LOCATION MODEAMA NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Argiustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Modeama extremely cobbly silt loam - Woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated).
A--0 to 4 inches; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) crushed, extremely cobbly silt loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 2/2) crushed, moist; 25 percent clay; weak fine subangular blocky and moderate very fine granular structure; 1 percent subangular 10- to 20-inch limestone fragments and 20 percent subangular 0.1- to 3.0-inch limestone fragments and 50 percent subangular 3.0- to 10-inch limestone fragments; noneffervescent, by 3 normal HCl; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Btk-4 to 14 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/3) crushed, extremely cobbly silty clay, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) crushed, moist; 45 percent clay; strong fine subangular blocky structure; 85 percent continuous prominent clay films on faces of peds; 3 percent fine spherical weakly cemented carbonate nodules; 1 percent subangular 10- to 20-inch limestone fragments and 25 percent subangular 0.1- to 3.0-inch limestone fragments and 45 percent subangular 3.0- to 10-inch limestone fragments; strongly effervescent, by 3 normal HCl; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (7 to 15 inches thick)
Bk--14 to 33 inches; pink (5YR 8/3) crushed, extremely cobbly loam, light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) crushed, moist; 25 percent clay; massive; 10 percent subangular 10- to 20-inch limestone fragments and 20 percent subangular 0.1- to 3.0-inch limestone fragments and 20 percent subangular strongly cemented 0.1- to 10-inch calcrete fragments and 35 percent subangular 3.0- to 10-inch limestone fragments; violently effervescent, by 3 normal HCl; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
R--33 inches; hard limestone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Otero County, New Mexico; approximately 2.5 miles south and 1.25 miles west of Timberon; 200 feet west and 200 feet south of the northeast corner of Section 4, Range 12 E., Township 20 S. USGS El Paso Canyon topographic quadrangle; latitude: 32 degrees 36 minutes 6.35 seconds north. and longitude: 105 degrees 42 minutes 47.89 seconds west UTM Zone: 13, 433067E, 3607174N; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: A typic ustic moisture regime. The moisture control section is usually dry in some or in all parts for six-tenths or less of the time that the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. Some part of the epipedon is moist for more than 90 cumulative days in most years when the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F.
Mean annual soil temperature: 51 to 55 degrees F.
Thickness of mollic epipedon: 10 to 20 inches
Depth to lithic contact: 20 to 40 inches
Depth to calcic horizon: 10 to 20 inches
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 40 to 50 percent
Coarse fragment content: 65 to 85 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent in the particle size control section average 5 to 15 percent:
A horizon:
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Coarse fragments: limestone fragments; 65 to 85 percent total coarse fragments; 10 to 25 percent gravel; 45 to 55 percent cobbles, 0 to 5 percent stones.
Bt horizon:
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Calcium Carbonates equivalent: 5 to 15 percent
Coarse fragments: limestone fragments; 65 to 85 percent total coarse fragments; 15 to 30 percent gravel; 40 to 50 percent cobbles, 0 to 5 percent stones.
Bk horizon:
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 5 to 7 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Coarse fragments: calcrete and limestone fragments; 65 to 85 percent total coarse fragments; 15 to 25 percent gravel; 30 to 40 percent cobbles, 0 to 15 percent stones, 15 to 25 percent calcrete fragments.
Calcium carbonates equivalent: 40 to 60 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: colluvium from limestone
Landform: mountains
Slope: 5 to 35 percent
Mean annual temperature: 50 to 54 degrees
Mean annual precipitation: 16 to 18 inches
Precipitation pattern: precipitation falls mostly during the months of July through September. The driest months are March and April. Precipitation during the months of January, February, and March is less than 13 percent of the total.
Frost-free period: 120 to 160 days
Elevation: 6,500 to 7,650 feet
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Cale,
Penalto (T), and
Penapon series.
Cale soils: very deep and are in mountian valleys.
Penalto soils: shallow to a petrocalcic horizon and are on hills.
Penapon soils: very deep and are on mountains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately slow. Runoff is high on slopes of 5 to 20 percent and very high on slopes greater than 20 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing. Vegetation is of the pinyon-juniper woodland type consisting of pinyon pine, oneseed juniper, alligator juniper, algertia, oak spp., mountain mahogany, stipa spp., sideoats grama, wolftail, curlyleaf muhly, metcalf muhly, pinyon ricegrass, beargrass, and prickly pear cactus.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico; LRR G, MLRA 70; small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Otero County, New Mexico, 2001
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: the zone from 4 to 14 inches. (Bt horizon)
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 14 inches. (A and Bt horizons).
Argillic horizon - 4 to 14 inches (Btk horizon)
Calcic horizon - 14 to 33 inches. (Bk horizon)
Lithic contact - the contact with hard bedrock at 33 inches.