LOCATION TENDERFOOT         AZ  
Established Series
Rev. DJP/RLB
08/2007

TENDERFOOT SERIES


The Tenderfoot series consists of shallow to hardpan, well drained soils on plateaus and mesas. These soils formed in alluvium from cherty limestone. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 11 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 54 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic, shallow Calcic Paleargids

TYPICAL PEDON: Tenderfoot very gravelly loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 3 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) very gravelly loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine vesicular and irregular pores; surface lag of 35 percent chert and limestone gravel; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 6.9); abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)

Bt--3 to 9 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; strong coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many very fine roots; many very fine tubular pores; 10 percent chert and limestone gravel; few faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 6.9); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)

Bk--9 to 17 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) extremely cobbly clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine roots; few very fine tubular pores; 40 percent cobble and 25 percent gravel of calcium carbonate-coated limestone and hardpan fragments; slightly effervescent in the fine earth and strongly effervescent on coatings; neutral (pH 7.0); abrupt wavy boundary (7 to 9 inches thick)

Bkm--17 to 23 inches; indurated, calcium carbonate-cemented hardpan.

R--23 inches; limestone.

TYPE LOCATION: Coconino County, Arizona; on the Havasupai Indian Reservation; 2100 feet west and 1600 feet north of the southeast corner of Section 9, T. 32 N., R. 5 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil Moisture: Moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during December - March and intermittently moist during July-September. Driest during May and June. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.

Soil Temperature: 54 to 57 degrees F.

Rock Fragments: 35 to 65 percent gravel and cobble. A gravelly to extremely gravelly surface lag layer is common.

Depth to Petrocalcic horizon: Dominantly 14 to 20 inches, but ranges from 10 to 20 inches

Depth to bedrock: 16 to 40 inches

Calcium carbonate equivalent: Less than 30 percent above the hardpan

Organic matter: Averages more than 1 percent in the surface

A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist

Bt horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 3, 4 or 6, dry or moist
Texture: Clay loam, loam, sandy clay loam
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline

Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value; 4, 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 4 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Texture: Clay loam, loam, sandy clay loam, fine sandy loam
Reaction: Neutral or slightly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tenderfoot soils are on plateaus and mesas at elevations of 5700 to 6100 feet. They formed in alluvium derived from cherty limestone. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 12 inches. The mean annual air temperature is 52 to 55 degrees F. The frost-free period is 135 to 175 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Havasupai and Winona soils. Havasupai and Winona soils do not have argillic horizons.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderately slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Tenderfoot soils are used for wildlife habitat, recreation and livestock grazing. Present vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, blue grama, and bottlebrush squirreltail.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Arizona. This series is of moderate extent. MLRA is 35.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Coconino County, Arizona; Soil survey of Hualapai-Havasupai Area, Parts of Coconino, Mohave and Yavapai Counties; 1993.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 3 inches (A horizon)

Argillic horizon - The zone from 3 to 9 inches (Bt horizon)

Petrocalcic horizon - The zone from 17 to 23 inches (Bkm horizon)

Lithic contact - The boundary at 23 inches (R horizon)

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory analysis by BIA Natural Resources Laboratory in Gallup, New Mexico.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.