LOCATION VENTERO COEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, euic, frigid Terric Haplohemists
TYPICAL PEDON: Ventero mucky peat, 0 to 1 percent slopes, in grassland; (colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)
Oi--0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2), peat; very dark brown (10YR 2/2), moist; about 80 percent rubbed fiber and raw herbaceous material; loose, loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots throughout; noneffervescent; neutral (pH 6.6); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Oe--8 to 23 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1), mucky peat, very dark brown (10YR 2/2), moist; about 65 percent rubbed fiber and raw herbaceous material; loose, loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots throughout; noneffervescent; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
A--23 to 38 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1), silty clay loam, black (N 2.5/0), moist; 28 percent clay; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, soft, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common very fine roots throughout; common very fine dendritic tubular pores; noneffervescent; moderately acid (pH 5.8); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
Oa--38 to 44 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2), muck, very dark brown (10YR 2/2), moist; about 15 percent rubbed fiber and raw herbaceous material; loose, loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; common very fine roots throughout; noneffervescent; moderately acid (pH 6.0); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Cg--44 to 80 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2), very fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2), moist; 16 percent clay; massive; very friable, soft, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common very fine roots throughout; common very fine dendritic tubular pores; visible fine sand grain-sized mica; noneffervescent; slightly acid (pH 6.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Costilla County, CO; USGS Sanchez Reservoir topographic quadrangle; UTM 461570 meters E, 4098112 meters N, zone 13. NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The soil moisture regime aquic.
Mean annual soil temperature: 37 to 43 degrees F
Mean summer soil temperature: 59 to 63 degrees F
Thickness of the histic epipedon: 20 to 38 inches
Thickness of terric feature: 13 to 24 inches
O horizon(s):
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 dry; 2 moist
Chroma: 1 to 2
Texture: Peat, mucky peat
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 7.3
A horizon(s):
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry; 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: silty clay loam, clay loam, clay
Clay content: 27 to 60 percent
Sand content: 5 to 50 percent
Silt content: 5 to 48 percent
Reaction: pH 5.6 to 7.3
Organic matter: 1 to 4 percent
Cg horizon(s):
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 8 dry; 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam
Clay content: 10 to 19 percent
Sand content: 55 to 80 percent
Silt content: 10 to 30 percent
Reaction: pH 6.1 to 7.8
Organic matter: 1 to 3 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
McLangor and the
Tacoosh series.
McLangor soils lack a peat surface.
Tacoosh soils have 10 to 20 percent woody material in the histic epipedon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: herbaceous organic material over loamy alluvium derived from granite, gneiss, and mica schist
Landform: Flood plain
Slopes: 0 to 1 percent
Elevation: 7,500 to 8,500 feet
Mean annual air temperature: 39 to 43 degrees F
Mean annual precipitation: 8 to 12 inches
Precipitation pattern: Precipitation peaks in July and August occurring as intense summer thunderstorms
Frost-free period: 85 to 100 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Fuertes series.
Fuertes have mollic epipedons and are on stream terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Very poorly drained, low runoff, moderately slow permeability
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used principally as livestock grazing, hayland, and wildfife habitat. Principal native plants are rushes and sedges.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Colorado, high intermountain valleys. LLR E, MLRA 51. The series is of low extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Costilla County, CO; Costilla County soil survey area, 2009. The name Ventero is coined.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Histic epipedon: The zone from 0 to 23 inches (Oi, Oe horizons); mostly hemic organic materials
Terric feature from 23 to 38 inches (Cg horizon)
Water table at or near the surface in most years;
Ventero soils have a frigid temperature regime and an aquic moisture regime.
Taxonomic Version: Tenth edition, 2006