LOCATION DEACON                  NM

Established Series
Rev. RHM
08/2011

DEACON SERIES

Typically, Deacon soils have very friable, granular A horizons, brown, calcareous, loam B2 horizons having prismatic and blocky structure, and brown and yellowish brown, loam Cca horizons.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Deacon loam - grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A1--0 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium and fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many dark mineral grains and fragments of basalt in the sand and silt fractions; mildly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear smooth boundary. (7 to 20 inches thick)

B21--10 to 16 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; moderate coarse prismatic structure that parts to moderate medium subangular blocks; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; peds are hard; many dark mineral grains and fragments of basalt in the sand and silt fractions; 5 percent basalt stones; few glossy patches on peds and in root channels; mildly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 20 inches thick)

B22--16 to 26 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; moderate coarse prismatic structure that parts to moderate medium subangular blocks; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; peds are hard; many dark mineral grains and fragments of basalt in the sand and silt fractions; 5 percent basalt stones; few thin patchy clay films on peds and in root channels; calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 20 inches thick)

C1ca--26 to 48 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; hard, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many dark mineral grains and fragments of basalt in the sand and silt fractions; 10 percent basalt stones; visible secondary calcium carbonate occurring as concretions, in thin seams and streaks and as coatings on rock fragments; calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)

C2--48 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many dark mineral grains and fragments of basalt in the sand and silt fractions; 10 percent basalt stones; some visible secondary calcium carbonate but much less than in the horizon above; calcareous; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).

TYPE LOCATION: Mesa County, Colorado; approximately 3/4 mile east of Mesa, Colorado, in SE 1/4 of section 20, T.10S., R.96W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to uniformly calcareous material ranges from 5 to 30 inches. Depth to continuous genetic horizons if visible secondary calcium carbonate ranges from 12 to 35 inches. The control section is usually loam or clay loam, but clay ranges from 18 to 35 percent, silt from 10 to 55 percent and sand from 15 to 65 percent with less than 35 percent fine or coarser sand. Rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent in a major part of the control section and are mainly 10 to 24 inches in diameter. Sand and silt fractions contain 2 to 20 percent or more dark ferromagnesian rich minerals and fragments of basalt, and rock fragments are mainly basalt stones. The A horizon has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist, and chroma of 1 through 3. It is neutral or mildly alkaline. The B2 horizon has hue of 2.5Y through 7.5YR, value of 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist, and chroma of 1 through 6. It is neutral or moderately alkaline. The C horizon has hue of 5Y through 7.5YR. It is moderately or strongly alkaline, and has 3 to 14 percent calcium carbonate equivalent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Capps, Chugter, Fishers, Ortiz and Shirk series. Capps soils have 20 to 60 percent calcium carbonate in the Cca horizon. Chugter soils have hue of 5YR or redder. Fishers soils are noncalcareous to depths of more than 40 inches and lack horizons of secondary carbonate accumulation. Ortiz and Shirk soils have a paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Deacon soils are on alluvial fans and valley sideslopes. Slopes typically range from about 2 to 40 percent. The soils formed in thick, calcareous, medium to moderately fine textured materials weathered from igneous and sedimentary rocks. At the type location the mean annual precipitation is about 15 inches with nearly equal precipitation in all months. Mean annual temperature is 46 degrees F., mean summer temperature is 66 degrees F.

PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Fishers soils and the Saunders soils. Saunders soils have an ochric epipedon and have more than 15 percent rock fragments in the C horizon.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; slow to rapid runoff; moderate or moderately slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for grazing or irrigated cropland. Native vegetation is sage, juniper, western wheatgrass, native bluegrass, blue grama, side oats and ring muhly.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Colorado and northeastern New Mexico. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Colfax County, New Mexico, 1974.

OSED scanned by SSQA. Last revised by state on 6/74.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.