LOCATION MCGINTY COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: McGinty sandy loam, in grassland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3)moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable; many dark magnetic mineral grains; 3 percent gravel; calcareous; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bw--6 to 19 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3)moist; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable; many dark magnetic mineral grains; 3 percent gravel; calcareous; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
Bk1--19 to 40 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable; many dark magnetic mineral grains; 3 percent gravel; visible secondary calcium carbonate occurring as concretions, in thin seams and streaks, and as coatings on the sand and rock fragments; calcareous; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
Bk2--40 to 60 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable; many dark magnetic mineral grains; 3 percent gravel; some calcium carbonate but less than in the horizon above; calcareous; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Alamosa County, Colorado; 100 feet east and 100 feet south of the W1/4 corner of Sec. 1, T. 40 N., R. 9 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
The mean annual soil temperature: 41 to 46 degrees F (5 to 7.8 degrees C)
The mean summer soil temperature: 59 to 64 degrees F. (15 to 17.2 degrees C)
Depth to uniformly calcareous material: 0 to 18 inches in virgin areas.
Depth to the calcic horizon: 10 to 40 inches (30 to 53 centimeters)
Exchangeable sodium: 0 to 15 percent in a major part of the control section
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent and are mainly 1/2 to 10 inches (1.27 to 25 centimeters) in diameter
Sand and silt fractions: Contain about 5 to 20 percent or more dark colored ferromagnesian rich minerals and fragments of basalt
Particle size control section:
Clay content: 5 to 18 percent
Silt content: 5 to 35 percent
Sand content: 52 to 75 percent with more than 15 percent fine or coarser sand. Loamy fine sand or coarser is excluded from the above range
A horizon:
Hue: 2.5Y through 7.5YR
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Chroma: 1 through 4
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Bk horizons:
Hue: 2.5Y through 7.5YR
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline to very strongly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES:
Cososa soils have 15 to 35 percent rock fragments at 40 to 60 inches
Pepal soils are expected to be updated to ustic aridic
Sprabat soils are presumed to have tuff rock fragments and can have 1 to 2 mm thick coating of silica on rock fragments
Teagulf soils have a paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: alluvium derived from mixed sources (igneous and metamorphic rock)
Landform: flood plains, valley floors, alluvial flats, fan remnants, and alluvial fans
Slope: 0 to 9 percent
Mean annual air temperature: 41 to 46 degrees F (5 to 7.8 degrees C)
Mean average annual precipitation: 7 inches
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Mosca and
Gunbarrel soils.
Mosca soils have natric horizons. Gunbarrel soils are coarse textured and are somewhat poorly to poorly drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderately rapid to rapid permeability. Typically the water table is more than 5 feet deep but rises slightly above this depth (4.5 feet) during the irrigation season.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used extensively for irrigated cropland. Potatoes, barley, oats, and alfalfa are the main crops. Some areas are still in native range. Native vegetation is mainly tall rabbitbrush, greasewood and alkali sacaton and inland saltgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: High mountainous valleys of central and southern Colorado LRR E, MLRA 51. This series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Alamosa County, Colorado, 1974.
REMARKS: Last updated by the state 2/99.
At the type location the parent material is mixed from igneous and metamorphic rock; volcanic rock makes-up only 30 percent; the original parent material was determined as basalt; in Costilla County, CO the parent material is derived from granite, gneiss, and mica schist, jwb, 4/2009.