LOCATION MCGAFFEY NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Cumulic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: McGaffey loam (Unless specified as moist, colors are dry).
A--0 to 24 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) loam, 5YR 3/3 when moist; weak to moderate subangular blocky structure, fine in the upper part becoming coarser with depth; hard; friable; fine roots and root channels numerous; slightly alkaline but noncalcareous. Lower boundary not perceptible; made on reaction.
C--24 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) loam or clay loam; 5YR 3/3 when moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard; friable; no visible clay skins or bedding planes; many pores; calcareous with a very few very fine nodules of CaCO3.
TYPE LOCATION: McKinley County, New Mexico Center Sec. 28 T14N R16W, north of McGaffey
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Texture: loam and clay loam
Clay content: 20 percent clay
Hue: 7.5YR to 5YR.
Rarely is there reliably readable color difference between the upper part of the profile and the subsoil and substrata to depth of more than 5 feet.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Breezebasin (CO),
Brycan (UT),
Cordeston (WY),
Dalmatian (CO),
Enbar (MT),
Jode (CO),
Jodero (CO),
Nutrioso (AZ),
Pinridge (CO),
Polich (NM),
Staad (MT), and
Straw (MT) series.
Breezebasin - has endosaturation and is moderately well drained
Brycan - has horizon of secondary carbonate accumulation and have argillic horizons.
Cordeston - does not have carbonates above a depth of 60 inches.
Dalmation - has redoximorphic concentrations at 12 to 24 inches.
Enbar - has redoximorphic features in the particle-size control section and have a lithologic discontinuity below 40 inches.
Jode - peak periods of precipitation occur during July and August.
Jodero - has a mollic epipedon more than 40 inches thick; has redoximorphic concentrations in the series control section; receive less than 14 inches of precipitation; have fragments of volcanic origin and allow for a lithologic discontinuity.
Nutrioso - has a lithologic discontinuity above 40 inches.
Pinridge - is dry in all parts of the moisture control section for 60 or more days following July 1.
Polich - has horizon of secondary carbonate accumulation and is somewhat poorly drained.
Staad - has hues 10YR and yellower.
Straw - does not have cobbles in the particle-size control section; has a C horizon; allows Bk and 2C horizons.
Additionally, the Breezebasin, Cordeston, Enbar, Jode, Jodero, Pinridge, Staad and Straw soils are in LRR-E or LRR-G and more moist in
May and June.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mostly on gently sloping alluvial fans of gradient less than 3 percent. The McGaffey series is of loamy alluvial soils of cool-temperate sub-humid environment developing in calcareous reddish alluvium. In the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico these soils occupy alluvial fans and valley floors at elevations of about 7,500 feet within uplands formed on reddish shale, siltstone and fine grained sandstone, such as the Chinle and Abo formations. The climate is continental with mean annual precipitation ranging from about 18 to 20 inches. Mean January temperature is about 22 degrees F.; mean July temperature, about 65 degrees F.; mean annual temperature, about 47 degrees F. The McGaffey soils are the most extensive soils on the alluvial plains and fans, and probably the most productive soils of the Zuni Mountain Area.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well-drained; permeability is moderate. There is considerable gulley erosion due to head cutting caused by melting snow water.
USE AND VEGETATION: Pasture and cropland. At present, mainly grasses and cultivated crops, such as oats, potatoes, clover, and some corn. Good ponderosa pine occur in a few area.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Zuni Mountains of New Mexico. MLRA 39.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McKinley County (Zuni Mountain Area) New Mexico 1964. Name from the small settlement at McGaffey.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from 0 to 60 inches (A & C horizons)
Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006