LOCATION MADUREZ NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Calciargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Madurez loamy fine sand, range. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 10 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) loamy fine sand, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; single grained; loose; many fine roots; common fine interstitial pores; noncalcareous; moderately alkaline; clear boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Bt--10 to 16 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; clay bridging on sand grains; noncalcareous; moderately alkaline; clear boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bk1--16 to 22 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; few threads of lime; slightly calcareous; moderately alkaline; abrupt boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bk2--22 to 46 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/4) moist; massive; hard, firm, sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; many pinkish white masses of lime; strongly calcareous; strongly alkaline; gradual boundary. (12 to 40 inches thick)
Bk3--46 to 60 inches; pink (7.5YR 7/4) sandy loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/4) moist; massive; very hard, firm, nonsticky, nonplastic; few very fine tubular pores; common masses of lime; strongly calcareous; strongly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Valencia County, New Mexico; 7 miles southeast of Belen; southeast on New Mexico Highway 6 to the El Paso natural gas road then southwest to the eighth subdivision road, west 0.6 mile and 35 feet south of subdivision road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Intermittently moist is some part of the soil moisture control section during December through February and for more than 20 days cumulative during July through September. Driest during May and June. The soil moisture regime is Typic aridic.
Thickness of solum is dominantly 13 to 21 inches ranging from about 11 to 25 inches.
Soil temperature - ranges from 59 to 68 degrees F.
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 5YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Bt horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: ranges from fine sandy loam or sandy clay loam
Clay content: 18 to 25 percent clay
Structure: weak to moderate, medium to coarse subangular blocky and weak medium prismatic structure
Clay films: It has clay bridging on sand grains or faint discontinuous clay films.
Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist
Chroma: 4 or 5
Texture: fine sandy loam or sandy clay loam
Clay content: average 18 to 25 percent clay
Structure: This horizon has weak to moderate, medium to coarse subangular blocky structure.
Carbonates: few soft masses, few or common threads of lime
Bk horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 5YR
Value: 7 or 8 dry, 6 or 7 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Calcium carbonates equivalent: 15 to 30 percent calcium carbonate including many threads and common to many soft masses of segregated lime.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Brenda (NM),
Blackmagic (CA),
Cornville (AZ),
Dona Ana (NM), Elizaro (NM),
Hap (NM),
Jagerson (AZ),
Kidwell (NV),
Lanip (NV),
Mcnew (NM),
Mohave (AZ),
Nutt (NM),
Poachie (AZ), and
Tres Hermanos (NM) series.
Blackmagic, Haps and Tres Hermanos soils contain 15 to 35 percent rock fragments.
Blackmagic, Jagerson, Kidwell, Lanip and Poachie soils occur in the Mohave Desert (MLRA 30), receive mostly winter precipitation and are moist for less than 20 days cumulative during July-September.
Brenda soils have gravelly sand or fine sand in the lower part of the profile below the argillic horizon.
Elizario soils depth to calcic horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches.
Tres Hermanos soils are effervescent throughout.
Tres Hermanos and Cornville soils clay content ranges from 18 to 35 percent in the PSCS.
Cornville soils contain more than 50 percent sand in the particle size control section.
Cornville soils also have Bt horizons thicker than 10 inches and have solum thickness greater than 25 inches.
Dona Ana soils are effervescent throughout the PSCS and have calcic horizon beginning at 2 inches depth.
Kidwell soils contain more than 15 percent rock fragments in the PSCS.
Mcnew and Nutt soils argillic horizons thickness ranges from 30 to 50 inches thick.
Mohave soils contain 27 to 40 percent clay in the PSCS.
Poachie soils have cambic horizon above the argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Madurez soils are on nearly level to undulating old alluvial fans and piedmonts at elevations of 4,800 to 6,000 feet. Slopes are dominantly 1 to 5 percent and range from 0 to 9 percent. The soils formed in calcareous sandy sediments several feet thick. The climate is semiarid continental. At the type location the average annual precipitation is 8 to 10 inches. The average annual temperature is about 61 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Wink and competing Tres Hermanos soils. Wink soils have coarse-loamy control sections, contain more than 20 percent weakly to strongly cemented carbonates nodules and are calcareous to the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; slow to medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland. Native vegetation is principally black grama, sand dropseed, mesa dropseed, blue grama, galleta, sand sage, snakeweed, and Russian thistle
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central New Mexico and western Texas. The series is extensive. MLRA 42.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Upper Rio Puerco Reconnaissance, New Mexico, 1940.
REMARKS: The type location was moved from northwestern Bernalillo County, New Mexico to locate it more nearly in the center of its geographic distribution.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 10 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 10 to 16 inches (Bt horizon)
Calcic horizon - the zone from 16 to 60 inches (Bk1, Bk2 and Bk3 horizons)