LOCATION CHILTON NM+UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Ustic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Chilton gravelly loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 9 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) gravelly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/2) moist; weak and moderate very fine granular structure; soft, very friable; many fine roots; 25 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent with carbonates on pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bk--9 to 15 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, common fine and medium roots; 35 percent pebbles with calcium carbonate occurring as small concretions and as coatings on the pebbles; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 8 inches thick)
C--15 to 60 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, few medium roots; about 50 percent of this horizon is gravel; but less than in the horizon above; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Torrance County, New Mexico; near the N 1/4 corner of sec. 31, T. 3N., R.6E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil temperature: 48 to 55 degrees F.
Rock fragments: average 35 to 65 percent in the control section. Reaction: moderately to strongly alkaline
A horizon: Hue - 7.5YR through 2.5YR
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 8
Dark colored epipedons are too thin to meet the requirements for a mollic epipedon.
Bk horizon: Hue - 7.5YR through 2.5YR
Value: 4 through 8 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 6
Texture: loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam or sandy loam with 18 percent clay
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 7 to 15 percent
C horizon: Similar color and textures as Bk horizon.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 2 to 10 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Happle (T) and Nihill. Both have hues yellower than 7.5YR.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chilton soils are on alluvial fans and piedmonts at elevations of 5,400 to 6,800 feet. Slopes range from 3 to 30 percent. These soils formed in alluvial sediments derived mostly from sandstone, schist, gneiss and limestone. The average annual precipitation is 10 to 13 inches, of which most falls during the summer. Average annual temperature is about 46 to 53 degrees.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the La Fonda, Naplene, Redbank, Scholle and Witt soils. La Fonda soils are fine-loamy; Naplene soils are fine-silty; Redbank soils are coarse-loamy; and Witt and Scholle soils have argillic horizons. In addition, all of these soils lack skeletal control sections.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; medium runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Grazing and wildlife. Principal plants are blue grama, black grama, and dropseed, cactus, juniper and pinyon.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central New Mexico, southern Utah, southwestern Colorado and northern Arizona. Moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County Area, Utah, 1972.
REMARKS: DIAGNOSTIC HORIZONS AND FEATURES RECOGNIZED IN THIS PEDON ARE:
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 9 inches. (A horizon)
Entisol feature: Lack of diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon. The Bk horizon lacks sufficient calcium carbonate to qualify as a calcic horizon.
National Cooperative Soil Survey