LOCATION ESPIRITU NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Haplustalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Espiritu very gravelly fine sandy loam--woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; many fine and common medium roots; 30 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
Bt1--6 to 15 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common thin clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 30 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bt2--15 to 22 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 35 percent pebbles, 10 percent cobbles; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bk1--22 to 29 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very cobbly sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine tubular pores; 25 percent pebbles, 25 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; disseminated calcium carbonate and segregated as few medium soft masses; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 21 inches thick)
Bk2--29 to 38 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very cobbly sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; 25 percent pebbles, 25 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; disseminated calcium carbonate and segregated as few, medium, irregular soft masses; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (7 to 20 inches thick)
2C1--38 to 46 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
3C2--46 to 60 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) very gravelly sandy loam, strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) moist; massive; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 35 percent pebbles, 5 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Sandoval County, New Mexico; 11 miles northeast of the Zia Pueblo. State plane coordinates N. 1,658,300 feet and E. 414,000 feet; 106 degrees, 32 minutes, 20 seconds west longitude; 35 degrees, 33 minutes, 26 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture control section is moist in some part during the 120 day following the winter solstice and is moist in all parts less than 25 percent of the time when the soil temperature at 20 inches is above 41 degrees F.
Soil Temperature: 51 to 54 degrees F.
Depth to the base of the Bt horizon: 12 to 25 inches.
Depth to bedrock: In some pedons, 50 to 60 inches.
Particle-size control section - rock fragments, by volume: 30 to 40 percent pebbles, 5 to 20 percent cobbles.
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
A horizon - Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR. Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist. Chroma: 2 through 4. Texture: Extremely cobbly sandy loam, very cobbly loam, very gravelly fine sandy loam very gravelly loam extremely flaggy sandy loam or extremely gravelly sandy clay loam.
Bt horizon - Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR. Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist. Chroma: 3 through 6. Texture: Sandy clay loam, clay loam or sandy loam.
Bk horizon - Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR. Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist. Chroma: 3 through 6. Textures: Very gravelly sandy loam, extremely gravelly sandy loam very gravelly loam, very cobbly sandy clay loam, very cobbly sandy loam, cobbly very fine sandy loam, or channery loam. Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 15 percent.
C horizons - Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR. Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist. Chroma: 3 through 6. Textures: Very gravelly sandy loam, extremely gravelly sandy loam fine sandy loam or very gravelly loam.
In some pedons, the lower C horizons are sand, very gravelly loamy sand or extremely gravelly loamy sand.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Tsezhin(T)(AZ) and Wauquie(NM) series. Closely related series in other families are the Cochiti(NM) and Frijoles(NM) series. Tsezhin soils have calcic horizons with 15 to 35 percent calcium carbonate. Wauquie soils are moist in all parts of the soil moisture control section for 30 to 40 days consecutively during the 120 days following the winter solstice. Cochiti soils are clayey-skeletal. Frijoles soils are loamy-skeletal over fragmental.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Espiritu soils formed in gravelly alluvium, colluvium and residuum and are on mesas, mountain slopes, landslides of escarpments and dissected pediments. Slopes are 8 to 75 percent. The mean annual temperature is 48 to 53 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches. Elevation ranges from 5,500 to 8,000 feet. The frost-free period is 110 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Waumac and the closely related Cochiti and Wauquie soils. Waumac soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; moderately permeable.
USE AND VEGETATION: Use is for livestock grazing and woodland. The present vegetation is pinyon and oneseed juniper with a sparse understory of galleta, blue grama, hairy grama, sideoats grama and snakeweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northcentral and northwestern New Mexico. The Espiritu series is of small extent. MLRA 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sandoval County, New Mexico; 1987.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: The zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 6 inches. (A horizon)
Argillic horizon: The zone from about 6 to 22 inches. (Bt1, Bt2 horizons)
Particle-size control section: The zone from about 6 to 22 inches has greater than 35 percent rock fragments. (Bt1, Bt2 horizons)