LOCATION RANSECT NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, carbonatic, mesic Haplocalcidic Haplustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Ransect silty clay loam - woodland (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; light yellowish brown (l0YR 6/4) silty clay loam, dark yellowish brown (l0YR 4/4) moist; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); clear smooth boundary. (l to 4 inches thick)
Bkl--3 to l6 inches; brown (l0YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (l0YR 3/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine and medium roots; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent, many soft rounded calcium carbonate accumulations; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
Bk2--l6 to 24 inches; brown (l0YR 5/3) clay loam, brown (l0YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few medium roots; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent, many calcium carbonate accumulations; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
Bk3--24 to 38 inches; light yellowish brown (l0YR 6/4) clay loam, yellowish brown (l0YR 5/4) moist; massive; hard, friable, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few medium roots; few very fine tubular pores; violently effervescent, many calcium carbonate accumulations; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to l4 inches thick)
2R--38 inches; limestone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; 2.4 miles south and 2.8 miles west of junction NM Highway ll5 and U.S. Highway 84; New Mexico state plane coordinate l,983,400 feet north and 4l0,800 feet east. Longitude 106 degrees, 33 minutes, 43 seconds; latitude 30 minutes, 27 minutes, 05 seconds.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some parts of the SMCS December through April and July through September. The soil is driest during May and June.
Soil temperature: 47 to 51 degrees F.
Depth to lithic contact: 20 to 40 inches
A horizon:
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 through 5 moist
B horizon:
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 40 to 60 percent on a weighted average.
Percent clay: 18 to 30 percent noncarbonatic clay.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Berryman(NM) series. Berryman soil are more than 40 inches to a lithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ransect soils are on knolls. Slopes range from 1 to 6 percent. Elevation is 7,l00 to 7,800 feet. The soils formed in alluvium derived from limestone. Mean annual precipitation is l5 to l7 inches. The mean annual temperature is 45 to 48 degrees F., and the frost-free season is about l00 to ll5 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Calendar and Penny soils. Calender soils have more than 35 percent clay. Penny soils are shallow.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; low runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Ransect soils are used for fuelwood and wood products. The present vegetation is pinyon pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, ponderosa pine and pinyon ricegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern New Mexico. Series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, l989.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: The zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 3 inches. (A horizon)
Calcic horizon: The zone from 3 to 38 inches (Bk1, Bk2 and Bk3 horizon)
Lithic contact: Limestone at 38 inches. (R horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Lab data from New Mexico State University, S80-NM-039-2