LOCATION SIPAPU NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic, shallow Aridic Ustorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Sipapu gravelly sandy loam--on a planar to convex backslope of a ridge sloping 41 percent to the east at 6,580 feet elevation--woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the soil was slightly moist from 1 to 3 inches and otherwise dry throughout.)
A--0 to 1 inch; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak medium platy structure parting to weak fine granular; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few fine and few very fine roots; common very fine irregularly shaped pores; 25 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
Bk--1 to 3 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few medium, few fine, and common very fine roots; few very fine irregularly shaped pores; 5 percent gravel; strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped coats on faces of peds and on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
2BCk--3 to 8 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) very paragravelly fine sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; massive, hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few medium, few fine, and few very fine roots; 40 percent sandstone paragravel; 5 percent gravel; rock fragments have orientation similar to horizontally fractured bedrock; slightly to strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped coats on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
2Cr--8 to 18 inches; interbedded moderately cemented granitic sandstone and siltstone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; on the Tesuque Indian Reservation about 1.5 miles southwest of Tesuque Pueblo; 500 feet north and 700 feet east of the southwest corner of section 16, T.18N., R.9E.; USGS Tesuque 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 47 minutes 4.5 seconds North and Longitude 105 degrees 59 minutes 50 seconds West, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - The soil moisture control section is moist in all parts during the 60 days following the winter solstice. It is moist in some part less than 40 percent and moist in all parts less than 25 percent of the time when the soil temperature at the bedrock contact is above 41 degrees F. The soils are driest in May and June. The soil moisture regime is ustic bordering on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 50 to 52 degrees F.
Depth to paralithic contact - 7 to 10 inches to moderately cemented bedrock
Lithology of rock fragments: granite, gneiss, schist, and limestone
Particle-size control section (weighted averages)
Silicate clay content: 16 to 22 percent
Sand content: 35 to 70 percent
Fine sand or coarser content: 15 to 35 percent
Rock fragment content: less than 15 percent
Pararock fragment content: 15 to 35 percent paragravel
Mica content: 1 to 5 percent (by grain count)
Reaction - slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in the surface; moderately alkaline in the underlying material
Calcium carbonate equivalent - 5 to 15 percent
Salinity, mmhos/cm - 0 to 1
Sodicity, SAR - 0 to 1
A horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Rock fragments: total range is 20 to 35 percent
20 to 25 percent gravel
0 to 10 percent cobbles
Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, loam, or fine sandy loam
Rock fragments: 5 to 15 percent gravel
Pararock fragments: 0 to 15 percent moderately cemented sandstone, siltstone, or mudstone paragravel, some of which slake in water
2BCk horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 through 6, dry or moist
Texture: very paragravelly fine sandy loam, sandy loam, gravelly coarse sand or loam; some pedons have texture of very fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or silt loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Pararock fragments: 15 to 50 percent moderately cemented sandstone, siltstone, or mudstone paragravel, some of which slake in water
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Dolcan,
Fairburn,
Mittenbutte, and
Spearfish series.
Dolcan soils have less than 15 percent fine sand or coarser and have less than 15 percent pararock fragments in the particle-size control section.
Fairburn soils are greater than 10 inches to a paralithic contact.
Mittenbutte soils have hue yellower than 7.5YR.
Spearfish soils have accumulations of gypsum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Sipapu soils are on backslopes of ridges and hills. They formed in colluvium derived from granite, gneiss, and schist over residuum weathered from Tertiary granitic sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and fanglomerate. Slopes are 20 to 65 percent. Elevations range from 5,600 to 7,800 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 14 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual temperature is 48 to 50 degrees F. The frost-free period is 140 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kachina, Levante, and Yuzarra soils. Kachina soils are very deep, have cambic horizons, and occur on adjacent toeslopes. Levante soils are very deep, sandy, and occur on narrow flood plains. Yuzarra soils are moderately deep to soft bedrock, are sandy-skeletal with calcic horizons, and occur on adjacent narrow, beveled summits and shoulders.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; very high surface runoff; moderate permeability in the soil, and moderately slow permeability in the underlying moderately cemented bedrock.
USE AND VEGETATION: Sipapu soils are used for limited urban development and livestock grazing, and for recreation. The historic climax vegetation is black grama, sideoats grama, mountain mahogany, oneseed juniper, and twoneedle pinyon. The ecological site is Pinus edulis-Juniperus monosperma/Cercocarpus montanus-Chrysothamnus nauseosus/Bouteloua gracilis(F036XB135NM)..
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Sipapu soils are of small extent on the southeastern Espanola Basin part of the Basin and Range province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Santa Fe Area Soil Survey Update; 2008. Sipapu is a local place name.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 1 inch. (A horizon)
Paralithic contact - The boundary at 8 inches to underlying moderately cemented bedrock. (2Cr layer)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 0 to 8 inches (A, Bk, 2BCk horizons)
Series control section - The zone from 0 to 18 inches (all horizons and upper 10 inches of the paralithic material).
Taxonomic version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.