LOCATION HEADQUARTERS NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Ustic Calciargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Headquarters sandy clay loam - rangeland (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted). Loose, curled plates, about 1 inch in diameter and 1/8 inch thick are scattered over the surface.
A--0 to 3 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; moderate thin and medium platy structure; slightly hard, friable; few fine roots; discontinuous layers, less than 1 mm thick, of reddish brown fine sand between plates; effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary (1 to 6 inches thick).
Bw--3 to 6 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium and coarse prismatic structure, parting to very weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; common fine roots; effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary (2 to 10 inches thick).
Btk--6 to 12 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) sandy clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; some parts light brown (7.5YR 6/4); weak medium and coarse prismatic structure, parting to weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; common fine roots; some sand grains in reddish brown parts are coated with silicate clay; few calcium carbonate nodules in the lower part; few calcium carbonate filaments; effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary (4 to 14 inches thick).
Bk--12 to 20 inches; pink (7.5YR 8/4) clay loam, pink (7.5YR 7/4) moist with lesser amount light brown (7.5YR 6/4), brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure with a tendency to platiness; hard, friable; few fine roots; effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary (4 to 10 inches thick).
Ck1--20 to 29 inches; white (7.5YR 8/1) sandy clay loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) moist with some light brown (7.5YR 6/4), brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; hard, friable; few fine roots; many sand grains separated by calcium carbonate; effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary (6 to 15 inches thick).
2Ck2--29 to 39 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; hard, friable; few fine roots; many sand grains separated by calcium carbonate; thin, continuous calcium carbonate coatings on gravel; effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary (4 to 14 inches thick).
2Ck3--39 to 51 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly sandy loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft; few fine roots; most gravel have thin discontinuous calcium carbonate coatings, some gravel calcium carbonate-free; effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Dona Ana County, New Mexico; 50 feet east of section line at a point about 850 feet south of section corner; NW1/4 NW1/4 of section 13, T.21 S., R.2 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during December through April and for more than 20 days cumulative during July through September. Driest during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 60 to 68 degrees F.
Effervescence: Typically effervescent throughout, but ranges to noneffervescent in the upper 3 inches
Depth to calcic horizon: 10 to 20 inches
Thickness of solum: 10 to 15 inches
A horizon
Hue: 5YR to 1OYR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Bt horizon
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy clay loam, clay loam (20 to 35 percent noncarbonate clay)
Rock fragments: less than 15 percent by volume
Ck horizon
Hue: 5YR to 1OYR
Value: 7 to 9 dry, 6 to 8 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, clay loam; in some pedons is gravelly or very gravelly in its lower part
Cementation: ranges from hard to extremely hard, but is not indurated except in a few discontinuous lenses
Other features: buried soils are common below 30 inches where these soils occur on alluvial fans
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Amarose (NM), Berino (NM), Grizzle (AZ), Gulch (AZ), McAllister (AZ), McNeal (AZ), Redona (AZ), and Tinney (NM) series. Amarose soils have a calcic horizon 30 to 60 inches deep. Grizzle soils are moderately deep to sandstone bedrock. McAllister, Redona, and Tinney soils have a calcic horizon 20 to 40 inches deep. McNeal soils have a calcic horizon 5 to 20 inches deep and solum thicker than 15 inches. Gulch soils have a calcic horizon 1 to 10 inches and have 1 to 4 percent gypsum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Headquarters soils are on alluvial-fan piedmonts with slopes ranging from 0 to 2 percent, and in level or nearly level basin floor positions. The soils formed in a wide variety of parent materials of late and mid-Pleistocene age. Stream deposited parent materials of the basin floor are of mixed origin and consist largely of noneffervescent sand with a few fine gravel. Parent materials commonly are derived from a mixture of calcareous sedimentary rocks and igneous rocks--limestone, andesite, rhyolite, monzonite, granite, and sandstone. Mean annual air temperature ranges from about 58 to 66 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 12 inches with a marked summer maximum.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Algerita, Glendale, Reakor, and Stellar soils. Algerita soils do not have argillic horizons. Glendale soils do not have argillic horizons and are fine-silty. Stellar soils have more than 35 percent clay in the control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; medium runoff; moderate
permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation commonly consists of discontinuous stands of burrograss with scattered clumps of tobosa and intermittent barren strips a few feet wide. Scattered clumps of tarbush, creosotebush, and desert thorn also occur.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico. The series is inextensive. MLRA is 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:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 3 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon The zone from 6 to 12 inches (Btk horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 12 to 51 inches (Bk, Ck, 2Ck1, 2Ck2 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.
ADDITIONAL DATA: The typifying pedon is similar to, and only a few feet away from, pedon S60 N Mex 7-18 (L.H. Gile and R.B. Grossman. 1979. The Desert Project Soil Monograph. Document PB80-135304. National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA)
Updated competing series section 3/17/08, CEM