LOCATION KEESEHA AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Ustic Calciargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Keeseha gravelly sandy loam-rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 2 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; 30 percent fine pebbles; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
A2--2 to 4 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky and weak fine and medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5) clear smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bt--4 to 13 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; weak to moderate medium prismatic parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; common to many thin clay films on faces of peds, bridging sand grains and in pores; 10 percent fine gravel; slightly alkaline (pH 7.5); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 13 inches thick)
Bk1--13 to 20 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) gravelly sandy clay loam, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine interstitial pores; 20 percent fine gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt irregular and broken boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
Bk2--20 to 60 inches; pinkish white (7.5YR 8/2) very gravelly sandy loam, reddish yellow (7.5YR 8/6) moist; massive; slightly hard to hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common very fine and few fine roots; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 40 percent very fine and fine gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0).
TYPE LOCATION: Coconino County, Arizona; about 4.5 miles north of U.S. Highway 66 in Aubrey Valley; 900 feet west and 1,300 feet north of the southwest corner of Section 16, T. 25 N., R. 8 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some parts during July-September and December-February. Driest during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 54 - 57 degrees F.
Rock fragments: 10 - 50 percent gravel, averaging less than 35 percent in the control section
Depth to calcic horizon: 8 to 20 inches
A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 or 6, dry or moist
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline
Bt or Btk horizon
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 4 through 6, dry or moist
Texture: clay, clay loam (35 to 50 percent clay)
Reaction: slightly to moderately alkaline
Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 5 through 8, dry or moist
Chroma: 2 through 8, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, clay loam (15 to 30 percent clay)
Carbonates: more than 15 percent calcium carbonate equivalent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alesna (NM), Hano (AZ), Poley (AZ), and Silva (NM) soils. Alesna soils are deep to a paralithic contact of shale. Hano soils are moderately deep to a paralithic contact of shale. Poley soils have a calcic horizon at 20 to 40 inches deep. Silva soils have a calcic horizon at 30 to 40 inches deep.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Keeseha soils are on fan terraces of plateaus at elevations of 4,800 to 6,000 feet. They formed in mixed alluvium and eolian deposits. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. The climate is semiarid with precipitation of 10 to 14 inches occurring mostly as rain and snow in winter and thundershowers in summer. The mean annual air temperature is 52 to 55 degrees F. The frost-free period is 120 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Mespun, Palma, Rune, and the competing Poley soils. Mespun soils are sandy. Palma soils average less than 18 percent clay in the control section. Rune soils have a mollic epipedon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used primarily for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation is dominantly blue grama, black grama, needleandthread, Indian ricegrass, winterfat, Mormon-tea, and fourwing saltbush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North-central Arizona. The series is not extensive. MLRA 35.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Coconino County, Arizona; Soil survey of Coconino County Area, Central Part; 1980. Pronounced Key'-se-ha. The name is from a local landmark.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 4 inches (A1, A2 horizons)
Argillic horizon - The zone from 4 to 13 inches (Bt horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 13 to 60 inches (Bk1, Bk2 horizons)