LOCATION WINK TX+NMEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Haplocalcids
TYPICAL PEDON: Wink fine sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soils unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 6 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak platy structure; hard, very friable; common roots; few pores; few limestone gravel and cemented calcium carbonate fragments; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 13 inches thick)
Bk--6 to 24 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fine sandy loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure; slightly hard, very friable; common roots; common fine pores; few limestone gravel and cemented calcium carbonate fragments; few threads and concretions of calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (11 to 32 inches thick)
BCk1--24 to 73 inches; white, weakly to moderately cemented caliche in layers and fragments 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches thick and 1/2 inch to 4 inches across the long axes and becoming less cemented with depth; violently effervescent; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 50 inches thick)
BCk2--73 to 100 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very gravelly loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; soft, very friable; 55 percent calcium carbonate coated limestone gravel and calcium carbonate cemented fragments 1/8 inch to 2 inches in diameter; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: El Paso County, Texas; From the junction of U.S. Highway 62 and 180 and Hueco Tanks Road approximately 22 miles east of El Paso; 4.5 miles north on Hueco Tank Road; 3.8 miles southwest on county road; 38 feet in range. (Latitude: 31 degrees, 51 minutes, 52 seconds North; Longitude: 106 degrees, 08 minutes, 48 seconds west.)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: The moisture control section is usually dry in all parts more than three-fourth of the time that the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F. Typic aridic soil moisture regime.
Mean annual soil temperature: 61 to 70 degrees F.
Depth to calcic horizon: 20 to 39 inches
Coarse fragments range: 5 to 10 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent (less than 2 mm fraction)
Reaction: moderately alkaline; soil is calcareous throughout
A horizon
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: loamy sand, fine sand, loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam
Clay content: 5 to 15 percent
Bk horizon
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR
Value: 5 to 8, dry or moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: fine sandy loam, loam, sandy loam
Clay content: 8 to 18 percent
Coarse fragment: 0 to 10 percent calcium carbonated coated limestone gravel and calcium carbonate fragments
BCk1 horizon
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, loam
Cementation: weak to strong but hardness is less than 3 on the Mohs scale
Coarse fragment: 0 to 60 percent calcium carbonated coated limestone gravel
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent
BCk2 horizon
Hue: 10YR, 7.5YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 4 to 6 moist
Chroma: 1 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam, loam
Coarse fragments: 0 to 60 percent gravel
Clay content: 6 to 20 percent
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Algerita (NM), Cronese (CA), Grapevine (NV), Guijarral (CA), Kinley (AZ), Nikey (UT), Rillino (AZ), Whitlock (AZ), and Yippin (NM) series. Algerita and Yippin soils are inactive. Cronese soils contain durinodes. Grapevine, Kinley, Rillino, Whitlock soils have a calcic horizon above 20 inches. Guijarral and Nikey soils do not have weak to strong cementation in the calcic horizon. Cronese, Grapevine, Guijarral, Kinley and Nikey soils are moist in the soil moisture control section for less than 20 days cumulative between July and September and occur in the Mohave Desert.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wink soils are on uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. The regolith consists of calcareous unconsolidated sediments of eolian or alluvial origin. The climate is arid. Mean annual precipitation is 5 to 12 inches, and mean annual air temperature is 60 to 69 degrees F. Frost free period is 210 to 250 days and elevation is 2,700 to 4,000 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Agustin, Turney, Berino, Holloman, Hueco, Mimbres, Monahans, Pajarito, and Simona series. Berino and Hueco soils have a Bt horizon and Hueco soils also have a petrocalcic horizon. Berino and Mimbres soils have more than 18 percent clay in the control section. Holloman soils have sola less than 20 inches thick over gypsum. Mimbres, Monahans, and Pajarito soils lack a calcic horizon. Simona soils have a petrocalcic horizon within 20 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is negligible on slopes less than 3 percent, very low on 3 to 5 percent slopes and low on 5 to 8 percent slopes. Permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Primarily livestock grazing. Creosotebush, saltbush, sand sagebrush, black grama, plains bristlegrass, mesa dropseed, and bush muhly. Brush species dominate, and grasses are sparse.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Trans-Pecos area of Texas, and southern New Mexico (MLRA 42). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: East Valencia area, New Mexico; 1970.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 6 inches (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - 6 to 24 inches (Bk horizon)
Calcic horizon - 24 to 73 inches (BCk1 horizon)
Classified according to Soil Taxonomy Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy Tenth Edition, 2006