LOCATION PUYE NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Typic Durustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Puye gravelly sandy loam - woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; few fine interstitial pores; 20 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bw--3 to 15 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) gravelly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; common fine tubular pores; 25 percent pebbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 18 inches thick)
Bqm--15 to 16 inches; white indurated duripan, abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
2Bq--16 to 33 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly loamy sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; discontinuous duripans are present; few fine tubular pores; 40 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
2C--33 to 60 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) very gravelly sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 45 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; New Mexico state plane coordinates 1,804,700 feet north and 520,000 feet east. About 2.5 miles south and 5 miles west of Espanola; 106 degrees, 10 minutes, 59 seconds west longitude; 35 degrees, 57 minutes, 25 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the SMCS November through March and July through September. The driest months are May and June.
Soil Temperature: 48 to 51 degrees F.
Depth to Duripan: 10 to 20 inches.
A horizon: Value 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Chroma: 3 or 4.
Rock fragments: 15 to 20 percent, dominantly pebbles, cobbles make up no more than 5 percent of the total.
Reaction: slightly alkaline, moderately alkaline
Bw horizon: Value - 6 or 7 dry, 3 to 5 moist.
Chroma: 2 to 4.
Texture: sandy loam, fine sandy loam.
Rock fragments: 15 to 35 percent, dominantly pebbles (cobbles make up no more than 5 percent of the total).
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline.
Clay: 8 to 20 percent
2Bq and 2C horizons: Texture: loamy sand, sand, loamy coarse sand. Rock fragments: 35 to 40, mainly pebbles.
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series. Similar soils are Los Alamos and Totavi. Los Alamos and Totavi soils do not have duripans. In addition Los Alamos soils have Bt horizons above the pumice and Totavi soils have bulk density in the fine-earth fraction less than 0.85 grams per cubic centimeter.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Puye consists of shallow, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from pumice. They occupy dissected mesa summits. The mean annual precipitation is about 12 to 14 inches, mean annual temperature is about 46 to 48 degrees F, and the frost-free period is about 135 to 145 days. Slopes range from 3 to 15 percent and elevations range from 6,300 to 7,200 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Carracas, Paymaster, Pinitos, and Seelez soils. None of these soils have duripans. In addition Pinitos soil have Bt horizons, Carracas soils have a paralithic contact, and Paymaster soils have a mollic epipedon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; medium runoff; moderately rapidly permeable.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used for livestock grazing and fuelwood production. The vegetation is juniper, pinyon, blue grama, pricklypear, and rabbitbrush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central, New Mexico. The soil is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 1989. Puye is an Indian word taken from some nearby cliff dwellings.
REMARKS:In October 2000, taxonomic classification was converted to the closest match found in Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition 1999. Some update was made to horizon nomenclature, competing series section, etc. Other placements may be more appropriate after a complete update.
This soil was originally classified as typic because the Ustic subgroup did not exist.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 3 inches. ( A horizon)
Duripan - The indurated layer beneath the A and Bw horizon that has been cemented dominantly by silica. (Bkqm)
Ustic feature - soil does not have a xeric moisture regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial data from the type location NSSL No. 87P0093.