LOCATION HAWKEYE            NM
Established Series
Rev. LHG/BDS/PDC
08/2006

HAWKEYE SERIES


The Hawkeye series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium from granite and monzonite. Hawkeye soils are on alluvial fans and terraces. Slopes range from 4 to 15 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 63 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, thermic Torriorthentic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Hawkeye coarse sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) The surface 1/2 inch consists primarily of loose, angular to subangular monzonite gravel, most of which are less than 1/4 inch in diameter.

A1--0 to 1 inch; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coarse sandy loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; weak thick platy structure; soft; very friable; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

A2--1 to 8 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) gravelly loamy coarse sand, black (10YR 2/1) moist; massive; soft, friable; common fine roots; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 16 inches thick)

A3--8 to 16 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) gravelly loamy coarse sand, very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist; massive; soft, friable; common fine roots; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 18 inches thick)

A4--16 to 28 inches; dominantly very dark gray (10YR 3/1), very dark brown (10YR 2/2) moist, and lesser amount brown (10YR 4/3), dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; gravelly loamy sand; massive; soft; common fine roots; few krotovinas, several inches in diameter; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 22 inches thick)

C1--28 to 39 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; soft; common fine roots; few krotovinas, several inches in diameter; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual irregular boundary.

C2--39 to 52 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) gravelly sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; mostly massive with a few single grained parts; soft, loose; few fine roots; slightly effervescent in places; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Dona Ana County, (Desert Soil-Geomorphology Project), New Mexico; north bank of arroyo; 0.3 mile west of road; in the NW1/4, SW1/4 of section 36, T.21 S., R.3 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during December - April and July - September. Driest during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.

Calcium carbonate: Noneffervescent to depths of at least 7 inches; commonly noneffervescent to depths of several feet.

Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent

A and C horizons
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 3 or 4 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 through 3, dry or moist
Organic matter: Greater than 1.0 percent to a depth of at least 7 inches but becomes less than 1.0 percent at a depth of 20 inches and decreases regularly with depth.
Texture: Averages gravelly loamy sand; some pedons contain thin strata of sandy loam

COMPETING SERIES: These are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Hawkeye soils are near the mountain fronts in the type area, and on alluvial fans and terraces. Slopes range from about 4 to 15 percent. These soils formed in gravelly sediments derived from rocks such as granite and monzonite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 10 to 15 inches with a marked summer maximum. Mean annual air temperature ranges from about 57 to 66 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aladdin, Berino, Bucklebar, Caralampi, Onite, Pinaleno, and Santo Tomas soils. Berino, Bucklebar, Caralampi, Onite, and Pinaleno soils have argillic horizons and do not have mollic epipedons. Also, Berino soils have fine-loamy control sections and have calcic horizons within a depth of 40 inches; Bucklebar soils are fine-loamy. Caralampi, Pinaleno, and Santo Tomas soils are skeletal. Aladdin soils are coarse-loamy.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium runoff; rapid permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation includes snakeweed, cholla, mesquite, Yucca elata, and scattered clumps of fluffgrass, bush muhly, black grama, and blue grama.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico. Hawkeye soils are inextensive. MLRAs 41 & 42.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dona Ana County, New Mexico; 1972.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Mollic epipedon - The zone from 0 to 8 inches (A1, A2 horizons)

This series represents an identified soil within the Desert Soil-Geomorphology Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The project was a study of soils and geomorphology in an arid and semi-arid environment. The series is extensively referenced in many documents, publications and thesis. Revision outside the project area is discouraged in order to preserve the historical concept for research.

Recent evidence in Arizona and Texas suggests soils within this precipitation zone and MLRA are moist in some part of the mollic epipedon less than 90 days (cumulative) and therefore do not meet the moisture requirements for a mollic epipedon. An alternative subgroup is the Ustic Torriorthents.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Data from pedon S59 N Mex 7-2 (L.H. Gile and R.B. Grossman. 1979. The Desert Project Soil Monograph. Document PB80-135304. National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA.) support the classification. The typifying pedon is the sample pedon.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.