LOCATION SELIGMAN AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, mesic, shallow Aridic Argiustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Seligman very gravelly clay loam - grazeable woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/2) very gravelly clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine and medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine interstitial pores; 40 percent hard pebbles; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick.)
Bt--3 to 12 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) clay, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) moist; strong medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; very hard, very firm, sticky and very plastic; many very fine and common fine roots; few very fine interstitial and tubular pores; 10 percent hard pebbles; many pressure faces; slightly alkaline (pH 7.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick.)
2Cr--12 to 14 inches; extremely hard pumiceous tuff; can be dug with difficulty with a spade after soaking with water; noneffervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Coconino County, Arizona; 1,500 feet east and 1,500 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 16, T. 23 N., R. 4 W.; base of Mount Floyd.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some parts of July-August and December- January. Aridic ustic moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 52 - 58 degrees F.
Rock fragments: 5 - 35 percent hard pebbles, cobbles or stones
Depth to paralithic contact: 7 - 20 inches
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3 dry, 2 or 3 moist
dry color:
Texture: gravelly clay loam, gravelly loam, very gravelly loam, very gravelly clay loam, cobbly loam
Clay content: 20 - 35 percent clay
Organic matter: 1 percent
Reaction: Neutral to slightly alkaline
Bt horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4 dry or moist
Texture: gravelly clay, gravelly clay loam, clay (35 - 45 percent clay)
Reaction: Neutral to slightly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Primen (CO) and Shena (SD) series. Primen soils have a paralithic contact of soft shale, sandstone, and mudstone. Shena soils have a paralithic contact of siltstone..
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Seligman soils are on plateaus and mesas with elevations between 5,800 and 6,300 feet. They formed in slope alluvium from basaltic, pumiceous, and siliceous tuff, volcanic breccia, rhyodacite, dacite, and rhyolite. The slope ranges from 1 to 15 percent. The climate is semiarid with precipitation of 14 to 18 inches and occurs as thunderstorms in July, August, and September and as rain and snow in the winter. Mean annual temperature is about 54 degrees F. Average January temperature is about 37 degrees F., and average July temperature is about 74 degrees F. Frost-free season ranges from 120 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boquillas, Cabezon, Faraway, Lynx, Springerville, and Thunderbird soils. Boquillas, Cabezon and Lynx have a lithic or paralithic contact. Faraway soils lack an argillic horizon. Springerville soils have intersecting slickensides.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow to medium. Permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: The soils are used for grazeable woodland, fuel wood, wildlife habitat, and water supply. Native vegetation is mainly oneseed juniper, blue grama, bottlebrush squirreltail, algerita, and broom snakeweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North central Arizona. The series is inextensive. MLRA 35.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Coconino County Area, Arizona, Central Part; 1980. The name is from a town.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizon and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 12 inches (A and Bt horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 3 to 12 inches (Bt horizon)
Particle size control section - the zone from 0 to 12 inches (A and Bt horizon)
Paralithic contact - the zone from 12 to 14 inches 2Cr layer