LOCATION TSAILE                  AZ

Established Series
RJH/HH
10/2011

TSAILE SERIES

The Tsaile series consists of very deep, well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in alluvium, and stream alluvium derived from sandstone and shale. Tsaile soils are on stream terraces and fan remnants on valley floors. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 16 inches, and mean annual air temperature is about 48 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Aridic Haplusterts

TYPICAL PEDON: Tsaile clay-- farmland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.)

A--0 to 4 inches (0 to 10 cm); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) clay, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3), moist; 41 percent clay; strong thick platy structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine and medium roots violently effervescent; moderately alkaline, pH 8.4; very abrupt smooth boundary.

Bss1--4 to 14 inches (10 to 36 cm); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) clay, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3), moist; 41 percent clay; moderate very coarse prismatic parts to weak coarse wedge structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine and medium roots throughout; distinct slickensides; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline, pH 8.4; clear smooth boundary.

Bss2--14 to 45 inches (36 to 114 cm); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) clay, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3), moist; 49 percent clay; moderate very coarse wedge parts to moderate very coarse prismatic structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine and medium roots throughout; distinct slickensides; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline, pH 8.4; gradual smooth boundary.

Bss3--45 to 60 inches (114 to 152 cm); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/3) clay, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3), moist; 50 percent clay; weak very coarse wedge structure; extremely hard, very firm, very sticky, and very plastic; few fine roots throughout; distinct slickensides; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline, pH 8.4.

TYPE LOCATION: 35 degrees, 12 minutes, 15.0 seconds, north latitude; 109 degrees, 07 minutes, 23.3 seconds, west longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Cracks: many vertical cracks 0.25 to 0.5 inches wide from the surface to 48 inches.
Clay content of control section (weighted average): 35 to 60 percent.

Mean annual soil temperature: 48 to 52 degrees F.
Soil moisture: Aridic Ustic moisture regime

A horizon
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 3 to 4 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: clay, clay loam, loam, silt loam
Clay: 18 to 57 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline

Bss horizons
Hue: 2.5YR, 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 3 to 5, dry or moist
Chroma: 2 to 6, dry or moist
Texture: clay, sandy clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay
Clay: 30 to 60 percent
Reaction: slightly alkaline to strongly alkaline

Some pedons have a Cn horizon or a Bkss horizon that does not meet the requirements of a calcic diagnostic horizon.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Silcat (NM) and Moriartche (NM) soils. Silcat soils have hues of 2.5Y and 10YR throughout the substratum. Moriartche soils are moist in the soil moisture control section during May and June and are in MLRA 70A.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Tsaile soils formed in alluvium and stream alluvium derived from sandstone and shale (Chinle formation-Triassic). They are on stream terraces on valley floors. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. Elevations range from 7,000 to 7,300 feet. The mean annual temperature is 46 to 50 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is 14 to 18 inches. The frost free period is 120 to 150 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Whiskey, Paymaster and Millpaw soils. Whiskey soils are fine-loamy. Paymaster soils are coarse-loamy. Millpaw soils have argillic horizons.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, very high runoff, very slow permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: This series is used for irrigated and dryland farming and livestock grazing. Present vegetation is rubber rabbitbrush, snakeweed, muttongrass, alfalfa, bindweed, juniper, and Russian thistle.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeast Arizona, MLRA 35, LRR-D. Tsaile soils are of limited extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Navajo County, Arizona; Chinle Soil Survey Area; 2010.

REMARKS: Tsalie is the name of a wash and community near the Type Location. This English spelling of the Navajo word "Tse aile" translates to mean "where the water flows into the canyon."

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: the zone from 0 to 4 inches (A horizon)
Vertic properties: slight gilgai, cracks .25 to 1 inches wide extending from 0 to 48 inches, and slickensides occurring from 4 to 60 inches (Bss horizons). Cracks are open greater than 90 days but less than 150 cumulative days in most years.

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, 2nd Edition; Keys to Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010.

ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL sample # S09AZ001021
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.