LOCATION HONDALE NM+AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Natrargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Hondale loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
E-- 0 to 5 inches, light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) loam, dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) moist; weak thin platy parting to moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; common fine and very fine roots; many fine and very fine vesicular pores; violently effervescent moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (O to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--5 to 11 inches, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; strong fine columns parting to strong medium and fine angular blocky structure; very hard; friable; sticky and plastic; few fine and very fine roots; few fine and very fine tubular pores; common thin clay films on peds faces and coating sand grains; strongly effervescent strongly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 14 inches thick)
Bt2--11 to 17 inches, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate coarse prisms parting to strong medium subangular blocky structure hard; friable; sticky and plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few thin clay films on peds faces and in pores; violently effervescent a few very fine seams of segregated lime strongly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bk1--17 to 35 inches, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure that part to moderate medium subangular blocky; soft; very friable; sticky and plastic; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent; contains splotches and a few very fine seams of segregated lime; strongly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (O to 20 inches thick)
Bk2--35 to 41 inches, light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; slightly sticky and plastic; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent medium irregular shaped concretions of lime, very strongly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bk3--41 to 60 inches, pinkish white (5YR 8/2) loam, pinkish gray (5YR 7/2) moist; massive; hard, very friable moist; slightly sticky; common fine and very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent caliche marl; strongly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Luna County New Mexico; about 100 feet south of the center of the SW 1/4 of section 8, T. 24 S., R. 8 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
The solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches thick.
Soil moisture - dry in all parts three-fourths or more of the time. Typic aridic moisture regime.
Soil temperature is above 41 degrees F.
Conductivity averages 6 dS/m but ranges from 4 to l6 dS/m.
SAR- ranges from 15 to 30 percent.
Pedons with some gypsum crystals in the lower B and C horizons are permitted in the series.
Most eroded pedons lack an A and E horizons. Where present the A horizon ranges from 2 to 8 inches in thickness.
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
E horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 7
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: loam, silt loam and silty clay loam but some pedons have sandy loam or loamy sand surfaces.
Reaction: moderately or strongly alkaline.
Bt1 horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR and 10YR
Value: 4 to 7
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: clay, silty clay, clay loam or silty clay loam.
Clay content: ranges from 35 to 50 percent.
Reaction: strongly or very strongly alkaline.
Bk1 horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR and 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: clay, clay loam, silty clay and silty clay loam.
Reaction: strongly or very strongly alkaline.
Bk2 horizons
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR and 10YR
Value: 7 or 8
Chroma: 2 or 3
Reaction: strongly to very strongly alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 50 to 70 percent
Texture: dominantly clay loam or loam but where stratified some pedons have strata of sandy loam and sandy clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hondale soils are in mixed sediments on old alluvial plains and fans that commonly terminate at a bolson. Flooding is rare. Elevations range from 3500 to 5000 feet. Slopes range from O to 3 percent. The average annual precipitation ranges from 8 to 11 inches with most falling in the summer. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 57 to 65 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Jal, Mimbres, Verhalen, and Ubar soils. Jal soils are in a fine-loamy carbonatic family and lack a natric horizon. Mimbres soils are in a fine-silty family without an argillic or natric horizon. Ubar soils lack a natric horizon. Verhalen soils are in a fine smectitic family having mollic epipedon and lacking natric and argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained, slow runoff, and very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Range, wildlife habitat, and watershed. Small acreages are irrigated for barley, cotton, grain sorghum, and alfalfa. Native vegetation is alkali sacaton, fourwing saltbush, vine-mesquite, burrograss, tobosa, threeawn, mesquite, tubercled saltbush, seepweed, and iodinebush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona. The series is extensive. MLRAs 41 & 42.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Luna County New Mexico, 1975.
REMARKS: (Additional study is needed, to clearly define and classify this series.)
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Albic horizon - the zone from 0 to 5 inches (E horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 5 to 17 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Particle size control section - the zone from 5 to 17 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons
(ADDITIONAL DATA: In 1992, the original type location was sampled for characterization (S92NM-029-003). Data indicates that there is enough clay size carbonate to change the classification from fine to fine-loamy. SAR values range from 32 to over 100. Two pedons sampled in Grant County have very little carbonate. One pedon classified fine (S76-NM-17-22-{1-10}), while the other one is fine-silty (S76-NM-17-26{1-9}). With this in mind the series is not being updated until it can be studied further.lwh. The 1992 recommendation is still a valid recommendation this is only a format update. The pedon sample in Grant County may be in a different moisture and precipitation zone and also a different MLRA (38).