LOCATION WENOTA NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Ustic Torrifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Wenota silty clay loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 8 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) silty clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; weak medium platy and moderate coarse granular structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common very fine, common fine and few medium roots; few very fine and fine continuous tubular pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
C1--8 to 16 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; massive; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine, fine and medium roots; common very fine continuous tubular pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to l4 inches thick)
C2--16 to 24 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) moist; moderate medium platy structure; hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common very fine and fine roots; few very fine continuous tubular pores; few thin strata of sand; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Ck--24 to 60 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; massive; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few very fine continuous tubular pores: strongly effervescent with very few very fine irregular carbonate accumulations; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; approximately 1.5 miles west and .4 mile south of Ghost Ranch Visitor Center; New Mexico state plane coordinates 1,934,200 feet north, 416,700 feet east; 106 degrees, 31 minutes, 44 seconds west longitude; 36 degrees, 19 minutes, 00 seconds north latitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the SMCS December through March and July through September.
Soil temperature: 52 to 56 degrees F.
Control section - Percent clay: 35 to 55 percent. Texture: clay, clay loam. Stratification: Thin statification is common and distribution of organic matter is irregular.
A horizon: Hue: 7.5YR or 5YR. Value - 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist. Chroma: 4 through 6.
C horizon: Hue: 7.5YR or 5YR. Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist. Chroma: 4 through 6. Other features: Thin strata of fine sand is common.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Sparank(NM) series. Sparank soils have hues of 10YR or yellower.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wenota soils are developed in alluvium on valley floors and alluvial fans. Slopes are 1 to 6 percent. Elevations are 6,000 to 6,800 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 10 to 12 inches. The average annual air temperature is about 50 to 52 degrees F., and the frost-free period is 120 to 140 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hagerman, Penistaja, Scholle and Silver soils. All these soils have argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Wenota soils are used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. The present vegetation is blue grama, galleta, and cholla.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern New Mexico. Series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 1989.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Entisol feature - lack of diagnostic horizons.
Fluventic feature - irregular organic carbon distribution and thin strata of fine sand in the C horizon.
Ustic feature - Dry in the soil moisture control section between half and three-fourths of the time.