils. Akhoni soils are 10 to 20 inches to sandstone, are wooded, and lack argillic horizons. Bikeyah soils are very deep, somewhat poorly drained, lack argillic horizons and occur on adjacent toeslopes. Captom soils are deep, have sandy epipedons and occur on steep backslopes. Klizhin soils are deep and very deep, lack argillic horizons, and occur on footslopes. Retaw soils are very poorly drained and have standing water on the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderate permeability
USE AND VEGETATION: Berland soils are used for livestock grazing. Present vegetation is Kentucky bluegrass, mountain muhly, blue grama, Arizona fescue, rose pussytoes, needleleaf sedge and small forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Berland soils are of small extent on the Defiance Upwarp-Chuska Mountains portion of the Colorado Plateau Province in northwest New Mexico and northeast Arizona. MLRA 35; LRR-D.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Shiprock Area, Parts of San Juan County, New Mexico and Apache County, Arizona; 1993.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 9 inches (A, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 2 to 9 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Lithic contact - the boundary with hard sandstone bedrock at 9 inches (2R horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.
Updates and revisions for MLRA consistency, February 26, 2008, DWD.