LOCATION QUEEN                   NM

Established Series
Rev. AJM, WJG
08/2018

QUEEN SERIES

The Queen series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils on mountaintops, moutainsides and escarpments. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from limestone, carbonitic sandstone and eolian dust. Slope ranges from 1 to 70 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 16 inches. The mean annual air temperature is about 60 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Lithic Argiustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Queen very stony silty clay loam - savannah. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 3 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very stony silty clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure parting to strong medium granular; soft, very friable, very sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; 10 percent gravels, 10 percent cobbles, 15 percent stones and 5 percent boulders; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 7.0); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)

Bt--3 to 11 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/3) , very stony silty clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine and common fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravels, 10 percent cobbles, 15 percent stones and 5 percent boulders; many continuous prominent clay films on all faces of peds; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 7.2); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)

Btk--11 to 13 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) very stony clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; strong medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine, fine and medium roots; few fine tubular pores; 1 percent gravels, 5 percent cobbles, 15 percent stones and 5 percent boulders; many continuous prominent clay films on all faces of peds; common spherically shaped medium noncemented carbonate masses on all faces of peds and common continuous prominent carbonate coats on bottoms of rock fragments; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)

R--13 inches; indurated limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: Eddy County, New Mexico within Carlsbad Caverns National Park; 110 feet south of the Yucca trail, USGS Gunsight 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle, NE quarter; UTM zone 13S 3550248 N 533735 W

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: In normal years this soil is driest during May and June but moist in the upper part for at least 90 cumulative days during the growing season. Approximately 60 percent of the precipitation occurs during the winter months. Soil moisture regime is aridic ustic.
Mean Annual Soil Temperature: 50 to 58 degrees F
Thickness of mollic epipedon:7 to 16 in (18 to 40 cm)
Depth to lithic contact: 8 to 20 in (20 to 50 cm)

Particle Size Control Section (weighted averages):
Clay content: 27 to 35 percent
Sand content: 10 to 25 percent
Rock fragment content: 25 to 50 percent total; 5 to 40 percent gravel; 5 to 25 percent cobble; 5 to 15 percent stones; 0 to 5 percent boulders
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent in the Bt horizons, 10 to 20 percent in the Btk horizons

A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 3 or 4 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3, dry or moist
Texture: loam, silty clay loam or clay loam
Rock fragment content: 25 to 55 percent total; 5 to 40 percent gravel; 5 to 25 percent cobble; 5 to 15 percent stones; 0 to 5 percent boulders
Effervescence: none to slight
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline

Bt horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam or loam
Rock fragment content: 35 to 50 percent total; 5 to 40 percent gravel; 5 to 30 percent cobble; 1 to 5 percent stones; 0 to 5 percent boulders
Effervescence: none to slight
Reaction: neutral to slightly alkaline

Btk horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 3 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: clay loam or silty clay loam
Rock fragment content: 25 to 50 percent total; 5 to 40 percent gravel; 5 to 20 percent cobble; 0 to 5 percent stones; 0 to 5 percent boulders
Effervescence: slight to strong
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Buckspring (WY), Hiddenforest ( NV), Montvale (UT), Motuqua (UT), Phizphre (AZ), Santa Fe (NM), and Slidymtn (NV) series.
Slidymtn, Motoqua, Phizphre and Santa Fe soils have no secondary carbonates in the profile. Slidymtn and Motoqua soils are formed in volcanic rocks, the Santa Fe and Hiddenforest soils formed in acid igneous rocks, and the Montvale soils in Sandstone. The Slidymtn and Hiddenforest soils are in the ustic aridic soil moisture regime and the Montvale soils have a frost free season of only 105 to 140 days. The Buckspring has a clay content in the particle size control section ranging from 15 to 25 percent.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Queen soils are located on mountain tops, mountain sides, summits of ridges and escarpments at an elevation ranging from 5000 to 7000 feet. These soils formed in residuum and colluvium from limestone and carbonate sandstones and from additions of eolian dust. Slopes range from 1 to 70 percent. The mean annual air temperature is 50 to 60 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is 15 to 21 inches. The frost-free period is 140 to 172 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Biduya and Lechuguilla series. Biduya soils have no argillic horizon. Lechuguilla soils are in the thermic soil temperature regime.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate to rapid runoff; saturated hydraulic conductivity ranges from 1-10 m/sec through the solum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Queen soils are used for recreation, grazing, firewood collecting and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation consists of curlyleaf muhly, hairy grama, sideoats grama, bull muhly, silver bluestem, plains lovegrass, wavyleaf oak, alligator juniper, beargrass, mountain mahogany, twoneedle pinon pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern New Mexico within MLRA 70C. This series is extensive..

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eddy county, New Mexico; Soil survey of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 2012.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to 11 inches (A and Bt horizons)
Argillic horizon - The zone from 3 to 13 inches (Bt, Btk horizons)
Lithic contact - The boundary at 13 inches (R horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Eleventh Edition, 2010.
Revised for the correlation of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, October, 2016, NMS

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.