LOCATION CULBERSPETH             TX

Established Series
JAC
07/2012

CULBERSPETH SERIES

The Culberspeth series consists of soils that are very shallow and shallow to a petrocalcic horizon, well drained soils formed in colluvium and alluvium from mixed but dominantly limestone sources. These soils occur on alluvial fans, fan piedmonts, and fan remnants. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 65 degrees F. (18 degrees C) and the mean annual precipitation is about 13 inches (330 mm).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Calcic Petrocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Culberspeth gravelly loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 2 inches, (0 to 5 cm); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; 16 percent clay; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; 23 percent subrounded limestone gravel; 21 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); clear smooth boundary (1 to 8 inches [2 to 20 cm] thick)

Bk--2 to 8 inches, (5 to 20 cm); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; 25 percent clay; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; 25 percent subangular limestone gravel; 10 percent fine carbonate masses; 24 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); very abrupt smooth boundary (5 to 15 inches [13 to 38 cm] thick).

Bkkm--8 to 40 inches, (20 to 102 cm); indurated calcium carbonate; violently effervescent.

TYPE LOCATION: Hudspeth County, Texas; from the junction of Interstate Highway 10 and FM 1111 in Sierra Blanca; 4.7 miles south on FM 1111; 1.8 miles southeast on Indian Hot Springs Road; and 2.8 miles south on dirt road. (Sierra Blanca SW QUAD, TX USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude: 31 degrees, 03 minutes, 14.29 seconds North; Longitude: 105 degrees, 22 minutes, 45.13 seconds West, NAD83; UTM easting 463819 m, UTM northing 3435645 m, UTM Zone 13, NAD83.)

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture: The soil is moist in the epipedon for less than 90 cumulative days in 7 out of 10 years during the growing season, driest during May and June. They are in the Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.

Soil temperature: 61 to 66 degrees F. (16 to 19 degrees C)

Depth to petrocalcic horizon: 6 to 20 inches (15 to 50 cm)

Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 13 to 27 percent
Rock fragment content: 10 to 35 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 35 percent

A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam
Effervescence class: slight to strong
Reaction: moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline

Bk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam
Effervescence class: strong to violent
Reaction: moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline

Bkkm horizon
Cementation class: indurated in the upper part and indurated to strongly cemented in the lower part

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bella (AZ) and Shumla (TX) series.
Bella soils contain gypsum in the lower part of the profile. Shumla soils have a lithic contact.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Culberspeth soils are on fan remnants and alluvial fans of piedmont slopes. The elevation is 4,000 to 5,500 feet (1,219 to 1,676 m). Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. They developed in alluvium and colluvium from mixed, but predominantly limestone bedrock. The mean annual air temperature is 62 to 67 degrees F. (17 to 19 degrees C). The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches (305 to 406 mm). Frost-free period ranges from 210 to 250 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bissett (TX), Chilicotal (TX), and Kahn (AZ) soils. Bissett soils have a lithic contact of limestone and are on side slopes and ridgetops at higher elevations. Chilicotal and Kahn soils do not have a petrocalcic horizon and occur on similar positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate in the upper part and very slow in the petrocalcic horizon. Runoff is medium.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation consists of black grama, burrograss, creosote bush, fluffgrass, sideoats grama, tarbush, and western honey mesquite.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Trans-Pecos Texas, LRR D, MLRA 42, Southern Desertic Basins, Plains, and Mountains. The series is of minor extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hudspeth County, Texas; Soil Survey of Hudspeth County, Texas (Main Part), 2012.

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

Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 2 inches (0 to 5 cm) (A horizon)

Calcic horizon - the zone from 2 to 8 inches (5 to 20 cm) (Bk horizon)

Petrocalcic horizon - the zone from 8 to 40 inches (20 to 102 cm) (Bkkm horizon)

Soil classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010

Revised for the correlation of Hudspeth County, Texas (Main Part) and Culberson County, Texas (Main Part); July, 2012, NMS

ADDITIONAL DATA: None

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.