LOCATION ESQUILA NMTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Haplustalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Esquila sandy loam--on a toeslope of a plateau sloping 4 percent to the north-northwest at 7,830 feet elevationponderosa pine forestland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.
O--0 to 2 inches; slightly decomposed needles, twigs, and cones. (1 or 2 inches thick)
A1--2 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine roots; few very fine interstitial pores; 2 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary.
A2--3 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few medium and common fine roots; 12 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (combined thickness of the A horizons is 4 to 10 inches)
E--8 to 9 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak medium platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few coarse, few medium, and common fine roots; 10 percent gravel; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 17 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay, strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) moist; moderate medium angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, moderately sticky and very plastic, common very coarse, few coarse, common medium, and few fine roots; common medium and few fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent gravel; neutral (pH 7.2); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
2Bt2--17 to 20 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) very paragravelly clay, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; few medium tubular pores; 55 percent paragravel; neutral (pH 7.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
2R--20 to 30 inches; very strongly cemented sandstone bedrock
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; about 4.5 miles south southwest of Glorieta on Fangio Mesa; 1,100 feet east and 1,200 feet north of the southwest corner of section 11, T.15N., R.11E.; USGS Pecos 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 32 minutes 20 seconds North and Longitude 105 degrees 44 minutes 17 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 some part less than 60 percent of the time when the soil temperature at 20 inches is above 41 degrees F. The soil moisture regime is typic ustic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 47 to 49 degrees F.
Depth to base of argillic horizon 11 to 20 inches
Organic matter content - 1 to 2 percent
Reaction - neutral throughout
Salinity, dS/m - 0 to 1
Sodicity, SAR - 0 to 1
Particle-size control section weighted averages: -
Silicate clay content: 40 to 45 percent
Sand content: 25 to 45 percent
Fine sand or coarser content: 15 to 30 percent
Rock fragment content: 5 to 15 percent, lithology of fragments is sandstone
A1 horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 to 4 5 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3 dry or moist
Rock fragments: total range is 0 to 14 percent with 0 to 5 percent gravel and 0 to 10 percent cobbles
Organic matter content 1 to 2 percent
Other features: Some pedons have 15 to 30 percent stones
A2 horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry, 1 to 3 moist
Texture: sandy loam and cobbly sandy loam
Rock fragments: total range is 0 to 20 percent with 0 to 10 percent gravel and 0 to 10 percent cobbles
Organic matter content: 1 to 2 percent
E horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3, dry or moist
Texture: loamy sand or sandy loam
Rock fragments: total range is 0 to 14 percent with 0 to 10 percent gravel and 0 to 5 percent cobbles
Bt1 horizons
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Texture: clay or cobbly clay
Rock fragments: total range is 0 to 35 percent with 0 to 5 percent gravel and 0 to 30 percent cobbles
2Bt2 horizon
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 6 dry or moist
Pararock fragments: 35 to 60 percent, mostly paragravel
Other features: some pedons have less than 35 percent pararock fragments
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Dye (AZ) and Highdye (NM) series. Dye and Highdye soils are both in the aridic ustic moisture regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Esquila soils are on lower summit areas of plateaus. They formed in slope alluvium and eolian deposits over residuum derived from Permian age sandstone and shale. Slopes are 2 to 5 percent. Elevation ranges from 6,700 to 8,100 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 16 to 18 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 45 to 47 degrees F. The frost-free period is 110 to 130 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Altezita, Estrada, Herrada, Sabroso, and Verano soils. Altezita soils are loamy, very shallow, do not have an argillic horizon, and occur on adjacent summits of plateaus. Estrada soils are fine-loamy, are very deep, have a thick mollic epipedon, and occur on footslopes and toeslopes. Herrada soils are fine-silty, very deep, have mixed mineralogy, and occur on shoulders and summits. Sabroso soils are loamy-skeletal, are very deep, and occur on steep south-facing backslopes. Verano soils are loamy-skeletal, have a mollic epipedon, and occur on steep north-facing backslopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; low surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability in the upper part of the profile and slow permeability in the subsoil.
USE AND VEGETATION: Esquila soils are used for forestland products and livestock grazing. Present vegetation is ponderosa pine, Gambel oak, Rocky Mountain juniper, twoneedle pinyon, mesa dropseed, and muttongrass
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Esquila soils are of small extent on the northern Glorieta Slope part of the Pecos Valley section of the Great Plains province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 70A.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES PROPOSED: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Santa Fe Area Soil Survey Update; 2000. The name is coined.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon 2 to 8 inches. (A1 and A2 horizons)
Argillic horizon - 9 to 20 inches. (Bt1 and 2Bt2 horizons)
Lithic contact 20 inches. (top of 2R layer)
Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.
ADDITIONAL DATA: None