LOCATION PUERTECITO NM+AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Ustic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Puertecito very gravelly loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) very gravelly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 30 percent gravel and 10 percent cobbles; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bt--2 to 9 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) very gravelly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and very fine roots; few fine pores; few thin clay films on faces of peds; 40 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
Btk--9 to 14 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) very gravelly clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; weak very fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; few fine pores; few moderately thick clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 30 percent gravel, 10 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; slightly effervescent, calcium carbonate disseminated and occurs as few fine seams; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
2R--14 inches; hard consolidated tuff.
TYPE LOCATION: Socorro County, New Mexico; about 5 miles southwest of Socorro; l450 feet north and 400 feet west of the southeast corner of Section 6, T. 4 S., R. 1 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic soil moisture regime
Soil temperature: 49 to 59 degrees F.
Depth of soil to bedrock: 8 to 20 inches
Depth to carbonates: lower Bt horizon, above lithic contact
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture: fine earth fraction is sandy loam,loam, coarse sandy loam, fine sandy loam
Rock fragments range from 35 to 80 percent with 5 to 20 percent cobbles, 0 to 10 percent stones, and 30 to 40 percent gravel by volume
Btk horizons
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 3 through 6, dry or moist
Texture: clay loam, loam (contains less than 50 percent sand)
Rock fragments range from 35 to 60 percent with 5 to l0 percent cobbles, 0 to 5 percent stones and 30 to 45 percent gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 8 to l5 percent
C horizon: (Present in some pedons)
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Fourmilebench (UT), Quazo (UT), Roygorge (CO), and Wyva (NV) series. Fourmilebench soils do not contain secondary calcium carbonate accumulations in the argillic and average less than 20 percent clay. The Quazo and Wyva soils are noncalcareous throughout. Roygorge soils contain more than 50 percent sand.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Puertecito soils are on slopes of mountains, plateaus, mesas and hills. Slopes range from 1 to 60 percent. Elevation ranges from 5200 to 7600 feet. The average annual precipitation is l0 to l4 inches and the average annual air temperature is 47 to 57 degrees F. The frost-free period is l30 to l80 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Millett, Santa Fe and Sedillo soils. Millett and Sedillo soils are very deep. Santa Fe soils have a mollic epipedon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very rapid runoff, moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Puertecito soils are used for livestock grazing. Native vegetation includes black grama, side oats grama, blue grama.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Puertecito soils are of moderate extent in central New Mexico and northern Arizona. MLRA is 35 and 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Socorro County, New Mexico, l984.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 2 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 2 to l4 inches (Bt, Btk horizons)
Secondary carbonates - the zone from 9 to l4 inches (Btk horizon)
Lithic contact - the boundary with hard consolidated tuff at l4 inches
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition 2006
Rock content, elev, slope, ffp expanded for the final correlation of Santa Fe, NM 10/29/07 PDC