LOCATION ILDECARB NM

Established Series
Rev. JVC/WRJ/RJA/ACT
11/2014

ILDECARB SERIES

The Ildecarb series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable alluvium derived from limestone, siltstone and gypsum rock. Ildecarb soils are on fan terraces, bajadas, and knolls. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 12 inches and mean annual temperature is about 53 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, mesic Ustic Haplocalcids

TYPICAL PEDON: Ildecarb gravelly loam--on a west facing slopes of 3 percent at 6,180 feet elevation. -- rangeland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 4 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak thin platy and weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; 25 percent pebbles; violently effervescent; calcium carbonates are disseminated; moderately alkaline; and clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)

Bw--4 to 16 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and plastic; few medium and common fine and very fine roots; 25 percent pebbles; violently effervescent; calcium carbonates disseminated; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 16 inches thick)

Bk1--16 to 24 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/2) very gravelly sandy loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; weak coarse and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few medium and common fine and very fine roots; 35 percent pebbles and 5 percent cobbles; disseminated gypsum; violently effervescent; calcium carbonates completely coating rock fragments and segregated throughout soil matrix, moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 17 inches thick)

Bk2--24 to 48 inches; white (10YR 8/1) extremely gravelly loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few medium and common fine and very fine roots; 30 percent pebbles; 20 percent channers, 10 percent cobbles and 5 percent stone; disseminated gypsum; violently effervescent; calcium carbonates completely coating rock fragments and segregated throughout the soil matrix; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 24 inches thick)

By--48 to 60 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) extremely gravelly clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; 40 percent pebbles, 15 percent channers and 10 percent cobbles; common gypsum crystals; violently effervescent; calcium carbonates disseminated; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Soccorro County, New Mexico; from Bingham, 5 miles east on State Highway 380; 225 feet north and 820 feet west of cap marking the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of section 36, T. 4 S., R. 6 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Depth to the calcic horizon: 3 to 26 inches

Percent calcium carbonate equivalence in the fine earth fraction of 10- to 40-inch section: 40 to 90 percent.

Percent gypsum in the fine earth fraction of the 10- to 40-inch particle size control section: 5 to 15 percent with no horizon of secondary accumulations which qualifies as a gypsic horizon.

Rock fragments are limestone or gypsum rock.

Some part of the soil moisture control section is intermittently moist from July through September following convective storms.

Profile Reaction: Moderately alkaline to strongly alkaline.

Percent clay in control section: l8 to 35 percent

The epipedon contains less than 40 percent of calcium carbonate equivalent, and where it has mollic colors it is too thin to qualify as a mollic epipedon.

A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: loam, clay loam
Rock fragments: 15 to 25 percent pebbles and/or channers. 0 to 5
percent cobbles and/or flagstones.

Bw horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: loam
Rock fragments by volume: 15 to 25 percent pebbles and/or channers. 0 to 5 percent cobbles and/or flagstones.

Bk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 7 or 8 dry, 5 to 7 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam
Rock fragments: 30 to 50 percent pebbles and/or channers. 5 to 20
percent cobbles and/or flagstones.

By horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam
Rock fragments: 35 to 50 percent pebbles and/or channers, 5 to 20
percent cobbles, stones and/or flagstones.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ladron, Moab, Puice, Socorro, Stormitt and Tusayan series. Ladron soils have a lithologic discontinuity and do not have gypsum. Moab soils have less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Puice, Socorro and Tusayan soils have bedrock at 20 to 40 inch depths. Stormitt soils do not have gypsum or less than 1 percent and receive nearly equal amounts of precipitation in all months.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ildecarb soils are on fan terraces, bajadas, and knolls. Ildecarb soils formed in alluvial deposits derived from limestone, siltstone and gypsum rock. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 15 inches with peak amounts occurring in July, August and September. Mean annual temperature ranges from 50 to 57 degrees F., the average frost-free period ranges from 120 to 180 days. Elevation ranges from 4,910 to 7,030 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cuate, Deama, Dean, Harvey, Pinon and Tanbark soils. Cuate and Deama soils have mollic epipedons. Dean soils contain less than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. Harvey soils do not have carbonatic mineralogy. Pinon soils are less than 20 inches deep to limestone bedrock. Tanbark soils have gypsic mineralogy and are less than 20 inches deep to gypsum bedrock.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate in the upper part and moderately slow in the lower part. Runoff is low on 1 to 5 percent slopes and medium on 5 to 10 percent slopes.

USE AND VEGETATION: Ildecarb soils are used for livestock grazing. Present vegetation is black grama, blue grama, winterfat, curlyleaf muhly, wolftail, spanish dagger and one-seed juniper.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ildecarb soils are of small extent in central New Mexico.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Socorro County, New Mexico, 1984.

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

Ochric epipedon - 0 to 4 inches. (A horizon)

Cambic horizon - 4 to 16 inches. (Bw horizon)

Calcic horizon - 16 to 48 inches. (Bk1, Bk2 horizons)

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014.

Revised for the correlation of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; October, 2014, NMS

ADDITIONAL DATA: Calcium carbonate equivalence determined with use of field volume calcimeter.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.