LOCATION CAMINO             NM
Established Series
Rev. DS/LH/RJA/WWJ
12/2003

CAMINO SERIES


The Camino series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in material derived from shale on valley sides and undulating plateaus. Slopes are 1 to 7 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 53 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Ustic Haplocambids

TYPICAL PEDON: Camino silty clay loam rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 2 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) silty clay loam, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; weak fine subangular block structure; soft, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

Bw1--2 to 5 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) clay, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine and very fine roots; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)

Bw2--5 to 20 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) clay, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine and very fine roots; strongly effervescent, few fine masses of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (7 to 20 inches)

Bk--20 to 51 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) clay, olive (5Y 5/3) moist; massive; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; 5 percent shale fragments; strongly effervescent; common fine soft masses of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

2Cr--51 to 60 inches; soft olive shale.

TYPE LOCATION: Sandoval County, New Mexico; Alamo Ranch; 800 feet south and 400 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 14, T. 14 N., R. 1 W

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture: Dry in all parts of the soil moisture control section 50 to 75 percent of the time that the soil temperature is above 41 degrees F. Moist during December and January and moist in some part periodically July through September.

Soil temperature: 54 to 56 degrees

Depth to bedrock: 40 to more than 60 inches.

Reaction: slightly to moderately alkaline.

Particle size control section

Clay content: 40 to 50 percent.

Rock fragments: 0 to 10 percent gravel

Salinity, mmhos/cm: 2 to 4

A horizon
Hue: 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4

Bw and Bk horizons
Hue: 2.5Y or 5Y
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Calcium carbonate equivalent: Less than 15 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Litle and Losmarios series. Litle soils have a paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. Losmarios soils have 10YR hues.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Camino soils are on undulating plateaus and valley side slopes. They have slopes of 1 to 7 percent. The climate is semiarid. Mean annual precipitation is about 10 to 12 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 52 to 54 degrees F. Elevations are 5,700 to 6,600 feet. The frost-free period is 120 to 140 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Sandoval, and Sparank soils. Sandoval soils have paralithic contacts at less than 20 inches. Sparank soils are stratified soils on flood plains.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Camino soils are used for livestock grazing. The present vegetation is alkali sacaton, western wheatgrass, and galleta.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northcentral New Mexico. Series is of small extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sandoval County, New Mexico, 1979.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to a depth of 2 inches
(A horizon).

Cambic horizon - The zone from about 2 to 20 inches (Bw1, Bw2 horizons).

Secondary calcium carbonates - The zone from about 20 to 51 inches
(Bk horizon).

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.