LOCATION AGUJA              NM

AGUJA SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haplustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Aguja very gravelly loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 2 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) crushed, very gravelly loam, black (7.5YR 2.5/1) crushed, moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine roots throughout; 22 percent clay; 35 percent nonflat subrounded 0.1- to 3-inch tuff gravel and 5 percent nonflat subrounded 3- to 10-inch tuff cobbles, noneffervescent by HCL, 1 normal; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

Bw1--2 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) crushed, very gravelly silt loam, black (7.5YR 2.5/1) crushed, moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; moderately sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots throughout; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 22 percent clay; 35 percent nonflat subrounded 0.1-to 3-inch tuff gravel and 10 percent nonflat subrounded 3-to 10-inch tuff cobbles; noneffervescent by HCL, 1 normal; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

Bw2--8 to 15 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/3) crushed, very gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 4/2) crushed, moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few fine and medium roots throughout; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 20 percent clay; 40 percent nonflat subrounded 0.1- to 3-inch tuff gravel and 10 percent nonflat subrounded 3- to 10-inch tuff cobbles; noneffervescent by HCL, 1 normal; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

BC--15 to 35 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) crushed, extremely gravelly loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) crushed, moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots throughout; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 20 percent clay; 60 percent nonflat subrounded 0.1-to 3-inch tuff gravel and 10 percent nonflat subrounded 3-to 10-inch tuff cobbles; noneffervescent by HCL, 1 normal; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (15 to 25 inches thick)

Cr--35 to 39 inches; 95 percent nonflat subangular indurated 3 to 10-inch tuff fragments. (2 to 8 inches thick)

R--39 inches; thickly bedded massive tuff bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Dona Ana County, New Mexico; approximately 4.3 miles W. and 2.5 miles S. of White Sands, 1,350 feet north and 1500 feet east of the SW corner of S. 5, T. 23 south, R. 4 east. USGS Organ Peak topographic quadrangle; lat. 32 degrees, 20 minutes, 02 seconds N. and long. 106 degrees 34 minutes 04 seconds W. UTM zone 13S 353395E, 3578215N; NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture: A typic ustic moisture regime. Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section December through April and July through October.

Mean annual soil temperature: 43 to 47 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock: 20 to 40 inches
Thickness of mollic epipedon: 7 to 14 inches
Clay content: 18 to 27 percent
Coarse fragment content: 35 to 60 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to neutral

A horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 3 or 4 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3, dry or moist
Coarse fragments: tuff fragments; 35 to 60 percent total coarse fragments; 35 to 50 percent gravel; 5 to 10 percent cobbles.

Bw horizons
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 3 to 5 dry, 2 to 4 moist
Chroma: 1 to 3, dry or moist
Texture modifier: gravelly, very gravelly
Coarse fragments: tuff fragments; 35 to 60 percent total coarse
fragments; 35 to 50 percent gravel; 10 to 20 percent cobbles.
Texture: loam or silt loam.

BC horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4, dry or moist
Texture modifier: very gravelly or extremely gravelly
Coarse fragments: tuff fragments; 60 to 80 percent total coarse fragments; 60 to 75 percent gravel; 5 to 15 percent cobbles.
Texture: loam and silt loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Finleypoint (MT), Flott (MT), Kutler (CO), Labre (MT), Perma (MT), Peso (NM), Renegade (UT), Sandia (NM), Slimbutte (SD), Subwell (MT), Towave (UT), Veatch (CO), Vigilante (MT), Walstead (MT), Wanagan (ND) and Wimper (MT) series.
Finleypoint soils: very deep, have an albic horizon and are derived from glacial till.
Flott soils: have a calcic horizon.
Kutler soils: have a paralithic contact between 20 to 40 inches and are derived from granite. Kutler soils are in the 17 to 20 inch rainfall zone.
Labre soils: are very deep
Perma soils: deep
Peso soils: have Bk horizons with 6 to 15 percent calcium carbonate equivalent and formed in parent material derived from limestone
Renegade soils: have paralithic contact between 40 to 60 inches.
Sandia soils: have greater than 50 percent calcium carbonate equivalent in control section and contain 50 percent cobbles and stones in the control section.
Slimbutte soils: are calcareous at a shallow depth and fragmental below 40 inches.
Subwell soils: have a discontinuity at 10 to 20 inches, secondary carbonate accumulation and are non-skeletal above the discontinuity.
Towave soils: do not have a cambic horizon.
Veatch soils: derived from sedimentary parent material and are deep.
Vigilante soils: deep
Walstead soils: have calcic horizons
Wanagan soils: calcareous at shallow depths and contain a lithologic discontinuity at 12 to 20 inches.
Wimper soils: have calcic horizons and deep.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Colluvium from tuff
Landform: Igneous mountain tops, flanks and bases
Slope: 35 to 65 percent
Mean annual temperature: 42 to 46 degrees
Mean annual precipitation: 16 to 18 inches
Precipitation pattern: Precipitation occurs mainly as showers during July through September.
Frost-free period: 90 to 130 days
Elevation: 6,700 to 8,100 feet

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Arbol and Thaad soils.
Arbol soils: shallow to bedrock and are on mountain tops and flanks.
Thaad soils: have a mollic epipedon greater than 20 inches thick and are on mountain flanks and bases.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderately slow. Runoff is very high on slopes of 35 to 65 percent.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing. Vegetation is Ponderosa pine, Pinyon, Douglas fir, Prairie Junegrass and Whortelleaf Snowberry.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New Mexico; LRR D, MLRA 42. The series is of minor extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Dona Ana County, New Mexico; 2001.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 35 inches. (Bw2 and C horizons)
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 8 inches. (A and Bw1 horizons).
Cambic horizon: 2 to 15 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).

The assignment of the cation exchange capacity is inferred from lab data from similar soils in the surrounding area.

Classified according to Keys to Soil Taxonomy Ninth Edition, 2003.