LOCATION YUZARRA NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Aridic Calciustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Yuzarra very gravelly sandy loam--on the narrow, beveled summit of a ridge sloping 8 percent to the southeast at 6,580 feet elevation--woodland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted. When described, the soil was dry throughout.)
ABk--0 to 3 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) very gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) moist; moderate thick platy structure parting to moderate medium granular; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and common very fine roots; common fine irregularly shaped pores; 45 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine and medium irregularly shaped coats on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear smooth boundary. (2 or 3 inches thick)
Bk1--3 to 10 inches; pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) gravelly sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 5/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few coarse, common medium, common fine, and many very fine roots; common very fine irregularly shaped pores; 30 percent gravel; violently effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as many fine and medium irregularly shaped coats on faces of peds and on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
2Bk2--10 to 22 inches; pink (5YR 7/3) very gravelly coarse sand, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) moist; massive; slightly hard, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common medium, few fine, and common very fine roots; few very fine irregularly shaped pores; 40 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; violently effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as many fine irregularly shaped coats on very coarse sand grains and on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.4); abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
2Bk3--22 to 26 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) gravelly sand, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium, few fine, and very fine roots; 15 percent gravel; slightly to strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped coats on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); clear wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
2Bk4--26 to 34 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) very gravelly coarse sand, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; single grain; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and few very fine roots; 50 percent gravel and 5 percent cobbles; slightly to strongly effervescent, secondary calcium carbonate segregated as few fine irregularly shaped coats on very coarse sand grains and on rock fragments; moderately alkaline (pH 8.2); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 14 inches thick)
2Cr--34 to 44 inches; interbedded moderately cemented granitic sandstone and fanglomerate bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; on the Tesuque Indian Reservation about 1.5 miles southwest of Tesuque Pueblo; 400 feet east and 1,150 feet north of the southwest corner of section 16, T.18N., R.9E.; USGS Tesuque 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; Latitude 35 degrees 47 minutes 10.5 seconds North and Longitude 105 degrees 59 minutes 54 seconds West, NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - The soil moisture control section is moist in all parts during the 60 days following the winter solstice. It is moist in some part less than 40 percent and moist in all parts less than 25 percent of the time when the soil temperature at 20 inches is above 41 degrees F. The soils are driest in May and June. The soil moisture regime is ustic bordering on aridic.
Mean annual soil temperature - 50 to 52 degrees F.
Depth to calcic horizon - 0 to 3 inches
Depth to paralithic contact - 20 to 40 inches
Lithology of rock fragments: granite, gneiss, and schist
Particle-size control section (weighted averages)
Silicate clay content: 0 to 6 percent
Rock fragment content: 35 to 50 percent
Mica content: 1 to 5 percent (by grain count)
Reaction - slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in the surface; moderately alkaline in the underlying materials
Salinity, mmho/cm - 0 to 1
Sodicity, SAR - 0 to 1
ABk horizon (A horizon in some pedons)
Value: 5 or 6 dry
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Rock fragments: total range is 35 to 55 percent
35 to 45 percent gravel
0 to 10 percent cobbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent
Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3 dry, 3 or 4 moist
Texture: gravelly sandy loam, gravelly fine sandy loam, and very gravelly sandy loam
Rock fragments: total range is 20 to 45 percent
20 to 40 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 10 to 35 percent
Upper 2Bk horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture: very gravelly coarse sand, very gravelly loamy coarse sand, or very gravelly loamy sand; some pedons have thin subhorizons with texture of gravelly sand
Rock fragments: total range is 40 to 60 percent
40 to 55 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 35 percent
lower 2Bk and 2C horizons
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4 dry, 3 through 6 moist
Texture: very gravelly coarse sand, gravelly coarse sand, and gravelly sand; some pedons have thin subhorizons of fine sandy loam to very gravelly coarse sand.
Rock fragments: total range is 15 to 60 percent, averaging 30 to 50 percent with:
30 to 45 percent gravel
0 to 5 percent cobbles
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Encantado (T) series. Encantado soils are very deep.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Yuzarra soils are on narrow, beveled summits and shoulders of ridges and hills. They formed in alluvium derived from Precambrian granite, gneiss, and schist over residuum weathered from Tertiary granitic sandstone and fanglomerate. The parent rock formation from which the residuum is derived is weakly cemented by crystalline calcite and contains a significant amount of limestone fragments in addition to the dominant fragments of granite, gneiss, and schist. Slopes are 5 to 15 percent. Elevation ranges from 5,600 to 7,800 feet. The mean annual precipitation is 12 to 14 inches with about 45 percent falling as rain from high-intensity convective thunderstorms between July and September. The mean annual air temperature is 48 to 50 degrees F. The frost-free period is 140 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Kachina and Sipapu soils. Kachina soils are fine-loamy, have cambic horizons, and occur on toeslopes of ridges and hills. Sipapu soils are very shallow to soft bedrock, do not have diagnostic subsurface horizons, and occur on adjacent backslopes of ridges and hills.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; low surface runoff; moderately rapid permeability, moderately slow permeability in the paralithic materials.
USE AND VEGETATION: Yuzarra soils are used for urban development, livestock grazing, and recreation. The historic climax vegetation is sideoats grama, black grama, little bluestem, oneseed juniper, and twoneedle pinyon. The ecological site is Pinus edulis-Juniperus monosperma/Cercocarpus montanus-Chrysothamnus nauseosus/Bouteloua gracilis (F036XB135NM).
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Yuzarra soils are of small extent on the southeastern Espanola Basin part of the Basin and Range province in northcentral New Mexico. The MLRA is 36.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Bozeman, Montana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Santa Fe County, New Mexico; Santa Fe Area Soil Survey Update; 2008. Yuzarra is a coined name.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 3 inches. (ABk horizon)
Calcic horizon - The zone from the soil surface to a depth of about 22 inches. (ABk, Bk1 and 2Bk2 horizons)
Lithologic discontinuity - at 10 inches (upper boundary of 2Bk2 horizon)
Paralithic contact - The boundary at about 34 inches to underlying moderately cemented bedrock. (2Cr layer)
Particle-size control section - The zone from 10 to 34 inches (2Bk2, 2Bk3, and 2Bk4 horizons)
Series control section - The zone from 0 to 44 inches (all horizons and upper 10 inches of paralithic material).
Taxonomic version: Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.