LOCATION LEYTE                   AZ

Established Series
Rev. WAS/CEM
05/2011

LEYTE SERIES

The Leyte series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in slope alluvium and residuum derived from granodiorite, quartzite and porphyritic rhyolite. Leyte soils are on pediments, hills and mountains. Slope ranges from 3 to 55 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 14 inches and mean annual air temperature is about 63 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, thermic Lithic Ustic Haplargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Leyte gravelly sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) 60 to 80 percent of the surface is covered with gravel, cobble, and stones

A--0 to 1 inch; brown (7.5YR 4/2) gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak thin platy structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; common fine vesicular pores; 20 percent gravel; noneffervescent; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)

Bt1--1 to 4 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) very cobbly clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many very fine and fine roots; common fine irregular and tubular pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and rock fragments; 20 percent gravel and 20 percent cobble; noneffervescent; moderately acid (pH 6.0); abrupt wavy boundary.

Bt2--4 to 12 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) cobbly clay, black (5YR 2.5/1) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common fine irregular and tubular pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and rock fragments; 10 percent gravel and 20 percent cobble; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 6.6); abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizon is 8 to 15 inches.)

R--12 inches; unweathered porphyritic rhyolite.

TYPE LOCATION: Cochise County, Arizona; located about 2,300 feet east and 1,500 feet south from the northwest corner of section 34, Township 21 S., Range 27 E.; Leslie Canyon topographic map; latitude 31 degrees, 34 minutes, 00 seconds North and longitude 109 degrees, 35 minutes, 30 seconds West.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July - September and December - February. Driest during May and June. Ustic Aridic soils moisture regime.

Soil Temperature: 62 to 69 degrees F.

Rock fragments: 5 to 40 percent gravel and cobbles. The control section averages less than 35 percent but may range up to 40 percent in any one horizon.

Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Clay content: greater than 35 percent

Organic matter: 1 to 3 percent

Depth to unweathered bedrock: 5 to 20 inches

A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam

Bt horizon
Hue: 5YR, 2.5YR
Value: 3 or 4 dry, 2.5 to 4 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Texture: clay, clay loam

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Boss (AZ) series. Boss soils are on cinder cones and derived from slope alluvium and residuum from basalt, cinders, bombs and volcanic rocks.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Leyte soils are in the Chihuahuan desert on pediments, hills and mountains at elevations of 3,090 to 5,800 feet. Slope ranges from 3 to 55 percent. These soils formed from slope alluvium and residuum derived from granodiorite, quartzite and porphyritic rhyolite. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches and occurs as thunderstorms during July to September and as gentle rains during December and January. The mean annual air temperature is 60 to 67 degrees F. The frost-free period is 180 to 230 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Elgin, Forrest, Bonita, McAllister, and Stronghold soils. All of these soils are very deep.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very high runoff; slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation includes tobosa, sideoats grama, bush muhly, black grama, Arizona cottontop, Rothrock grama, burroweed, Lehmann lovegrass, whitethorn, mesquite, and ratany.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Arizona portion of the Chihuahuan desert. MLRA is 41. Leyte soils are of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cochise County, Arizona; Soil Survey of Cochise County, Arizona, Douglas-Tombstone Part; 2000.

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

Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 1 inch (A horizon)

Argillic horizon - the zone from 1 to 12 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)

Lithic contact - the boundary at 12 inches (R horizon)

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010.

Revised for the correlation of AZ661, 2/2009, WWJ

Revised for the correlation of Graham County, AZ, Southwestern Part; March, 2011, WWJ

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.