LOCATION SPARKS NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Aridic Paleustalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Sparks loam - in nearly level cropland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; few fine and very fine pores; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 51 cm [3 to 20 inches thick])
Bt--20 to 48 cm (8 to 19 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; extremely hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; common fine and very fine roots on surfaces of peds; few very fine interstitial pores; few distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizons is 25 to 102 cm [10 to 40 inches])
Btk1--48 to 99 cm (19 to 39 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; common prominent clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; slightly effervescent with few small masses and threads and filaments of calcium carbonate; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
Btk2--99 to 117 cm (39 to 46 inches); light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; few distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; strongly effervescent; few fine masses of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.
Btk3--117 to 152 cm (46 to 60 inches); pink (5YR 8/4) clay loam, reddish yellow (5YR 7/6) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; violently effervescent; common fine and medium masses of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline. (Combined thickness of the Btk horizons is more than 56 cm [22 inches])
TYPE LOCATION: Guadalupe County, New Mexico, about 15.4 km (9 miles) southwest of Ima, NM; 6 meters (20 feet) east and 457 meters (1,500 feet) north of the southwest corner, sec. 24, T. 7 N., R. 26 E; Latitude: 34 degrees, 48 minutes, 44 seconds N, Longitude: 104 degrees, 8 minutes, 48 seconds W. USGS Quad, Ima SW; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: An ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 180 but less than 220 days, cumulative, in normal years. July through August and December through February are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through November and March through June.
Depth to calcic horizon: 84 to 152 cm (33 to 60 inches)
A horizon:
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 3 to 5, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Textures: very fine sandy loam or loam.
Where colors are 3/3 or 4/3, the horizon is not thick enough to qualify as a mollic epipedon.
Bt horizons:
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 or 6
Textures: clay or clay loam with 35 to 50 percent clay
Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 15 percent in the lower parts of the Bt horizon
Btk horizons:
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 8, 3 to 8 moist
Chroma: 3 to 8, with chroma of 5 in some part of the lower horizon
Calcium carbonate equivalent: more than 15 percent in the lower Btk horizons
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Terrarossa (AZ) series.
Terrarossa soils; have formed in fan alluvium from mixed sources, receive significant amounts of winter precipitation, and support a distinctively different vegetative plant community.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: loamy eolian sediments in the Blackwater Draw Formation of Pleistocene age.
Landform: nearly level plains of the Southern High Plains.
Slope: 0 to 2 percent.
Mean annual temperature: 14 to 17 degrees C (57 to 62 degrees F).
Mean annual precipitation: 381 to 457 mm (15 to 18 inches).
Frost-free period: 180 to 200 days.
Elevation: 1,220 to 1,680 meters (4,000 to 5,500 feet).
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Acuff,
Amarillo,
McLean, and
Slaughter soils.
Acuff and Amarillo soils: have a fine-loamy particle-size control section, and are in similar landscape positions.
McLean soils: have vertic properties and occur in playa positions.
Slaughter soils: are shallow to a petrocalcic horizon, and occur on the western edge of delineations in higher positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is slow. Runoff is low on slopes less than 1 percent and medium on 1 to 2 percent slopes.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used primarily for winter wheat and sorghum production. Small areas which are uncultivated are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Present vegetation includes blue grama, black grama, western wheatgrass, sand dropseed, snakeweed, cholla, and yucca.This soil has been correlated to the Deep Hardland (077CY022TX) range site in MLRA-77C.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern High Plains, Southern Part (MLRA 77C in LRR H) of east-central New Mexico. The series is of moderate extent in eastern New Mexico.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Guadalupe County, New Mexico, 1988. The series name is from a ranch in the area.
REMARKS: Classification change 9/2007 from Calcic Paleargids to Aridic Paleustalfs based on an evaluation of the geographic extent of these soils, and the climate in which they occur.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches). (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon: 20 to 117 cm (8 to 46 inches). (Bt and Btk horizons)
Calcic horizon: 99 to 152 cm (39 to 60 inches). (Btk2 and Btk3 horizons)
Pale feature: no clay decrease by as much as 20 percent from the maximum within 150 cm (59 inches) of the surface, and chroma of 5 or more in some part of the lower horizons.
ADDITIONAL DATA: none
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006