LOCATION WESKA NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic, shallow Ustic Torriorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Weska silty clay loam - woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 1 inch; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; few fine continuous pores; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
C--1 to 7 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay loam, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; few fine and medium roots; many fine and medium continuous pores; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 16 inches thick)
Cr--7 inches; soft grayish brown shale.
TYPE LOCATION: San Juan County, New Mexico; NW of Navajo Dam; 2.5 miles north of the junction of county road 18 and New Mexico state highway 544, then 1.7 miles west on a dirt road; T. 32 N., R. 8 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Ustic aridic moisture regime
Depth to shale: 6 to 20 inches
Clay content: 25 to 35 percent
A horizon
Hue: 10YR through 5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4 moist and dry
Texture: loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam
C horizon
Hue: 10YR through 5Y
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4 dry and moist
Texture: clay loam or silty clay loam
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Farisita (CO) series. Farisita soils have less than 25 percent clay in the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Weska soils are on upland hills, breaks and mesas. They formed in residuum from shale. Slope is 0 to 40 percent. Elevation is 6,400 to 7,200 feet. Average annual precipitation is 10 to 13 inches. Average annual temperature is 45 to 52 degrees F. Average frost-free season is 120 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Buckle, Penistaja, Travessilla and Twick soils. Buckle and Penistaja soils are deep and have an argillic horizon. Twick soils are fine textured and have an argillic horizon. Travessilla soils have a lithic contact at a depth of 10 to 20 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid to very rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Woodland and wildlife habitat. Present native vegetation is pinyon pine, antelope bitterbrush, sand dropseed, oneseed juniper, and muttongrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern New Mexico. Weska soils are of moderate extent. MLRAs 35 & 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San Juan County, New Mexico, Eastern Part, 1977.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 1 inches. (A horizon)
Entisol feature: No diagnostic horizon.
Paralithic contact: 7 inches--shale. (Cr horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.