LOCATION HOLLOMAN NM+TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, gypsic, thermic, shallow Typic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Holloman loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated).
A--0 to 1 inch; light gray (10YR 7/2) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist, moderate very thin and thin platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; common very fine pores; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Aky--1 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; common very fine pores; many fine gypsum crystals and filaments of calcium carbonates; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Cy--5 to 9 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; fine and very fine roots; common very fine pores; many hard gypsum crystals and filaments of calcium carbonates; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
Cry1--9 to 28 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) gypsum, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; massive; hard gypsum lenses 2 to 6 inches thick interlayered with lenses of soft, very friable, slightly plastic; gypsum and calcium carbonate 2 to 20 inches thick; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (15 to 30 inches thick)
Cry2--28 to 60 inches; pink (7.5YR 8/4) gypsum, reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6) moist; intermingled with very pale brown (10YR 8/2) gypsum, light gray (10YR 7/2) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly plastic; the soft matrix contains layers of hard gypsum 2 to 8 inches thick; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Eddy County, New Mexico; 3 miles northwest of Loving; 455 feet east and 150 feet north of SW corner of SE1/4, sec. 12, R. 27.E., T. 23.S.; 104 degrees, 99 minutes, 03 seconds west longitude; 32 degrees, 18 minutes, 46 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture - Soil moisture - Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-September and December-February. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature - 62 to 65 degrees F.
Soil depth: A hard layer of gypsiferous material is at a depth of less than 20 inches. The root restricting gypsiferous layers are hard and massive alternating with soft powdery gypsum, calcium carbonate, and sediments to a depth of 60 inches or more. The hard layers are 2 to 8 inches thick, the soft layers are 2 to 30 inches or more thick.
Particle-size control section: fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, loam and silt loam, with a clay content of 10 to 27 percent. It usually has segregated lime and gypsum in soft bodies, filaments, or crystals.
A horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 5 to 7 dry, 4, to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4
C horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Gypill (AZ) series. Gypill soils are in the Mohave Desert (MLRA 30), receive mostly winter precipitation and are usually dry from April through November.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Holloman soils are on basin and valley floors and on adjacent terraces in bolsons where they formed in alluvial and eolian sediments or lime and gypsum that precipitated out from surface and subsurface water. These sediments probably have been moved and mixed by wind and water since their original deposition. Slopes are dominantly 0 to 3 percent but range to 50 percent. Elevations are 2,500 to 5,200 feet. The climate is semiarid or arid. Mean annual precipitation is about 9 to 13 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 58 to 65 degrees F. Frost free period is 190 to 230 days in New Mexico and as long as 240 days in Texas.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berino, Kermit, Reeves, Simona, Upton, and Yesum soils. Berino soils have an argillic horizon. Kermit soils have sandy texture in the control section. Reeves soils are deep and have a calcic horizon. Simona and Upton soils have a petrocalcic horizon within 20 inches of the surface. Yesum soils are deep and have a gypsic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland. Native vegetation is mainly alkali sacaton, burrograss, gyp grama, fourwing saltbush, caldenia, and tobosa.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South Central New Mexico particularly in the Tularosa Basin and Pecos River Valley. This soil occurs in LRR-D, MLRA 42. This soil also occurs in LRR-G, MLRA 70B.The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, 1970.
REMARKS: A question as to whether the hard layers of gypsum are geologic or genetic needs to be resolved. Possible, as mapped, the series might include both.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 5 inches (A horizon)
Entisol feature - lack of diagnostic features
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999.
When the competing series section was updated in September 2001, questions were raised about the description and/or the classification of this series. It was suggested that this soil should classify in the suborder of Gypsids. A field study of the type location is recommended to resolve the questions.