LOCATION VEKOL AZ+NM UTEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Vekol loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; moderate medium platy structure parting to weak fine granular; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; common irregular pores; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--3 to 10 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many fine roots; common fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear smooth boundary. (6 to 8 inches thick)
Bt2--10 to 22 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (11 to 20 inches thick)
Btk--22 to 33 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; common fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on paces of peds; strongly effervescent; common fine white (5YR 8/1) lime mottles and lime filaments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 22 inches thick)
2C--33 to 60 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly sandy loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; massive; hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; 35 percent pebbles; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0)
TYPE LOCATION: Yavapai County, Arizona; in the Northwest 1/4 of Section 22, T. 9 N., R. 7 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Usually dry, but is intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section in July-September and December- February. Typic aridic moisture regime.
Soil Temperature: 59 to 72 degrees F.
Rock Fragments: 0 to 5 percent in the upper 30 inches and 0 to 50 percent below 30 inches.
Calcium carbonate equivalent: Less than 15 percent.
Organic Matter: Less than 1 percent in the surface.
A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist.
B horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: Clay loam, clay, silty clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Armendaris (NM) and
Yribarren (CA) series. Armendaris soils have 1 to 2 percent accumulation of calcium carbonates in the 32 to 38 inches horizon of accumulation, and is in a different moisture precipitation pattern.
Yribarren soils have hue yellower than 7.5YR.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Vekol soils are on basin floors and have slopes less than one percent. These soils formed in alluvium from mixed sources. Elevation ranges from 1,800 to 5,000 feet. The mean annual air temperature is 57 to 70 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is 7 to 12 inches. The frost-free period is 180 to 275 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Anthony, Gila, Glendale and Mohave soils. All of these soils contain less than 35 percent clay in the particle size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Slow runoff. Slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Vekol soils are used for irrigated cropland and grazing. The present vegetation is tobosa grass, desert saltbush, mesquite, creosotebush, cacti, and annual weeds and grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Arizona. This series is of moderate extent. MLRAs 40, 41 & 42.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Casa Grande Area, Arizona, 1936
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 33 inches (Bt horizon)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 3 to 23 inches (Part of the Bt horizon)
Some areas of this soil receive run-on moisture that does not constitute flooding.
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.
May 2005 the legal location (township only) of the series was corrected (from 19 to 9) to match the TUD location in the Publication for Yavapai County, Arizona, Western Part.