LOCATION CASCAJO CO+NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Ustic Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Cascajo very gravelly sandy loam, grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 6 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; common very fine roots; 40 percent pebbles, 15 percent cobbles; weakly calcareous; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
AC--6 to 10 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; common very fine roots; 40 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobble; slightly calcareous; moderately alkaline; clear irregular boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Ck--10 to 21 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) very gravelly sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, loose; few very fine roots; 40 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles; strongly calcareous and thick lime coatings on pebbles and cobbles; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 24 inches thick)
C--21 to 48 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) stratified very gravelly loamy coarse sand and very gravelly sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose; 40 percent pebbles, 15 percent cobbles; strongly calcareous; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Pueblo County, Colorado; northwest 1/4 of southeast 1/4 of Sec. 15, T. 21 S., R. 64 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mean annual soil temperature is about 52 degrees F., mean summer soil temperature is about 69 degrees F. Colors throughout the profile range from 7.5YR through 2.5Y in hue, 2 through 4 in chroma, and 4 through 8 in value. Texture of the A, AC, and Ck horizons are modified with pebbles and cobbles and range from gravelly sandy loam through very gravelly or extremely cobbly sand or sandy loam.
The C horizon may range to extremely cobbly loamy sand or sand.
The A horizon is mildly to moderately alkaline.
Volume of coarse fragments in the C ranges from 35 to 80 percent with 5 to 30 percent larger than 3 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: The closely related Pala soils lack a calcic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cascajo soils are on terrace edges, hills, knolls and ridges. Slopes range from 2 to 40 percent. The soils formed in very gravelly and sandy alluvium that ranges from about 4 to 20 feet thick over shale or sandstone. Mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and average annual temperature is about 52 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Otero, Harvey, Stoneham, and the competing Pala soils. Otero soils lack a calcic horizon and are coarse, loamy. Harvey and Stoneham soils are fine, loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; rapid permeability; slow runoff.
USE AND VEGETATION: Primarily used for grazing, dominantly short and mid grasses. Many areas are used as source of sand and gravel.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Colorado and New Mexico. The series is of moderate extent and individual areas are long and narrow, usually bordering major drainageways.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Denver, Colorado
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Upper Rio Puerco Reconnaissance Soil Survey, New Mexico, 1940.
REMARKS: Cascajo soils have been correlated in Prowers County, Otero County, Bent County, Crowley County, and Pueblo County Area of Colorado, and in all areas are sandy-skeletal.