LOCATION RAZITO NM AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Typic Torripsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Razito loamy fine sand -- rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the pedon was moist from 0 to 4 inches and dry below.)
A--0 to 8 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loamy fine sand, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few medium and common fine and very fine roots; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.4); clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
C1--8 to 22 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loamy fine sand, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few medium and fine and common very fine roots; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8); gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 24 inches thick)
C2--22 to 62 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fine sand, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium and fine and common very fine roots; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline (pH 7.8).
TYPE LOCATION: San Juan County, New Mexico; on the Navajo Indian Reservation about 24 miles east-northeast of Sheep Springs and 1.5 miles north of De-na-zin Wash; 2,325 feet south and 1,800 feet west of the northeast corner of section 13, T. 23 N., R. 14 W. Longitude 108 degrees, 16 minutes, 38 seconds; latitude 36 degrees, 13 minutes, 43 seconds.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section from July to October and December to mid-April. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 54 to 59 degrees F.
Reaction: ranges from neutral in the surface to moderately alkaline in the underlying horizons
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent gravel
A or AC horizons
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Texture: loamy fine sand, loamy sand, fine sand, sand
C horizon
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry or moist
Texture: loamy fine sand, loamy sand, fine sand, sand
Salinity: less than 4 dS/m
Sodicity SAR: 0 to 13
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 5 percent
Some pedons have Ck horizons
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Als (OR), Ecklund (CO), Hawsley (NV), Isolde (NV), Kawish (NV), Sheppard (UT), Stumble (NV), Sundown (NV), Tipper (WY), Tipperary (WY), Tricera (CO), and Yenrab (UT) series. Als soils are noncalcareous above 40 inches. Ecklund and Tipper soils have bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Hawsley soils are leached of carbonates at the surface; Kawich soils have a pyroclastic influence. Tipperary and Tricera soils mean annual temperatures are less than 50 degrees F. Kewake soils have soil temperatures of 47 to 53 degrees F. Sheppard soils have hues of 7.5YR through 2.5YR. Stumble soils have strata with 15 to 35 percent rock fragments. Sundown soils have a pyroclastic influence. Yenrab soils have exchangeable sodium contents of 20 to 50 percent below a depth of 12 inches. Additionally, the Als, Hawsley, Isolde, Kawich, Kewake, Sundown and Yenrab have cool moist winters and hot dry summers and are not intermittently moist 10-20 days in the summer. Tipper and Tipperary receive most of their moisture in the spring and early summer and are moist in the SMCS in April, May and early June.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Razito soils are on stable dunes of undulating plateaus, mesas, cuestas, valley sides and valley floors. They formed in eolian material and alluvium derived dominantly from Cretaceous sandstone. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. Elevations range from 3,150 to 6,800 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 5 to 10 inches with 35 to 60 percent falling as rain from high-intensity thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 50 to 57 degrees F. The average frost-free period is 130 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Benally, Doak, Fruitland, Huerfano, Mayqueen, Nageezi and Shiprock soils. Benally and Huerfano soils have natric horizons and are deep and shallow respectively, on areas of soft, sodium-rich bedrock. Doak soils are fine-loamy with argillic horizons on lower-lying areas of undulating plateaus. Fruitland soils are coarse-loamy and occur on low fan terraces. Mayqueen and Shiprock soils are coarse-loamy and have argillic horizons. Nageezi soils are coarse-loamy with cambic and calcic horizons on higher portions of undulating plateaus and high stream terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained and excessively drained, negligible to low runoff; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Razito soils are used for livestock grazing and irrigated agriculture. Present vegetation is Indian ricegrass, sand and mesa dropseeds, sandhill muhly, fourwing saltbush, Cutler and sand Mormon-teas, sand sagebrush and Greene rabbitbrush. The principal crops are alfalfa for hay and pasture, corn for grain and silage, potatoes and pinto beans.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Arizona and northwest New Mexico. LRR-D; MLRAs 35 and 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 1989.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (A horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.
The type location has been moved to San Juan County to an area that better represents the taxonomic classification.
This series now encompasses many of the soils correlated as the Sheppard and Stumble series in the soil survey of San Juan County, New Mexico, Eastern Part.
Updated and revised for the correlation of Ft. Defiance Area AZ715, 2/2008, DWD
Update and revisions for the correlation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, January 2010, CEM