LOCATION NAJUL NM
Established Series
Rev GWC
12/2014
NAJUL SERIES
The Najul series consists of very deep well drained soils that formed in clayey alluvium. These nearly level soils are on flood-plain steps. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 9 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 64 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, gypsic, thermic Leptic Haplogypsids
TYPICAL PEDON: Najul silty clay loam rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)
Ayz--0 to 6 inches (0 to 15 cm); reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silty clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3), moist; 38 percent clay; moderate medium platy over moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common medium few fine roots throughout; common medium dendritic tubular pores; carbonate, finely disseminated and common medium threadlike gypsum crystal clusters throughout; violently effervescent, 21 percent calcium carbonate equivalent and 11 percent gypsum; moderately alkaline, pH 8.2; electrical conductivity 20.2 dS/m (mmhos/cm); strongly saline; gradual smooth boundary.
Byz1--6 to 22 inches (15 to 55 cm); reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silty clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/3), moist; 42 percent clay; moderate medium and strong coarse subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; few fine roots throughout; few medium dendritic tubular pores; carbonate, finely disseminated and common medium threadlike gypsum crystal clusters throughout; violently effervescent, 19 percent calcium carbonate equivalent and 8 percent gypsum; moderately alkaline, pH 8.2; electrical conductivity 10.3 dS/m (mmhos/cm); moderately saline; diffuse wavy boundary.
Byz2--22 to 36 inches (55 to 90 cm); light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) gypsiferous silty clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/4), moist; 45 percent clay; strong coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; carbonate, finely disseminated and common medium irregular gypsum crystal clusters and common medium irregular gypsum crystals throughout; strongly effervescent, 8 percent calcium carbonate equivalent and 43 percent gypsum; moderately alkaline, pH 7.9; electrical conductivity 10.6 dS/m (mmhos/cm); moderately saline; gradual smooth boundary.
Byz3--36 to 60 inches (90 to 152 cm); light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) gypsiferous clay, reddish brown (5YR 5/4), moist; 50 percent clay; strong coarse subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; carbonate, finely disseminated and common medium irregular gypsum crystal clusters throughout; violently effervescent, 13 percent calcium carbonate equivalent and 28 percent gypsum; moderately alkaline, pH 7.9; electrical conductivity 22.3 dS/m (mmhos/cm); strongly saline.
TYPE LOCATION: Sierra County, New Mexico. USGS Quad Strawberry Peak. Latitude: 33 degrees 3 minutes 20.00 seconds north, Longitude: 106 degrees 30 minutes 5.00 seconds west, NAD 83; UTM Easting: 359880 meters, UTM Northing: 3658192 meters. UTM zone 13.
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.
Depth to gypsic horizon: 0 to 7 inches
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 30 to 60 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 25 percent disseminated carbonates
Gypsum content: 5 to 45 percent, averages less than 35 percent
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline
Electrical conductivity: 15 to 30 dS/m
Depth to gypsic horizon: 0 to 6 inches
Ayz horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: silty clay loam, silty clay
Clay: 27 to 50 percent
Gypsum: 5 to 20 percent
Salinity: moderately saline to strongly saline
Byz horizons
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: gypsiferous clay loam, gypsiferous silty clay loam, silty clay, gypsiferous silty clay, gypsiferous clay, clay loam
Clay: 35 to 60 percent
Gypsum: 5 to 50 percent (averages less than 40 percent)
Salinity: moderately saline to strongly saline
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Najul soils are on flood-plain steps. Slope is 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in clayey alluvium. Elevation ranges from 3,900 to 4,020 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: These are the tentative
Bigsalt series. Bigsalt soils have salic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: well drained; medium runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: The major uses are military exercises and wildlife habitat. Native vegetation is alkali sacaton and desert seepweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South central New Mexico, limited to the Tularosa Basin. MLRA 42, Najul soils are of limited extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: White Sands Missile Range, Otero County, New Mexico, 2014. The name Najul is Lujan spelled backwards. Lujan is an instrumentation site on White Sands Missile Range.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizon and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section - the zone from 10 to 40 inches (Byz1, Byz2 and Byz3 horizons)
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (Ayz horizon)
Gypsic horizon - the zone from 6 to 60 inches (Byz1, Byz2 and Byz3 horizons)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014.
Revised for the correlation of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; October, 2014, NMS
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.