LOCATION PARIDA NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Ustic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Parida very gravelly sandy loam. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) very gravelly sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; common fine interstitial pores; 10 percent cobbles and 45 percent gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bw1--3 to 12 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common medium, fine and very fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 15 inches thick)
Bw2--12 to 28 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium, common fine and few very fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 15 percent gravel; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (16 to 43 inches thick)
Bk--28 to 65 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) gravelly sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few medium and fine roots; few fine tubular pores; 5 percent cobbles and 20 percent gravel; slightly effervescent with calcium carbonate coatings on cobbles and gravel; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; about 5.4 miles east of La Vilita, along the south side of Arroyo del Palacio. State Plane Coordinates are 1,840,200 feet north, 585,800 feet east. 105 degrees, 57 minutes, 48 seconds west longitude; 36 minutes, 03 minutes, 24 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Intermittently moist in some part of the moisture control section December through March and July through September. This soil is driest during May and June.
Particle-size control section: Weighted average percent clay 7 to 18.
Rock Fragments: 15 to 35 percent, mainly gravel with up to 10 percent cobbles. Ranges to 50 percent gravel in the surface.
Bw horizon
Value: 5 through 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist
Texture: gravelly sandy loam
Bk horizon
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 5 or 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry or moist
Texture: gravelly sandy loam
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Begay, Delvalle, Ignacio, Kitsili, Koshare, Ojito, Remmit and Turnback series. Begay, Kitsili, Remmit and Turnback soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the control section. Delvalle soils have sandy and gravelly substratum. Ignacio and Ojito soils have bedrock at 20 to 40 inches. Koshare soils have 10 to 25 percent mica. In addition, Remmit and Turnback soils are in the Western Great Plains LRR-G (MLRAs 67, 58B) and are more moist in May and June.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Parida soils formed in alluvium and colluvium derived from sandstone and mixed sources. They are on hills and ridges. Slopes range from 10 to 40 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,800 to 7,200 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 12 inches; the mean annual temperature is 48 to 52 degrees F., and the frost-free season is 120 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These soils are Palacid, and Rosced. Palacid soils have argillic horizon are fine-loamy. Rosced soils are loamy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; runoff is medium on gentle slopes and rapid on steeper slopes; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Parida soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is pinyon, oneseed juniper, pinque, black grama, blue grama, broom snakeweed, Indian ricegrass, sideoats grama, mountainmahogany and yucca.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central New Mexico, the series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 1989.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to a depth of 6 inches. (A and part of the Bw1 horizon)
Cambic horizon - The zone from 3 inches to a depth of 28 inches. (Bw1 and Bw2 horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999.