LOCATION YAHANA AZEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Haplosalids
TYPICAL PEDON: Yahana silty clay loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.) Surface covered with a 2-5 mm salt crust.
Anz--0 to 4 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; strong very thick platy structure; slightly hard, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; many very fine vesicular pores; many fine salt crystals; strongly effervescent; strongly saline (ECe 48 dS/m) and strongly sodic (SAR 203); very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
Bnz1--4 to 10 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) stratified silty clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; strong very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; few gypsum crystals; many fine salt crystals; slightly effervescent; strongly saline (ECe 81 dS/m) and strongly sodic (SAR 389); strongly alkaline (pH 8.8); gradual wavy boundary.
Bnz2--10 to 14 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) stratified silty clay, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist; strong very fine granular structure; soft, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; many fine salt crystals; strongly effervescent; strongly saline (ECe 55 dS/m) and strongly sodic (SAR 203); very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the B horizons is 8 to 22 inches)
Cnz1--14 to 25 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) stratified silty clay, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; strong medium granular structure; hard, very friable, very sticky and very plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine vesicular pores; many fine salt crystals; violently effervescent; strongly saline (ECe 46 dS/m) and strongly sodic (SAR 211); very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear smooth boundary.
Cnz2--25 to 33 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) stratified silty clay loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist, with many dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) manganese coatings on ped faces; massive; hard, very friable, sticky and plastic; few fine roots; common very fine vesicular pores; few fine salt crystals; violently effervescent; strongly saline (ECe 35 dS/m) and strongly sodic (SAR 325); very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear smooth boundary.
Cnz3--33 to 58 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) stratified silt loam, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist, with many fine and medium, distinct, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) mottles; massive; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and plastic; common very fine vesicular pores; strongly saline (ECe 34 dS/m) and strongly sodic (SAR 393); violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6); clear smooth boundary.
Cnzc--58 to 60 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) stratified loamy fine sand, brown (7.5YR 5/4) moist, with few fine and medium, faint, pink (7.5YR 7/4) mottles; massive; hard, very friable; few fine irregular pores; common coarse and very coarse rounded nodules; violently effervescent; strongly saline and strongly sodic; very strongly alkaline (pH 9.6). (Combined thickness of the C horizons is 28 to 48 inches).
TYPE LOCATION: Pinal County, Arizona; about 3 miles southeast of Pima Butte, on the Gila River Indian Reservation; 600 feet west and 100 feet south of the northeast corner of Section 32, T. 3 S., R. 3 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Usually dry, intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during July - September and December - February. Typic aridic moisture regime.
Organic Matter: Typically less than 1 percent in the upper 16 inches. Exceeds 1 percent in some pedons due to movement and concentration with soluble salts.
Depth to Salic horizon: 1 to 10 inches
Fine Stratification: 1 to 2 mm strata of finer or coarser material throughout.
Carbonates: Strongly or violently effervescent throughout
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 5 through 8 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 1, 3 or 4 dry, 3 through 6 moist.
Reaction: Moderately to very strongly alkaline.
Salinity: Ranges from 2 dS/m in sand textures to 85 dS/m in clay textures.
SAR: 81 to 939.
B horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 3 through 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 through 6 dry, 3 or 4 moist.
Texture: Stratified silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, silty clay (20 to 55 percent clay).
Reaction: Strongly or very strongly alkaline.
Salinity: 22 to 87 dS/m occurring as crystals (Ranges from 2.2 to 6.0 percent salt).
SAR: 78 to 389.
C horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR.
Value: 5 through 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist.
Chroma: 3 through 6, dry or moist.
Mottles: Hue of 5YR or 7.5YR; value of 3, 4 or 7; chroma of 2, 4 or 6 occurring as streaks and spots.
Texture: Stratified loamy fine sand to silty clay (10 to 45 percent clay).
Concentrations: Manganese coatings on ped faces.
Reaction: Strongly or very strongly alkaline.
Salinity: 22 to 62 dS/m.
SAR: 20 to 394.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Yahana soils are on broad, flat flood plains adjacent to major drainageways. Slopes range from 0 to 10 percent. Elevations range from 940 to 1400 feet. They formed in Holocene stream alluvium that historically was subject to a fluctuating water table. High water tables have been recently eliminated as a result of ground water pumping and upstream dams. The mean annual precipitation is 7 to 10 inches. The mean annual air temperature is 69 to 75 degrees F. The frost-free period is 240 to 325 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gadsden, Glenbar, Indio, Trix and Vint soils. All of these soils lack salic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Very slow runoff. Slow or very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Yahana soils are used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat and irrigated cropland. Vegetation is seepweed, greasewood and desert saltbush.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Arizona. This series is not extensive. MLRA 40.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Parts of Maricopa and Pinal Counties, 1991.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Salic horizon - The zone from 4 to 14 inches (Bnz horizons)
Artificial drainage - Groundwater pumping and upstream dams have eliminated high water tables
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006.
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL Sample S84 AZ-21-17
NSSL Sample S84 AZ-13-8
Gallup BIA Lab Data 278-88-5