LOCATION LOSTPEAK                TX

Established Series
ALS
04/2011

LOSTPEAK SERIES


The Lostpeak series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils that formed in loamy residuum and colluvium weathered from Permian Limestone and Dolomite bedrock. Slopes range from 40 to 95 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 356 mm (14 in) and the mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C (55 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Lithic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Lostpeak very gravelly clay loam, on a southeast-facing 62 percent slope at an elevation of 1,770 m (5,807 ft). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted).

A--0 to 19 cm (0 to 7 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly clay loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2), moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; common very fine and fine roots; 3 percent subangular indurated 76 to 250 mm limestone fragments and 40 percent subangular indurated 5 to 75 mm limestone fragments; very slightly effervescent; strongly alkaline; very abrupt smooth boundary. (Thickness of the A horizon is 11 to 46 cm [4 to 18 in])

R--19 to 44 cm (7 to 17 inches); indurated limestone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Culberson County, Texas; from the intersection of U.S. Highway 62/180 and the park entrance to McKittrick Canyon; 2 miles north-west to a park service road; 1.9 miles west on service road into Lamar Canyon; site is 0.35 mile southwest on mountainside. (Guadalupe Peak, TX USGS topographic quadrangle; Latitude: 31 degrees, 57 minutes, 29 seconds N; Longitude: 104 degrees, 46 minutes, 16 seconds W; UTM Easting 521638 m, UTM Northing 3535818 m, UTM Zone 13, NAD83.)

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to limestone bedrock: 11 to 46 cm (4 to 18 in)

Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 14 to 29 percent
Rock fragment content: 35 to 65 percent; 20 to 40 percent gravel; 0 to 65 percent cobbles

A horizon
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry, 2 moist.
Texture of the fine-earth fraction: loam or clay loam
Clay content: 14 to 29 percent
Coarse fragments: 35 to 65 percent total; 20 to 40 percent gravel; 0 to 65 percent cobbles
Effervescence: very slight to violent
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline

R layer:
Fractures: greater that 10cm (4 in) apart
Bedrock kind: indurated limestone and dolomite

COMPETING SERIES: These are; Arbol (NM), Bidayu (TX), Faraway (AZ), Oro Grande (NM), Rotogilla (NM), Seralin (NV), and Yaquican (AZ).
Arbol soils: have a paralithic contact
Bidayu soils: have slopes less than 40 percent and support a different ecosite
Faraway soils: are neutral to moderately acid
Oro Grande: are derived from rhyolite and andesite
Rotogilla soils: are slightly acid to moderately acid
Seralin: are in the Mojave Desert (MLRA30) and receive most of their precipitation in the winter
Yaquican soils: are neutral to slightly acid

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material: colluvium and residuum weathered from Permian age limestone and dolomite
Landscape: Mountains
Landform: Mountainsides, Ridges and Escarpments
Slope: 40 to 95 percent
Soil moisture: Aridic Ustic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 9.0 to 15.0 degrees C (48 to 59 degrees F)
Mean annual air temperature: 8.0 to 14.0 degrees C (46 to 57 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 330 to 381 mm (13 to 15 inches)
Precipitation pattern: Most precipitation occurs as high intensity rain during afternoon convective thunderstorms from June to September.
Frost-free period: 135 to 250 days
Elevation: 1,426 to 2,084 m (4,678 to 6,837 ft)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Altuda (TX) and the tentative Bonespring (TX), Choza (TX), Lozen (TX) Pinery (TX), and Victorio (TX) soils. Altuda soils: have a calcic horizon and occur on similar positions.
Bonespring soils: do not have a mollic epipedon and occur on ridges at a lower elevation.
Choza soils: have a petrocalcic horizon and occur on alluvial fan remnants.
Lozen soils: have a typic ustic moisture regime and occur on similar positions.
Pinery soils: have a calcic horizon and occur on alluvial fans.
Victorio soils: have more than 35 percent clay in the control section and occur on similar positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; Runoff is very high; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for wildlife habitat and recreation. Vegetation is wavyleaf oak, mountain mahogany, desert ceanothus, sotol, sacahuista, saddlebush, mariola, fragrant sumac, New Mexico muhly, bull muhly, plains lovegrass, cane bluestem, curlyleaf muhly, New Mexico feathergrass, pinyon pine, and ponderosa pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: LRR G; Western Great Plains Range and Irrigated Region; MLRA 70C-Central New Mexico Highlands. The soil is not extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Culberson County, Texas; 2010. The name is taken from a mountain peak in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

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

Mollic epipedon: 0 to 19 cm (0 to 7 in) (A horizon)
Lithic contact: 19 cm (7 in) (top of R layer)

ADDITIONAL DATA: None

TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.