LOCATION MCNEAL AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Ustic Calciargids
TYPICAL PEDON: McNeal very gravelly sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) 45 to 55 percent of the surface is covered with gravel
A--0 to 1 inch; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak thin platy structure; loose, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common fine irregular and tubular pores; few fine vesicular pores; 38 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary.
Btk1--1 to 6 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots and few medium roots; few fine tubular pores; many distinct clay films on ped faces; common distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; 10 percent gravel; strongly effervescent, 4 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary.
Btk2--6 to 13 inches; 80 percent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and 20 percent pink (5YR 7/4) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on ped faces; many distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; common fine soft calcium carbonate masses; 10 percent gravel; violently effervescent, 43 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4) clear smooth boundary.
Btk3--13 to 21 inches; 50 percent light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) and 50 percent pink (5YR 7/4) clay loam, light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots; many fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on ped faces; many distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; common fine soft calcium carbonate masses; 10 percent gravel; violently effervescent, 53 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary.
Btk4--21 to 41 inches; 50 percent light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) and 50 percent pinkish white (5YR 8/2) sandy clay loam, light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots; many fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on ped faces; many distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; common fine soft calcium carbonate masses; 10 percent gravel; violently effervescent, 33 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary.
Btk5--41 to 60 inches; 90 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and 10 percent pinkish white (7.5YR 8/2) sandy loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; many fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films on ped faces; many distinct calcium carbonate coatings on rock fragments; common fine calcium carbonate filaments; 10 percent gravel; violently effervescent, 9 percent calcium carbonate equivalent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Cochise County, Arizona; located at a latitude of 31 degrees, 44 minutes, 22 seconds North and a longitude of 110 degrees, 03 minutes, 31 seconds West; 1,275 feet south and 200 feet west of the northeast corner of section 36, Township 19 S., Range 22 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-September and December-February. Driest during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent
Reaction: slightly to strongly alkaline
Depth to calcic horizon: 5 to 20 inches
Organic matter: less than 1 percent in the surface
Thickness of solum: 20 to 40 inches
A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 3 through 6 dry, 3, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 through 6, dry or moist
Btk horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 through 8 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 through 6 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, sandy loam (averages 20 to 35 percent clay)
Calcium carbonate equivalent: more than 15 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Amarose (NM), Grizzle (AZ), Gulch (AZ), Headquarters (NM), McAllister (AZ), Redona (NM), and Tinney (NM) series. Amarose and Redona soils are moist in the soil moisture control section during May and June and occur in the Great Plains.
Amarose, Redona, Tinney, and McAllister soils have calcic horizons below 20 inches.
Headquarters soils have a solum that is 10 to 15 inches thick.
Gulch soils have 1 to 4 percent gypsum.
Grizzle soils are moderately deep to paralithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: McNeal soils are in the Chihuahuan desert on gently sloping to sloping fan terraces at elevations of 3,000 to 5,200 feet. Slopes range from 1 to 20 percent. These soils formed in mixed alluvium from rhyolite, andesite, granite, and limestone. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 16 inches, occurring as summer thunderstorms and gentle winter rains. The mean annual air temperature is about 59 to 67 degrees F. The frost-free period is 180 to 250 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bonita, Forrest and Luckyhills series. Bonita soils are fine textured. Forrest soils are fine textured and have greater than 1 percent organic matter. Luckyhills soils have less than 18 percent clay and do not have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat and irrigated cropland. Vegetation is whitethorn, tarbush, creosotebush, bush muhly, plains bristlegrass, desert zinnia and mariola. Irrigated crops are cotton, corn, small grains and alfalfa.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Arizona. McNeal soils are moderately extensive. MLRA is 41.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sulphur Spring Valley Area, Arizona; 1940
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 1 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon - The zone from 1 to 60 inches (Btk1, Btk2, Btk3, Btk4, Btk5 horizons)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 6 to 41 inches (Btk2, Btk3, Btk4 horizons)
Type location moved to the Douglas-Tombstone taxonomic description in April 2000. This description better describes the series concept.
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.