LOCATION HIDALGO TX

Established Series
Rev. CLG-CMT-JLJ
02/2018

HIDALGO SERIES

The Hidalgo series consists of deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in calcareous loamy sediments. These soils are on nearly level to gently sloping uplands. Slopes range from 0 to about 5 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, hyperthermic Typic Calciustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Hidalgo sandy clay loam--cropland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak subangular blocky and granular structure; hard, friable; few small fragments of shell; calcareous; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (13 to 23 cm [5 to 9 in] thick)

A1--23 to 43 cm (9to 17 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy clay loam; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; weak subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; many fine and very fine pores; few earthwormcasts; calcareous; moderately alkaline; diffuse smooth boundary. (15 to 25 cm [6 to 10 in] thick)

B2--43 to 71 cm (17 to 28 in); brown (10YR 5/3) sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; many fine and very fine pores; few threads and films of segregated calcium carbonate; few earthwormcasts; few fragments of snail shell; calcareous; moderately alkaline; diffuse smooth boundary. (18 to 41 cm [7 to 16 in] thick)

B2ca--71 to 97 cm (28 to 38 in); pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; weak subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; many fine and very fine pores; few fragments of snail shell; about 10 percent by volume of soft bodies of calcium carbonate; calcareous; moderately alkaline; diffuse smooth boundary. (20 to 41 cm [8 to 16 in] thick)

Cca--97 to 218 cm (38 to 85 in); very pale brown (10YR 7/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; massive; hard, friable; many fine and very fine pores; few fragments of snail shell; about 10 percent by volume of soft bodies of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Hidalgo County, Texas; 1.8 miles northwest of Donna, Texas; in a cultivated field, 300 feet west of county road and 1.3 miles north of its intersection with U. S. Highway 83; this intersection is 1.1 miles (via U. S. 83) west of Main Street in Donna.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 76 to 127 cm (30 to 50 in). Secondary lime in the form of films and threads or soft masses occur at depths ranging from 30 to 71 cm (12 to 28 in). Electrical conductivity in most pedons ranges from 1 to 4 millimhos per cm, but in some saline pedons the range is up to about 16 millimhos.

The A horizon is dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2), grayish brown (10YR 5/2), or brown (10YR 4/3, 5/3). Moist values are less than 3.5. It is sandy clay loam or fine sandy loam.

The B horizon is brown (10YR 5/3; 7.5YR 5/4), pale brown (10YR 6/3), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), light brown (7.5YR 6/4), or grayish brown (10YR 5/2). It is sandy clay loam or clay loam with clay range of 23 to 35 percent.

The C horizon is very pale brown (10YR 7/3), pale brown (10YR 6/3), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), brown (7.5YR 5/4), light brown (7.5YR 6/4), or light gray (10YR 7/2). The C horizon is sandy clay loam or clay loam, with 5 to 35 percent of weakly cemented concretions and soft bodies of calcium carbonate.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Castroville, Engle, Raymondville, Uvalde, and Venus series. Castroville and Uvalde soils: have fine-silty 10 to 40 inch control sections. In addition, Uvalde
soils are dry in the moisture control section for longer periods.
Engle and Venus soils: have mean annual soil temperatures less than 72 degrees F.
Raymondville soils: have more than 35 percent clay in the 10 to 40 inch control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hidalgo soils are on nearly level to gently sloping deltas or coastal terraces. Slope gradients are mostly less than 2 percent, but range up to about 5 percent. The soil formed in moderately fine textured calcareous sediments. The climate is subtropical. The average annual precipitation range from 610 to 813 mm (24 to 32 in), the mean annual temperature about 74 degrees F., and Thornthwaite annual P-E indices range from 28 to 38.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Raymondville series and the Brennan and Willacy series.
Brennan and Willacy soils: have Bt horizons and are noncalcareous in the upper part of the solum.
Raymondville soils: have more than 35 percent clay in the control section
All these soils occur on similar surfaces.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage class: Well
Permeability class: moderate
Runoff: slow
When irrigated, water may accumulate at depths of 4 to 8 feet below the surface.

USE AND VEGETATION: Much of this soil is cleared, cultivated, and irrigated. Irrigated crops are cotton, grain sorghum, vegetables, sugar cane, and citrus. Dryland farming is practiced in some areas. Native grasses are four-flower trichloris, Arizona cottontop, lovegrass tridens, plains bristlegrass, and hooded windmillgrass, and there is an overstory of a wide variety of thorny shrubs and prickly pear.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Rio Grande Plain of Texas and possibly Mexico. The series is of large extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hidalgo County, Texas; 1925.

REMARKS: Formerly classified in the Calcisol great soil group.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

ADDITIONAL DATA:

Taxonomic Version:

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.