LOCATION PATEL NM COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Natrigypsids
TYPICAL PEDON: Patel very channery loam -- on a slightly convex, southwest facing footslope of 19 percent at 5,060 feet elevation -- rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the pedon was dry throughout.)
E--0 to 1 inch; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very channery loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate very thick platy structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; few fine and common very fine vesicular pores; 30 percent channers and 10 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
2Btn--1 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate fine angular blocky; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; many very fine irregularly shaped pores; common thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 5 percent channers and 5 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline (pH 9.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
3Btkn--8 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong medium prismatic structure; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; common very fine discontinuous tubular pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 10 percent parachanners; secondary gypsum crystals segregated in very few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on faces of peds; strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonates segregated in few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on faces of peds; strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
3Btkyn--14 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) with grayish brown (10YR 5/2) parachannery silty clay loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) with dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate coarse angular blocky; hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; common very fine discontinuous tubular pores; very few thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 15 percent parachanners; secondary gypsum crystals segregated in few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on faces of peds; strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonates segregated in few medium irregularly shaped accumulations on ped faces of peds; strongly alkaline (pH 8.5); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 11 inches thick)
3By--24 to 30 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) and light gray (10YR 7/2) very parachannery clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; moderate very thick platy structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and very fine roots; few very fine horizontal tubular pores; 40 percent parachanners; secondary gypsum crystals segregated in common fine irregularly shaped accumulations on faces of peds and on shale fragments; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (6 to 17 inches thick)
3Cy--30 to 37 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) extremely parachannery clay loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; massive, platy rock structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; few very fine horizontal tubular pores; 60 percent parachanners; secondary gypsum crystals segregated in few fine irregularly shaped accumulations on shale fragments; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
3Cr--37 inches; thinly interbedded shale and dolomitic limestone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: San Juan County, New Mexico; on the Navajo Indian Reservation about 16 miles northwest of Shiprock; 1,250 feet west and 1,700 feet south of the northeast corner of sec. 31, T.32N., R.19W; Latitude 36 degrees 56 minutes 47 seconds N and Longitude 108 degrees 53 minutes 7 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - Typically, the soil moisture control section (SMCS) is intermittently moist in some part from July to October and December to March. The SMCS is assumed to be dry in all parts greater than 75 percent of the time (cumulative), when the soil at 20 inches is 41 degrees F or higher. Typic aridic moisture regime.
Soil temperature - 54 to 57 degrees F.
Soil depth - 20 to 40 inches to soft bedrock
Depth to Gypsic horizon - 10 to 25 inches
Hard rock fragments are dolomitic limestone
E or A horizon - Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: very channery loam or channery silty clay loam.
Rock fragments: Total range is 15 to 55 percent.
5 to 10 percent pebbles.
10 to 40 percent channers, <3" long.
0 to 5 percent flagstones, <10" long.
Salinity, mmhos/cm: 0 to 2.
Sodicity, SAR: 0 to 5.
Calcium carbonate equivalent, less than 2mm: 5 to 20 percent.
Btn horizon - Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Texture: clay or silty clay.
Clay content: 40 to 50 percent.
Salinity, mmhos/cm: 2 to 4.
Sodicity, SAR: 13 to 30.
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent channers and 0 to 5 percent pebbles. Calcium carbonate equivalent, less than 2mm: 5 to 20 percent.
Btkn and Btkyn horizons - Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 4.
Texture: silty clay loam, clay loam, clay, or silty clay loam.
Clay content: 35 to 45 percent.
Salinity, mmhos/cm: 8 to 16.
Sodicity, SAR: 13 to 30.
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent channers.
Calcium carbonate equivalent, less than 2mm: 5 to 15 percent.
Gypsum content: 0 to 2 percent as secondary crystals.
Other features: 0 to 20 percent parachanners.
By horizons - Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y.
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist.
Chroma: 2 through 6.
Texture: clay loam or silty clay loam.
Clay content: 27 to 40 percent.
Salinity, mmhos/cm: 8 to 16.
Sodicity, SAR: 13 to 30.
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent channers.
Calcium carbonate equivalent, less than 2mm: 5 to 10 percent.
Gypsum content: 5 to 15 percent as secondary and some primary crystals. Other features: 5 to 60 percent parachanners; some pedons have textures of fine sandy loam, channery fine sandy loam, channery loam, or channery clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competitors.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Patel soils are on footslopes below structural benches and gently dipping cuestas. They formed in alluvium and residuum derived from shale, siltstone, and dolomitic limestone. Slopes are 5 to 25 percent. Elevation ranges from 4,800 to 5,400 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 5 to 8 inches with 35 to 60 percent falling as rain from high-intensity thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual temperature is 51 to 54 degrees F. The average frost-free period is 140 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cairn, Nageezi, Persayo, and Razito soils. Cairn soils are deep, loamy-skeletal, and occur on benches above Patel soils. Nageezi soils are very deep, coarse-loamy, and occur on adjacent stream terraces and fan terraces. Persayo soils are shallow to soft bedrock and occur on hillslopes above Cairn soils. Razito soils are very deep, sandy, and occur on stable dunes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Patel soils are used for livestock grazing. Present vegetation is Indian ricegrass, alkali sacaton, galleta, Castle Valley clover, shadscale, and cheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Patel soils are of small extent on the Four Corners Platform portion of the Colorado Plateau province in northwest New Mexico and southwest Colorado. MLRA 35.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Shiprock Area, Parts of San Juan County, New Mexico and Apache County, Arizona; 1993.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 1 inch (E horizon).
Natric horizon - The zone from 1 to about 24 inches (2Btn, 3Btkn, and 3Btkyn horizons).
Gypsic horizon - The zone from 24 to about 30 inches (3By horizon).
Paralithic contact - The presence of soft sedimentary bedrock at about 37 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Percent gypsum, salinity, and SAR values were determined through reference samples by the BIA soils laboratory in Gallup, NM. Salinity values were also determined on three pedons, including the type location, with a Wheatstone bridge. Calcium carbonate equivalence determined with a field volume calcimeter.
Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy Ninth Edition, 2003