LOCATION WALKON NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Ustic Haplargids
TYPICAL PEDON: Walkon fine sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 4 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) fine sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine and very fine roots; many fine interstitial pores; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--4 to 10 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and plastic; many fine roots; common fine tubular pores; common thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bt2--10 to 24 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; many very fine and common fine tubular pores; many thin clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizon is 15 to 33 inches)
BC--24 to 31 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) silt loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; massive; very hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; many fine tubular pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
R--31 inches; sandstone with calcium carbonate deposits on surface and in cracks.
TYPE LOCATION: San Miguel County, New Mexico; 1.5 miles east of Trementina School; 1,180 feet east and 850 feet south of the northwest corner, sec. 11, T. 14 N., R. 23 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: The soil moisture control section is intermittently moist May through October when about 67 percent of the annual precipitation falls.
Soil Temperature: 59 to 63 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock: 20 to 40 inches
A horizon:
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline
Bt horizon:
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 3 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: clay loam, silty clay loam or sandy clay loam with 20 to 35 percent clay on a weighted average
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: typically noneffervescent, the lower part is slightly effervescent in some pedons.
BC or Bk horizon: (Where present)
Hue: 2.5YR through 7.5YR
Value: 5 to 7
Texture: loam, silt loam, or sandy clay loam
Reaction: slightly to moderately alkaline
Calcium carbonate equivalent: less than 15 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Baboquivari (AZ), Canez (NM), Courtland (AZ), Redona (TX), Triomas (TX) series. All of these soils are more than 40 inches to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Walkon soils are on plateaus and hillslopes with slopes of 1 to 15 percent. The soils formed in sediments eroded from red sandstone and shale. The climate is continental. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 12 to 16 inches, with 67 percent received during the months of May through September. Mean annual temperature ranges from 58 to 60 degrees F. The frost-free season ranges from 160 to 200 days and elevation ranges from 4,000 to 5,300 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Conchas, Lacitqa, Lacoca, Montoya, Newkirk, Quay, Redona and Tucumcari soils. Conchas soils lack argillic horizons and are calcareous. Lacita, Montoya, Quay Redona, and Tucumcari soils have bedrock at depths greater than 40 inches. Lacoca and Newkirk soils have a lithic contact at depths of less than 20 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately slow. Runoff is very low on 1 to 3 percent slopes, low on 3 to 5 percent slopes, medium on 5 to 10 percent slopes, and high on 10 to 15 percent slopes.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mostly for rangeland. Present vegetation is blue grama, black grama, yucca, cholla, mesquite, and snakeweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern New Mexico. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Miguel County Area, San Miguel County, New Mexico, 1977.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 4 inches. (A horizon). When colors meet the requirements of a mollic epipedon, the horizon is too thin.
Argillic horizon: 4 to 24 inches. (Bt horizons).
Lithic contact: Sandstone at 31 inches (R horizon).