LOCATION ESPINOS NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic, shallow Ustic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Espinos very gravelly coarse sandy loam--on the shoulder of a low hill sloping 13 percent to the east-southeast (121 degrees) at 6,141 feet elevation. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described on September 18, 2001, the soil was dry throughout)
A--0 to 1 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium and few fine roots; common medium irregularly shaped pores; 30 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; 20 percent paragravel; strongly effervescent, (2 percent CaCO3 equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bk1--1 to 6 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) very gravelly coarse sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many medium and many fine roots; common medium irregularly shaped pores; 30 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; 20 percent paragravel; strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on rock fragments (3 percent CaCO3 equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 14 inches thick)
2Bk2--6 to 12 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) very gravelly sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium and few fine roots; few medium irregularly shaped pores; 45 percent gravel; 20 percent paragravel; strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on rock fragments (4 percent CaCO3 equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
2BCk--12 to 16 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) very gravelly loamy sand, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; few medium irregularly shaped pores; 50 percent gravel; 20 percent paragravel; strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on rock fragments (5 percent CaCO3 equivalent); moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
2Crk--16 to 26 inches; moderately cemented bedrock; secondary calcium carbonates segregated as few fine irregularly shaped accumulations as seams and filaments on fractured bedrock; (Espinaso Formation)
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Rancho Alegre Road area, 3.5 miles north northeast of Cerrillos; USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 28 minutes 37.8 seconds North and Longitude 106 degrees 5 minutes 28.4 seconds West; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - The soil moisture control section is intermittently moist in some part from July to October and December to March. The soils are driest in May and June. The soil moisture regime is ustic aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 52 to 54 degrees F.
Soil depth - 10 to 20 inches.
Particle-size control section weighted averages:
Silicate clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Sand content: 65 to 85 percent
Fine sand or coarser content: 55 to 70 percent
Rock fragment content: 45 to 50 percent
Salinity, mmhos/cm - 0 to 1
Sodicity, SAR - 0 to 1
A horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent gravel
0 to 10 percent cobbles
Bk horizons
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry, 2 to 6 moist
Texture: very gravelly coarse sandy loam, extremely gravelly sandy loam, very gravelly sandy loam
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 70 percent, mostly gravel
2Bk2 horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3 dry or moist
Texture: very gravelly coarse sandy loam, very gravelly sandy loam
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mostly gravel
2BCk horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 1 or 2 dry or moist
Texture: very gravelly loamy sand, very gravelly coarse sandy loam
Clay content: 4 to 8 percent
Rock fragments: 40 to 55 percent, mostly gravel
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Crosscan series. Crosscan soils do not have visible secondary calcium carbonate.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Espinos soils are on beveled summits, shoulders and backslopes of low hills. They formed in eolian material and slope alluvium over residuum derived from extrusive igneous Espinaso formation. Slopes are 5 to 40 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,600 to 6,600 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 13 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 50 to 52 degrees F. The frost-free period is 150 to 170 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Khapo, Paraje, and Puertecito soils. Khapo soils are coarse-loamy, are very deep, and are on summits of fan remnants. Paraje soils are very deep and are on lower backslopes of hills. Puertecito soils have argillic horizons and are on shoulders and backslopes of hills.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Espinos soils are used for recreation, urban development, and watershed. The historic climax vegetation is blue grama, black grama, New Mexico feathergrass, sideoats grama, twoneedle pinyon, and oneseed juniper. The ecological site is Gravelly(R036XB114NM).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Espinos soils are of small extent on the southeastern Espanola Basin part of the Mexican Highlands section of the Basin and Range province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Santa Fe Area Soil Survey Update, 2008. Espinos is a Spanish word for spines or thornbushes.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 1 inch. (A horizon)
Paralithic contact - The boundary at about 16 inches to underlying moderately cemented bedrock (Crk layer).
Particle-size control section The zone from 10 to 16 inches (part of Bk and 2BCk horizons)
Series control section The zone from 0 to 26 inches (all horizons and upper 10 inches of Crk layer).
Taxonomic version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.