LOCATION NEWKIRK NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Lithic Ustic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Newkirk sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 4 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; many fine pores; neutral, abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
Bt--4 to 13 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable, sticky, and slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; common fine pores; thin patchy clay films on surfaces of peds and lining pores; 5 percent fine pebbles; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
R--13 inches; calcareous sandstone, fractured in upper 5 inches; thin white carbonate accumulation on upper surface and along fractures which are filled with soil.
TYPE LOCATION: San Miguel County, New Mexico; about 1.2 miles east of Trementina School; 1,000 feet south and 1,650 feet east of the northwest corner, sec. 11, T. 14 N., R. 23 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist December through March and June through September.
Soil Temperature: 61 to 65 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock: 8 to 20 inches
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent, mostly pebbles
A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR through 5YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sandy loam, fine sandy loam with gravelly or cobbly modifiers
Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 5YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam
Clay: weighted average 18 to 35 percent
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Similar soils are Bernal and Hagerman. Bernal soils have a mollic epipedon. Hagerman soils have a lithic contact at 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Newkirk soils are on top of mesas, hillslopes, and ridges. Slope ranges from 1 to 10 percent. They formed in material weathered mainly from sandstone. The climate is semiarid continental. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 58 to 62 degrees F. and mean annual precipitation ranges from 12 to 16 inches. The frost-free season ranges from 180 to 200 days and elevation ranges from 4,000 to 5,300 feet. The Thornthwaite annual P. E. Index ranges from 19 to 24.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Conchas, Lacoca, Quay, and Redona soils. Conchas soils do not have an argillic horizon and have sandstone at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Lacoca soils do not have an argillic horizon. Quay and Redona soils do not have lithic contact within a depth of 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability of the soil material is moderate above a very slowly permeable lithic contact. Runoff is medium on 1 t 3 percent slopes, high on 3 to 5 percent slopes, and very high on slopes greater than 5 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: The soils are used mainly for rangeland, wildlife habitat, and watershed protection. Present vegetation is blue grama, black grama, hairy grama, yucca, broom snakeweed, mesquite, and oneseed juniper.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern New Mexico. This series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Southwest Quay SCD, New Mexico, 1958.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 4 inches. (A horizon). When colors meet the requirements of a mollic epipedon, the horizon is too thin.
Argillic horizon: 4 to 13 inches. (Bt horizon)
Lithic contact: Hard sandstone bedrock at 13 inches.