LOCATION LEVANTE NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy, mixed, mesic Aridic Ustifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Levante loamy sand--on a slightly convex flood plain sloping 2 percent to the south at 7,100 feet elevation--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the soil was moist 0 to 10 and 45 to 122 inches, dry from 10 to 45 inches, and wet below 122 inches.)
AC--0 to 4 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) loamy sand, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few fine and common very fine roots; thin lense of fine sand; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
C1--4 to 17 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and common very fine roots; one lense of very gravelly coarse sand, one lense of fine sandy loam, and one strata of sandy loam 2 inches thick at 15 to 17 inches; 10 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt wavy boundary.
C2--17 to 32 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and common very fine roots; one 1 inch stratum of gravelly coarse sandy loam which thickens to a loam three inches thick; 30 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary.
C3--32 to 45 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) stratified gravelly loamy coarse sand and gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few medium, few fine, and common very fine roots; 25 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary.
C4--45 to 58 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly loamy coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; few lamina of sandy loam near base of horizon; 20 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary.
C5--58 to 86 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 25 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear smooth boundary.
C6--86 to 122 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) very gravelly coarse sand, brown (7.5YR 5/3) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; 40 percent gravel; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2). (Combined thickness of the C horizons is more than 80 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; about 2 miles north of downtown Santa Fe within the nonsectionized Santa Fe Grant; USGS Santa Fe 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 42 minutes 44 seconds North and Longitude 105 degrees 56 minutes 39 seconds West, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - The soil moisture control section is moist in all parts during the 60 days following the winter solstice. It is moist in some part less than 40 percent and moist in all parts less than 25 percent of the time when the soil temperature at 20 inches is above 41 degrees F. The soils are driest in May and June. The soil moisture regime is ustic bordering on torric.
Mean annual soil temperature - 49 to 52 degrees F.
Lithology of rock fragments: granite, gneiss, and schist
Reaction - slightly alkaline in the surface; slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in the underlying materials
Calcium carbonate equivalent - 3 to 10 percent in upper horizons; 1 to 3 percent in lower horizons
Salinity, mmhos/cm - 0 to 1
Particle-size control section (weighted averages)
Silicate clay content: 0 to 8 percent
Rock fragment content: 15 to 35 percent
AC horizon
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Texture: loamy sand or gravelly coarse sand
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent gravel
This horizon is a recent stratified deposit and does not qualify as an Ochric epipedon
upper C horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: stratified very gravelly coarse sand to sandy loam; pedons have thin strata, lenses, and laminae ranging in texture from coarse sandy loam to loam
Rock fragments: 5 to 35 percent gravel
lower C horizons
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: stratified coarse sandy loam to very gravelly coarse sand, with individual layers stratified and variable in gravel content and fine-earth texture
Rock fragments: 5 to 45 percent gravel
Other features: some pedons have buried horizons of gravelly coarse sandy loam to loam below 40 inches
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Broadwater(NE), Happyditch(KS) (T), and Pathfinder(NE) series. All of these soils are more moist in the spring and early summer months and have ochric epipedons. In addition, Happyditch and Pathfinder soils average less than 15 percent rock fragments in the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Levante soils are on narrow flood plains of valley floors. They formed in alluvium derived from Precambrian granite, gneiss, and schist and Tertiary granitic sandstone. Slopes are 1 to 4 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,500 to 7,300 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 15 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 47 to 50 degrees F. The frost-free period is 140 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Altazano, Buckhorse, and Dondiego soils. Altazano soils are coarse-loamy, have ochric epipedons, and occur on adjacent, higher flood plains and also on inset fans of erosional fan remnants. Buckhorse soils are coarse-loamy, have mollic epipedons and argillic horizons, and occur on toeslopes of erosional fan remnants. Dondiego soils are fine-loamy, have thick mollic epipedons, and occur on treads of high stream terraces and also on low stream terraces of valley floors.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; negligible surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability. These soils are subject to occasional or frequent, extremely brief periods of flooding between July and September. Floodwaters have high velocity and are generally less than 5 feet deep.
USE AND VEGETATION: Levante soils are used for recreation, a sand and gravel source, and livestock grazing. The historic climax vegetation is blue grama, sand dropseed, spike dropseed, galeta, black grama, Bigelow's rubber rabbitbrush. The ecological site is Sandy (R036XB113NM)..
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Levante soils are of small extent on the southeastern Espanola Basin part of the Basin and Range province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Santa Fe Area Soil Survey Update; 2008. Levante is a street name in Santa Fe.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Fluventic feature - Alluvial stratification with texture finer than loamy fine sand and an irregular organic-carbon distribution.
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 40 inches (part of the C1, C2, and part of the C3 horizon)
Series control section - The zone from 0 to 60 inches.
Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.