LOCATION JOVEATCH NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Vertic Calciargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Joveatch loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
E--0 to 3 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; weak fine granular, weak medium subangular blocky and thick platy structure; common fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
BAt--3 to 6 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) clay loam in upper part, clay in lower part, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very and extremely hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bt1--6 to 17 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; few medium and fine tubular pores; common irregular cracks up to 0.5 cm wide; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
Bt2--17 to 30 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate thick platy and angular blocky with some weak medium subangular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; few small slickensides; few vertical cracks up to 1mm in width extend into this horizon from the overlying horizon, and there are also cracks, commonly horizontal or nearly so, about 0.5 mm or less in width between the structural units; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 16 inches thick)
Btk--30 to 35 inches; dominantly pink (7.5YR 8/4) clay, light brown (7.5YR 6/4) moist, with lesser amounts of brown (7.5YR 5/4), brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; dominantly weak medium subangular and angular blocky structure, but both high-calcium carbonate (light colored) and low-calcium carbonate parts (dark colored) are usually arranged in roughly vertical strips ranging from 1-10 mm in diameter, a few wedges and plates, 1-2 cm thick and 2-4 cm long; very hard, firm, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent; few fine irregular calcium carbonate filaments and hard calcium carbonate nodules; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bk--35 to 44 inches; dominantly pinkish white (7.5YR 8/2) silty clay loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/4) moist, with lesser amounts of light brown (7.5YR 6/4); weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent; light colored, high calcium carbonate zones occur in irregular masses between which are dark colored zones lower in calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (7 to 30 inches thick)
Bky--44 to 60 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium prismatic, weak and moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine tubular pores; powdery fine gypsum crystals on some ped surfaces; strongly effervescent; few fine and medium calcium carbonate nodules; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
TYPE LOCATION: Dona Ana County New Mexico; NW1/4, SW1/4 of Section 15, T.21 S., R.2 E.; in the Fertilizer Plot exclosure on the Jornada Experimental Range; 106 degrees, 43 minutes 50 seconds west longitude and 32 degrees, 28 minutes, 55 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section July through September and December through March. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
E horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Bt horizon
Hue: 2.5YR through 7.5YR
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 3 through 5, dry or moist
Texture: clay, clay loam
Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR through 10YR
Value: 6 through 8 dry, 5 through 7 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture: clay, clay loam
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Continental series. Continental soils do not have gypsum in the lower part of the profile.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Joveatch soils are on fan piedmont toeslopes and in parts of some playas. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. Elevations range from 4,000 to 4,700 feet. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 58 to 64 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation ranges from about 8 to 10 inches. The frost-free period is about 180 to 210 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berino, Dona Ana, Stellar, Reagan, Onite and Dalby soils. Berino and Dona Ana soils are fine-loamy. Stellar soils do not have the wedges, plates and slickensides in the Bt horizon. Onite soils are coarse-loamy. Dalby soils have deep cracks that are 1cm wide at a depth of 50 cm and do not have an argillic horizon. Reagan soils are fine-silty and do not have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation includes tobosa, burrograss and vine mesquite.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico. The series is of small extent. MLRA is 42.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dona Ana County, New Mexico (Desert Project); 1997.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (E, BAt horizons)
Argillic horizon - The zone from 3 to 35 inches (BAt, Bt1, Bt2, Btk horizons)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 30 to 60 inches (Btk, Bk, Bky 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.