LOCATION CATICON NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Vertic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Caticon silty clay - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated).
A--0 to 2 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) crushed, silty clay, brown 7.5YR 4/4) crushed, moist; 37 percent clay; strong very fine granular structure; moderately sticky, very plastic; many very fine roots throughout; violently effervescence, by HCl, 3 normal; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bw1--2 to 8 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) crushed, silty clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) crushed, moist; 37 percent clay; strong coarse prismatic parts to strong coarse subangular blocky structure; very sticky, very plastic; common very fine roots throughout; violently effervescence, by HCl, 3 normal; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--8 to 22 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) crushed, clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) crushed, moist; 40 percent clay; moderate coarse prismatic structure; very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots throughout; violently effervescence, by HCl, 3 normal; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw horizons is 15 to 24 inches.)
Bk1--22 to 35 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) crushed, clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) crushed, moist; 40 percent clay; moderate coarse prismatic structure; very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots throughout; 10 percent fine irregular carbonate masses throughout; violently effervescence, by HCl, 3 normal; slightly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.
Bk2--35 to 80 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) crushed, clay, brown (7.5YR 5/4) crushed, moist; 40 percent clay; moderate coarse prismatic structure; very sticky, very plastic; 15 percent fine irregular carbonate masses throughout; violently effervescence, by HCl, 3 normal; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Dona Ana County, New Mexico; approximately 10.6 miles south and 5.6 miles east of White Sands; 120 feet west and 2,000 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 12, T. 24 S., R. 5 E. USGS Newman NW topographic quadrangle; latitude 32 degrees 14 minutes 12.97 seconds north and longitude 106 degrees 22 minutes 39.43 seconds west. UTM zone 13, 370202E, 3567345N; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: The moisture control section is usually dry in all parts more than three-fourths of the time that the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 63 to 67 degrees F.
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 40 to 60 percent
A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Bw horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: clay or silty clay
Bw2 horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, or moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture: silty clay or clay
Bk horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Calcium carbonates equivalent: 5 to 15 percent calcium carbonates
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Ciervo (CA) series. The Ciervo soils are moderately well drained and have gypsum crystals in most pedons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: pluvial lake sediments and alluvium
Landform: lake plains on basin floors
Slope: 1 to 3 percent
Mean annual temperature: 62 to 66 degrees
Mean annual precipitation: 8 to 10 inches
Precipitation pattern: precipitation falls mostly during the months of July through September. The driest months are March and April. Precipitation during the months of January, February, and March is less than 13 percent of the total.
Frost-free period: 200 to 240 days
Elevation: 3,900 to 4,200 feet
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Copia,
Elizario,
Globe,
Mcnew, and
Pendero soils.
The Copia soils are sandy and are on dunes.
The Elizario soils are fine-loamy and are on slightly depressed alluvial flats on basin floors.
The Globe soils have slickensides and are on depressional lake plains on basin floors.
The Mcnew soils are fine-loamy and are on alluvial flats on basin floors.
The Pendero soils are sandy and on sand sheets on basin floors.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately slow. Runoff is medium.
USE AND VEGETATION: Vegetation is of the Desert Shrub type consisting of tobosa, burrograss, mesquite, and tarbush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico; LRR D, MLRA 42. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dona Ana County, New Mexico, 2001.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: the zone from 10 to 40 inches. (Bw2 Bk1,and Bk2 horizons)
Ochric epipedon: the zone from 0 to 7 inches. (A and Bw1 horizons mixed to 7 inches).
Cambic horizon - 2 to 22 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Vertic properties - a linear extensibility of 6.0 cm or more between the soil surface and a depth of 40 inches.