LOCATION VAMER NM COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, frigid Lithic Haplustalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Vamer stony very fine sandy loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 4 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) stony very fine sandy loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and very fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; 5 percent angular cobbles and 10 percent stones; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
Bt1--4 to 10 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; strong fine angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, sticky, very plastic; common fine and very fine roots; common fine interstitial and few fine tubular pores; many thick clay films on faces of peds; neutral (pH 6.8); clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--10 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; common medium faint mottles of yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; strong medium prismatic structure that parts to moderate medium angular blocky; very hard, very firm, sticky, very plastic; few fine and very fine roots; few fine tubular pores; many thick clay films on faces of peds; neutral (pH 6.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 5 to 15 inches)
2R--16 inches; hard sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Colfax County, New Mexico; approximately 8 1/2 miles NNW along Van Bremmer Canyon Road from junction with U.S. Highway 64; on mesa top 1,050 feet east and 880 feet north of the junction of Trail Canyon and Van Bremmer Canyon; unsectionalized area. 104 degrees, 51 minutes, 58 seconds west longitude; 36 degrees, 41 minutes, 30 seconds north latitude .
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section April through August. Ustic moisture regime, typic subclass.
Mean annual soil temperature: 44 to 47 degrees F.
Mean summer soil temperature: 56 to 59 degrees F.
Depth to lithic contact: 7 to 20 inches
An E horizon is present in some pedons.
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 2 through 4 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4
Texture: fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, loam or clay loam
Clay content: 15 to 30 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 60 percent
Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 3 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4.
Texture: clay, clay loam, silty clay loam
Clay content: 35 to 55 percent
Silt content: 30 to 60 percent
Rock fragment content: 0 to 15 percent channers, cobbles, or stones
Reaction: slightly acid or neutral
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Osoridge series. Osoridge soils have hues redder than 7.5YR in the argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landform: ridges, mesas, and hills underlain by sandstone.
Slope: ranges from 1 to 65 percent
Parent material: slope alluvium and colluvium derived dominantly from shale over sandstone, commonly the Raton Formation.
Elevation: 6,900 to 9,000 feet.
Mean annual precipitation: 16 to 22 inches.
Mean annual temperature: 42 to 45 degrees F.
Frost free season: 70 to 110 days.
Rio Arriba County - frost free period is 80 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Dargol, Fuera, Midnight, Ponil, Rombo and Stout soils. Dargol, Fuera, Ponil and Rombo soils lack a lithic contact above a depth of 20 inches and are on backslopes and footslopes. Midnight soils have a paralithic contact above a depth of 20 inches. Stout soils lack an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium and high runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for rangeland, wildlife, recreation and watershed. Present vegetation is scattered ponderosa pine with an understory of little bluestem, pine dropseed, mountain muhly, wolftail, blue grama, Arizona fescue, pinyon, juniper, mountain mahogany, and Gambel's oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern New Mexico and southeastern Colorado. LRR E, MLRA's 48A and 49. This series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pueblo Area, Colorado, 1974. The typical pedon is in the Colfax County Soil Survey Area, New Mexico.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Particle-size control section: the zone from 4 to 16 inches. (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Ochric epipedon: the zone from 0 to 4 inches. (A horizon)Thickness is insufficient for mollic epipedon.
Argillic horizon: the zone from 4 to 16 inches. (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Lithic contact: hard sandstone at 16 inches. (2R horizon)
The 4/2001 change in soil moisture in the range in characteristics returns the Vamer series to the seasonal moisture pattern typical of Colfax County, New Mexico.
At some time after 1991 the mineralogy was changed from mixed to smectitic. No documentation could be found to substantiate that change, so the 11/2007 revision changes the mineralogy back to mixed. The Raton Formation, where the Vamer typical pedon is located, typically yields soils that have mixed clay mineralogy.