LOCATION CYMERY NMTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy-skeletal, glassy, frigid Lithic Haplustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Cymery very gravelly ashy sandy loam--on a backslope of an undulating plateau sloping 29 percent to the south-southwest at 8,429 feet elevation--forestland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on August 30, 2000, the soil was dry throughout.) Surface is covered with 2 percent stones and 3 percent boulders.
Oi--0 to 1 inch; slightly decomposed needles, twigs and cones; clear smooth boundary. (1 or 2 inches thick)
A--1 to 5 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly ashy sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few coarse, few medium, few fine, and common very fine roots; 35 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 2 percent stones, and 3 percent boulders; neutral (pH 7.3); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bw1--5 to 9 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) very gravelly ashy sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common coarse, few medium, common fine, and common very fine roots; 40 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 2 percent stones, and 3 percent boulders; neutral (pH 7.2); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
Bw2--9 to 13 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) very gravelly ashy sandy loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common coarse, few medium, common fine, and few very fine roots; 40 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 2 percent stones, and 3 percent boulders; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
R--13 inches; strongly cemented rhyolitic tuff bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Bandelier National Monument, Los Alamos County, New Mexico; USGS Bland 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; about 5 miles southwest of Los Alamos; Latitude 35 degrees 49 minutes 31.82 seconds North and Longitude 106 degrees 23 minutes 13.88 seconds West, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: (Depths given are measured from the mineral soil surface)
Soil moisture - The soil moisture control section (SMCS) is moist in all parts from January to May and intermittently moist in some part from June to December. The SMCS is dry in all parts less than 40 percent of the time and dry in some or all parts more than 105 cumulative days when the soil temperature at 20 inches (50 cm) is above 41 degrees F. The soil moisture regime is typic ustic.
Average annual soil temperature: 45 to 47 degrees F
Depth to base of cambic horizon and lithic contact: 11 to 19 inches
Lithology of rock fragments: Rhyolitic tuff
Oxalate extractble Al + 1/2Fe: .01 to .10 percent (estimated)
Particle-size control section:
Rock fragment content: 35 to 70 percent
Volcanic glass content: 75 to 90 percent in the coarse silt plus sand fraction
A horizon
Value: 3 to 6 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: very gravelly ashy sandy loam or gravelly ashy sandy loam
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Sand content: 55 to 70 percent
Rock fragments: total range is 26 to 50 percent
20 to 40 percent gravel
5 to 10 percent cobbles
0 to 4 percent stones
1 to 4 percent boulders
Bw horizons
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: very gravelly ashy sandy loam, very cobbly ashy sandy loam, or extremely gravelly ashy sandy loam
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Sand content: 55 to 70 percent
Rock fragments: total range is 40 to 70 percent
35 to 55 percent gravel
5 to 20 percent cobbles
0 to 4 percent stones
0 to 4 percent boulders
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. A similar soil in another family is the Urioste series. Urioste soils are in the mesic temperature regime and do not have cambic horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cymery soils are on backslopes of undulating plateaus and north-facing canyon sides. They formed in colluvium derived locally from Quaternary age rhyolitic tuff. Slopes are 15 to 60 percent. Elevation ranges from 6,900 to 8,600 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 16 to 24 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 43 to 45 degrees F. The frost-free period is 110 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cajete, Hoxoh, Jemez, and Tschicoma soils. Cajete soils are ashy-pumiceous, have mollic epipedons, and occur on north-facing backslopes of undulating plateaus. Hoxoh soils are ashy-skeletal, have mollic epipedons, and are on summits and shoulders of undulating plateaus. Jemez soils are fine-loamy, have argillic horizons, and are on summits of undulating plateaus. Tschicoma soils are fine-loamy, have mollic epipedons and argillic horizons, and occur on footslopes and toeslopes of undulating plateaus.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cymery soils are used for recreation and wildlife habitat. Present vegetation includes ponderosa pine, limber pine, white fir, Douglas fir, mountain mahogany, Gambel oak, and New Mexico locust.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cymery soils are of small extent on the southwestern Jemez Volcanic Field part of the Southern Rocky Mountain province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 48A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana.
SERIES PROPOSED: Los Alamos County, New Mexico; Bandelier National Monument Soil Survey, 2000. Cymery is a coined name.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 1 to 5 inches. (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - The zone from 5 to 13 inches. (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
Lithic contact - at 13 inches. (R layer)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 1 to 13 inches (A, Bw1, and Bw2 horizons)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999.