LOCATION CHIMINET NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy, glassy, nonacid, mesic, shallow Vitritorrandic Ustorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Chiminet paracobbly ashy coarse sandy loam -- on a 18 percent southwest slope of an interfluve on a plateau at 6,645 feet elevation, in pinyon and juniper woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) paracobbly ashy coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few medium, common fine and common very fine roots; 20 percent paragravel, 10 percent cobbles, 1 percent stones, and 1 percent boulders; slightly acid (pH 6.4); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
2Bw--2 to 6 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very paracobbly ashy coarse sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few coarse, few medium, common fine and few very fine roots; 20 percent paragravel and 30 percent paracobbles; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)
2Cr--6 to 16 inches; moderately cemented rhyolitic tuff bedrock. (Bandelier Tuff formation)
TYPE LOCATION: Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos County, New Mexico; about 7 miles south-southeast of Los Alamos; USGS Frijoles quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 47 minutes 15 seconds North and Longitude 106 degrees 16 minutes 22.16 seconds West, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Depths given are measured from the mineral surface.)
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section June through September. Ustic regime bordering aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 48 to 57 degrees F.
Depth to paralithic contact: 4 to 20 inches
Volcanic glass content: 50 to 65 percent in the coarse silt plus sand fraction
Acid oxalate extractable Al + 1/2 Fe: 0.01 to 0.10 percent (estimated)
Lithology of fragments: tuff
Particle-size control section
Volcanic glass content: 50 to 65 percent in the coarse silt plus sand fraction
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Texture: ashy sandy loam, paracobbly ashy coarse sandy loam, paragravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, ashy coarse sandy loam
Fragment content: 0 to 35 percent total; 0 to 25 percent paragravel, 0 to 15 percent paracobble, 0 to 10 percent stones and boulders.
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Sand content: 50 to 80 percent
Reaction: slightly acid through slightly alkaline
2Bw or Bw horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Texture: very paracobbly ashy coarse sandy loam, very paracobbly ashy sandy loam, paragravelly ashy coarse sandy loam, paragravelly ashy sandy loam
Fragment content: 15 to 60 percent total; 10 to 30 percent paragravel, 0 to 35 percent paracobble
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Sand content: 50 to 80 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no competitors.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chiminet soils are on shoulders and backslopes of interfluves on mesas and plateaus, and on canyons. They formed in slope alluvium over residuum derived mainly from volcanic tuff of the Bandelier Formation. Slope is 3 to 50 percent. Elevation is 5,900 to 8,000 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches. The mean annual temperature is about 45 to 51 degrees F. The frost-free period is about 125 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Abrojo, Pinitos, and Puye soils. Abrojo soils are ashy-skeletal and very deep and are on south-facing backslopes. Pinitos soils are deep over sandstone and shale and have Bt horizons. Puye soils are 10 to 20 inches deep to a duripan and are strongly calcareous.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderately rapid or rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Chiminet soils are used for fuelwood production, livestock grazing, and wildlife habitat. The historical climax plant community is oneseed juniper, twoneedle pinyon, true mountain mahogany, skunkbush sumac, blue grama, and Indian ricegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central New Mexico. MLRA 36. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 1989. Chiminet is a coined name. The original type location was in Rio Arriba County.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from 0 to 2 inches (A horizon)
Vitrandic feature: based on glass content throughout the pedon.
Paralithic contact: at 6 inches (2Cr layer). The tuff from which this soil is derived is not strongly lithified, and even when not weathered it is only moderately cemented.
Particle-size control section: from 0 to 6 inches.
Series control section: from 0 to 16 inches.
Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.
The classification was changed in 9/2006 from Loamy, mixed (nonacid), mesic, shallow Typic Ustorthents to Ashy, glassy, nonacid, mesic, shallow Vitritorrandic Ustorthents.
The 12/2007 revision moves the type location from the Rio Arriba Area to the typical pedon used in the soil survey of Bandelier National Monument.