LOCATION HASSELL NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Ustertic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Hassell clay loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 10 cm (0 to 4 inches); reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and plastic; common fine roots; many very fine pores; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 30 cm thick)
Bt1--10 to 18 cm (4 to 12 in); reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silty clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; many very fine pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds; few fine clay films on faces of peds; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--18 to 56 cm (12 to 22 in); reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silty clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic and moderate fine and medium angular and subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky, plastic; common fine roots mostly between peds; few very fine pores; common thin clay films on faces of peds; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 30 to 64 cm)
Btk--56 to 66 cm (22 to 26 in); reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky, plastic; few fine roots; few very fine pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds; strongly effervescent; calcium carbonate segregated in few fine masses; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 20 cm thick)
By--66 to 81 cm (26 to 32 in); reddish brown (2.5YR 5/4) clay, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few very fine pores; few small gypsum crystals in lower part; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)
Cr--81 to 112 cm (32 to 44 in); clayey weathered shale; structure is that of the shale with pronounced horizontal bedding planes; few fine roots in the bedding planes in the upper few inches only; slightly effervescent, calcium carbonate segregated in fine masses which decrease with depth; moderately alkaline.
R--112 cm (44 in); reddish brown shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Guadalupe County, New Mexico; southwest quarter, northeast quarter, section 9, T. 7 N., R. 26 E.; Latitude: 34 degrees, 50 minutes, 46 seconds N., Longitude: 104 degrees, 11 minutes, 22 seconds W.; Ima SW, New Mexico USGS quad.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Aridic moisture regime bordering on ustic. The soil moisture control section is dry in all parts for 150 to 225 days, cumulative, in normal years. The soil is moist for longer periods between July and September than October through May.
Mean annual soil temperature: 15 to 17 degrees C (60 to 62 degrees F).
Depth to paralithic contact: 50 to 100 cm (20 to 40 in).
Depth to argillic horizon: 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 15 percent
A horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam, silty clay loam, clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 15 percent
Pararock fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Bt horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Clay content: 35 to 50 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 15 percent
Pararock fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 3 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Bk horizon or By horizon (where present):
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Clay content: 35 to 45 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 15 percent
Pararock fragments: 0 to 5 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 2 to 15 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline
Cr horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR to 5YR
Value: 5 to 7, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4
Effervescence: none to violently
Reaction: slightly alkaline or strongly alkaline
Platy beds of stratified shale and siltstone
R horizon (where present):
Hue: 2.5YR to 5YR
Value: 5 to 7, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4
Effervescence: none to violently
Reaction: slightly alkaline or strongly alkaline
Platy beds of stratified hard shale and siltstone
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Tucumcari (NM) series. Similar soils are the Armendaris, Bernardino, Forrest, McAllister, Penthouse, and White House series.
Tucumcari series: do not have a paralithic contact within 200 cm of the surface.
None of the similar soils have vertic properties sufficient to classify in the Ustertic subgroup, and all have mixed mineralogy. In addition, the
Armendaris,
Bernardino,
Forrest,
Penthouse, and
White House soils do not have a paralithic contact within 100 cm, and the Forrest,
McAllister, and Penthouse soils have calcic horizons within 100 cm of the surface. White House soils also have more than 15 percent rock fragments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: alluvium derived from shale from formations of Jurassic, Triassic, Permian, and Pennsylvanian age, with small amounts of eolian materials.
Landform: pediments below escarpments of redbed formations, and on truncated or beveled remnants of these formations.
Slope: 0 to 5 percent
Mean annual temperature: 15 to 16 degrees C (59 to 61 degrees F).
Mean annual precipitation: 305 to 381 mm (12 to 15 in).
Frost-free period: 180 to 200 days
Elevation: 1,220 to 1,620 meters (4,000 to 5,300 ft)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alama, La Lande, Largo, Montoya, and Quay soils. All of these soils do not have an argillic horizon, and do not have shale within 100 cm of the surface. In addition, Quay soils have a calcic horizon within 100 cm of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Slow permeability. Runoff is low on slopes less than 1 percent and medium on 1 to 5 percent slopes.
USE AND VEGETATION: Primarily used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Present native vegetation is tobosa and grama grass and a few widely spaced yucca. The ecological site is Clayey (R070XB053NM).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Upper Pecos River Valley (MLRA 70B in LRR G) of eastern New Mexico. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Quay County, New Mexico, 1960, Southwest Quay soil survey area.
REMARKS: Classification changed from Fine, mixed, thermic Ustollic Haplargids to Fine, smectitic, thermic Ustertic Haplargids based on application of the Seventh Edition of Soil Taxonomy, 1996, and laboratory data from De Baca County, NM (S82NM-011-044)
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle size control section: 10 to 66 cm. (Bt and Btk horizons)
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 10 cm. (A horizon)
Argillic horizon: 10 to 66 cm. (Bt and Btk horizons)
Lithic contact: The contact with shale at 112 cm. (R horizon, is not present in all pedons).
Paralithic contact: The contact with shale at 81 cm. (Cr horizon)
Vertic features: Linear extensibility of 6 cm or more above the paralithic contact
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL data from De Baca County, NM (S82NM-011-044).
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006