LOCATION WINTERSBURG AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Wintersburg clay loam - cultivated. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 12 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; few fine tubular and interstitial pores; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 16 inches thick)
Bw--12 to 18 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 2 percent fine gravel; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 15 inches thick)
Bk--18 to 60 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; many fine tubular pores; many fine and medium very pale brown (10YR 8/2) soft calcium carbonate masses, pink (7.5YR 8/4) moist; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2).
TYPE LOCATION: Maricopa County, Arizona; 948 feet north and 69 feet west of the southeast corner of section 3, T.1 S., R.4 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July-September and December-February. Driest during May and June. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Soil temperature: 72 to 80 degrees F.
Reaction: mildly to strongly alkaline
Depth to calcic horizon: 10 to 31 inches
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 4 through 6 dry, 2 through 5 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Bw horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 through 7 dry, 4 through 6 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent slopes
Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 4 through 7 moist
Chroma: 2 through 4, dry or moist
Texture: sandy loam, silt loam, clay loam, loam
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent; up to 10 percent semi-rounded nodules; some pedons are weakly cemented.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wintersburg soils are on stream and fan terraces at elevations of 400 to 2,500 feet. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed in mixed alluvium weathered from granite, gneiss, andesite, tuff and basalt with some influence from limestone. Mean annual precipitation is 3 to 10 inches. Mean annual air temperature is 67 to 75 degrees F. Frost-free period is 250 to 300 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Antho, Estrella, Laveen, and Trix soils. Antho soils are moderately coarse-textured and do not have calcic horizons. Estrella and Trix soils have buried argillic horizons at moderate depths. Laveen soils are coarse-loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to slow runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Wintersburg soils are used for irrigated cropland and livestock grazing. Cultivated areas are cropped to cotton, alfalfa, small grains, grain sorghum and truck crops. Native vegetation is creosotebush, annual grasses and forbs.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Arizona. MLRA is 40. Wintersburg soils are not extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Maricopa County (Central Maricopa County Area), Arizona; 1972.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 12 inches (Ap horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from 18 to 60 inches (Bk horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.