LOCATION MASSASAUGA              NM

Established Series
Rev DAW-GWC
03/2016

MASSASAUGA SERIES

The Massasauga series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in gypsiferous eolian deposits and/or gypsiferous lacustrine deposits. These nearly level soils are on playas. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 8 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 67 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-gypseous, hypergypsic, thermic Typic Haplosalids

TYPICAL PEDON: Massasauga gypsiferous loamy sand - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)

Cnyyz1--0 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gypsiferous loamy sand, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; 5 percent clay; massive; very friable, soft, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine irregular pores; salt finely disseminated; gypsum finely disseminated, 66 percent gypsum; noneffervescent; strongly saline, electrical conductivity 63.2 dS/m; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary.

Cnyyz2--8 to 51 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gypsiferous loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; 20 percent clay; massive; very friable, soft, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; salt finely disseminated; gypsum finely disseminated, 59 percent gypsum; noneffervescent; strongly saline, electrical conductivity 62.4 dS/m; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); gradual wavy boundary.

Cnyyz3--51 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gypsiferous loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; 24 percent clay; massive; friable, slightly hard, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; salt finely disseminated; gypsum finely disseminated, 66 percent gypsum; noneffervescent; strongly saline, electrical conductivity 65.2 dS/m; moderately alkaline (pH 8.1).

TYPE LOCATION: Otero County, New Mexico; USGS Quad Garton Lake; approximately 2 miles northwest of the intersection of US Highway 70 and the White Sands National Monument entrance; 108 feet north and 880 feet west of the southeast corner of Section 27, Township 17 S, Range 7 E. Latitude: 32 degrees 48 minutes 15.70 seconds north, Longitude: 106 degrees 12 minutes 29.50 seconds west; Datum: NAD83; UTM Zone: 13, UTM Easting: 386883 meters, UTM Northing: 3630244 meters

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Typic aridic soil moisture regime. The moisture control section is usually dry all in parts more than three-fourths of the time that the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. at 20 inches.

Mean annual soil temperature: 66 to 72 degrees F.

Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 18 to 22 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline
Gypsum content: 40 to 80 percent

Cnyyz horizons
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR, 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: gypsiferous loamy sand, gypsiferous loamy fine sand, gypsiferous sandy loam, gypsiferous fine sandy loam, gypsiferous loam, gypsiferous sandy clay loam
Clay: 0 to 25 percent
Gypsum: 40 to 100 percent

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Massasauga soils are on playas. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed from gypsiferous eolian deposits and/or gypsiferous lacustrine deposits. Elevation ranges from 3,980 to 4,000 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 8 to 12 inches. Precipitation falls mostly during the months of July through September. The mean annual air temperature is 64 to 70 degrees F. The frost-free period is 180 to 240 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Sabkha (NM). Sabkha soils are on playas and have a water table above 40 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: well drained; very low to negligible runoff. Water table depth ranges from 42 to 60 inches during most years.

USE AND VEGETATION: The major use is wildlife habitat, recreation, and research activities. Massasauga soils are normally devoid of vegetation due to high salt content and ponding.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South central New Mexico, limited to White Sands National Monument, MLRA 42. Massasauga is of limited extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Sands National Monument, Otero County, New Mexico, 2015.

REMARKS:

Diagnostic horizon and features recognized in this pedon are:

Particle-size control section - the zone from 10 to 40 inches (Cnyyz horizons)

Salic horizon - the zone from 0 to 60 inches (Cnyyz horizons)

Soils classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014

Revised for the correlation of White Sands National Monument, New Mexico; April, 2015, NMS

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.