LOCATION TUGAS NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, thermic Typic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Tugas very gravelly sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 2 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; a few parts of 5YR hue; weak medium platy and massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 35 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
Bt--2 to 7 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) very gravelly sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; sand grains and gravel are faintly stained with clay; 35 percent gravel; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Btk--7 to 11 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) very gravelly sandy loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 35 percent gravel; fine earth, strongly effervescent, some gravel tops are noneffervescent; sand grains are discontinuously calcium carbonate coated, they also have discontinuous coatings of clay; most gravel have calcium carbonate coated bottoms but tops of many gravel are calcium carbonate free; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bk1--11 to 18 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly loamy sand, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 35 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; thin partial calcium carbonate coatings on gravel, both on bottoms and tops; this horizon contains the maximum of pedogenic calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Bk2--18 to 30 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly sand, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 35 percent gravel; strongly effervescent; thin discontinuous calcium carbonate coatings on gravel, mainly on undersides; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
C--30 to 61 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very gravelly sand, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 35 percent gravel; in places there are distinct strata of sand, 1 to 2 cm thick, and of fine gravel up to 10 cm thick, other parts are very gravelly throughout with little stratification apparent; most parts are slightly or strongly effervescent with a few places noneffervescent; some gravel are calcium carbonate free and others have thin, patchy coatings; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Dona Ana County, New Mexico; 130 feet north of Dripping Springs Road; in the SW 1/4, NW 1/4, NE 1/4 of section 24, T.23 S., R.2 E; 105 degrees 41 minutes 48 seconds west longitude and 32 degrees 17 minutes 53 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section July through September and December through April. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 59 to 65 degrees F.
Rock fragments: Some thin horizons may be gravelly or nongravelly, but the particle size control section averages between 35 and 75 percent gravel
Calcium carbonate: These soils are typically noneffervescent throughout most or the entire cambic horizon. However, the cambic horizon may be effervescent as long as it has less calcium carbonate than the underlying k horizon. If the cambic horizon is effervescent, the Bt horizon may be absent.
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 5YR
Value: 4 through 7 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: sand, loamy sand, sandy loam and their gravelly or very gravelly counterparts
B horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 5YR
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 3, 4 or 5, dry or moist
Texture: very gravelly or extremely gravelly sandy loam
Clay content: 12 to 18 percent
Thin sections show thin argillans on sand grains in the Bt and there are discontinuous argillans in the Btk as well. There is insufficient clay increase for an argillic horizon
C horizon
Hue: 5YR through 10YR
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: sand, loamy sand, sandy loam and their gravelly or very gravelly counterparts
Clay content: 5 to 10 percent
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Tugas soils are on alluvial fans and terraces, slopes range from 1 to 4 percent. Elevations range from 3,500 to 4,600 feet. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 7 to 10 inches. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 58 to 64 degrees F. The frost-free period is about 190 to 220 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Arizo, Delnorte, Hachita, Hap, Nickel, Pajarito, Pinaleno and Soledad soils. Arizo soils do not have cambic horizons. Delnorte soils have petrocalcic horizons. Nickel and Pinaleno soils have calcic horizons. Hachita, Hap and Soledad soils have argillic horizons. Pajarito soils are coarse-loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; medium runoff; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation consists mostly of creosotebush, ratany, mesquite, snakeweed and whitethorn.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico. The series is of small extent. MLRA is 42.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dona Ana County, New Mexico (Desert Project); 1997.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 2 inches (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - The zone from 2 to 11 inches (Bt, Btk horizons)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.
This series represents an identified soil within the Desert Soil-Geomorphology Project, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The project was a study of soils and geomorphology in an arid and semi-arid environment. The series is extensively referenced in many documents, publications and thesis. Revision outside the project area is discouraged in order to preserve the historical concept for research.
ADDITIONAL DATA: The typical pedon is the illustrative pedon at study area 3a in Gile, L.H., J.W. Hawley and R.B. Grossman. 1981. The Desert Project Guidebook. New Mexico Mines & Mineral Resources Memoir 39, Socorro, NM.