LOCATION ALET                    TX

Established Series
PDH-JKW-RM
08/2018

ALET SERIES

The Alet series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in loamy alluvial sediments derived predominantly from material weathered from sandstone. These nearly level to very gently sloping, occasionally flooded soils are on drainageways. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 22.2 degrees C (72 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 610 mm (24 in).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Argiustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Alet sandy clay loam, on a 1 percent simple linear east-facing slope in rangeland; elevation is 160 m (525 ft). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky and granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many fine roots; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (13 to 48 cm [5 to 19 in] thick)

Bt1--18 to 38 cm (7 to 15 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; slightly sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common faint clay films on surfaces of peds; common fine and medium insect tunnels; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--38 to 79 cm (15 to 31 in); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common fine pores; common faint clay films on surfaces of peds; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.

Bt3--79 to 117 cm (31 to 46 in); pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm; sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; many faint clay films on surfaces of peds; 1 percent round siliceous pebbles less than 3 cm (1 in) in diameter; noneffervescent; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is (43 to 127 cm [17 to 50 in])

Btk1--117 to 155 (46 to 61 in); very pale brown (10YR 7/3) clay loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky and granular structure; very hard, very firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few faint clay films on surfaces of peds; 5 percent fine and medium threads of calcium carbonate; Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) of 1; Electrical Conductivity (EC) 2 dS/m violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (25 to 64 cm [10 to 25 in] thick)

Btk2--155 to 203 (61 to 80 in); very pale brown (10YR 7/3) sandy clay loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky and granular structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few faint clay films on surfaces of peds; 10 percent fine and medium films and threads of calcium carbonate; Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) of 1; Electrical Conductivity (EC) 2 dS/m; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Duval County, Texas; from the intersection of Farm Road 2295 and Texas Highway 339 in Benavides; 15.5 miles west on Farm Road 2295, 6.0 miles south on Texas Highway 16; 100 feet west in rangeland.
USGS topographic quad: Hebbronville NW, TX;
Latitude: 27 degrees, 29 minutes, 12 seconds N;
Longitude: 98 degrees, 39 minutes, 55 seconds W.;
Datum: NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil Moisture: A typic-ustic moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 90 days but less than 180 cumulative days in normal years. June through August and December through February are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through November and March through May.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22.2 to 23.9 degrees C (72 to 75 degrees F).
Depth to argillic horizon: 18 to 48 cm (7 to 19 in)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 64 to 127 cm (25 to 50 in)
Coarse Fragments: 0 to 10 percent gravel

A Horizon
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: sandy clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 25 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 5 percent gravel
Base saturation: 90 to 100 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent
Electrical Conductivity (dS/m): 0 to 4
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 0 to 2
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

Bt Horizon
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 7
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam
Clay content: 25 to 30 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 10 percent gravel
Base saturation: 90 to 100 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 5 percent
Electrical Conductivity (dS/m): 0 to 4
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 0 to 4
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline

Btk Horizon
Hue: 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 6 to 8
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent
Coarse fragments: 0 to 10 percent gravel
Base saturation: 95 to 100 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 5 to 15 percent
Secondary calcium carbonate: kind-threads, films and concretions range; amount-3 to 15 percent.
Electrical Conductivity (dS/m): 2 to 8
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 1 to 10
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Colmena (TX), Orelia (TX), Pernitas (TX), Runge (TX), Weesatche (TX), and Whitsett (TX) series. Similar soils are the Clareville and Tela series.
Colmena soils: have a lithologic discontinuity
Orelia soils: are on flats and are not flooded
Pernitas soils: calcareous throughout; calcic horizon between 50 and 100 cm (20 and 40 in).
Runge soils: colors redder than 10YR in the upper part of the argillic horizon.
Weesatche series: calcic horizon between 50 and 100 cm (20 and 40 in).
Clareville soils: averages more than 35 percent clay in the argillic horizon.
Tela soils: dry in the soil moisture control section for longer periods (Aridic/Ustic)

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Alluvium derived from materials weathered predominantly from sandstone.
Landform: drainageways
Slope: 0 to 3 percent
Mean annual temperature: 21.1 to 22.8 degrees C (70 to 73 degrees F).
Mean annual precipitation: 559 to 660 mm (22 to 26 in)
Frost-free period: 270 to 320 days
Elevation: 91 to 213.4 m (300 to 700 ft)
Thornthwaite P-E index: 28 to 35

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Clareville (TX), Pernitas (TX), Ramadero (TX), Sinton (TX), and Weesatche (TX) series.

Clareville, Ramadero, Sinton soils: have a mollic epipedon thicker than 50 cm (20 in) and are on terraces in slightly higher positions in the landscape.
Pernitas and Weesatche soils: on convex upland positions higher in the landscape.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage class: Well.
Permeability: moderate.
Runoff: negligible.
Flooding: soils are occasionally flooded when they receive runoff water from tropical storms once in 20 years of low velocity and short duration.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland and wildlife habitat. Native woody vegetation includes mesquite, sugar hackberry, spiny hackberry huisache, prickly pear, and whitebrush. Grass species include fourflower trichloris, Arizona cottontop, sideoats grama, plains bristlegrass, hooded windmillgrass, and prairie threeawn.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Rio Grande Plain of Texas; LRR I; MLRA 83C; this series is of moderate extent.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Duval County, Texas, 1998. The name is a coined derivation of the Tela series.

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

Particle size control section: 18 to 69 cm (7 to 27 in). (Bt1 and upper Bt2 horizon)
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 38 cm (0 to 15 in). (A and Bt1 horizons)
Argillic horizon: 18 to 203 (7 to 80 in). (Bt and Btk horizons)
Secondary carbonates: 117 to 203 cm (46 to 80 in). (Btk horizons)

The assignment of the cation-exchange activity class is inferred from lab data from Jim Wells and Live Oak Counties, Texas.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Local lab data available on pedons from McMullen County.

TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014.

---

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.