LOCATION WILLAMAR TX
Established Series
CLG-JLJ-RM
03/2016
WILLAMAR SERIES
The Willamar series consists of deep, somewhat poorly drained,
very slowly permeable soils that formed in loamy sediments.
These soils are on flats on coastal plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 700mm (28 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic Typic Natraqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Willamar fine sandy loam. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 8 cm (0 to 3 in); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; massive; extremely hard, friable; moderately saline; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (2.5 to 10 cm [1 to 4 in] thick)
E--8 to 13 cm (3 to 5 in); gray (10YR 5/1) fine sandy loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moist; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable; moderately saline; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (2.5 to 8 cm [1 to 3 in] thick)
Btnz--13 to 46 cm (5 to 18 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; strong coarse columnar structure parting to strong medium angular blocky; extremely hard; very firm; prisms have thin clay coatings of gray (10YR 5/1) and blocks have black (10YR 2/1) moist clay or organic coatings on vertical and horizontal faces; moderately saline; strongly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (25 to 41 cm [10 to 16 in] thick)
Btknz--46 to 76 cm (18 to 30 in); light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; thin patchy clay films; black thin clay flows in insect tunnels; few weakly cemented calcium carbonate concretions and soft bodies of calcium carbonate; few fine faint and distinct brownish yellow masses of oxidized iron; moderately saline; slightly effervescent; strongly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (18 to 41 cm [7 to 16 in] thick)
Cknz--76 to 203 cm (30 to 80 in); very pale brown (10YR 7/4) sandy clay loam, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) moist; massive; hard, friable; few fine pores; few dark stains along old root channels; common films and bodies of salts; common soft bodies and weakly cemented concretions of calcium carbonate; few to common fine distinct brownish yellow masses of oxidized iron; strongly saline; calcareous; strongly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Cameron County, Texas; From the intersection of General Brandt Road and Farm Road 1847, 1.8 miles east on General Brandt Road, to the intersection of a field road with General Brandt Road, then 1.4
miles north on field road and 100 ft east into native pasture. Laguna Atascosa, Texas USGS topographic quad; WGS84; Latitude: 26 degrees 14 minutes 1.13 seconds North; Longitude: 97 degrees 25 minutes 58.6 seconds West.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: These soils have an aquic moisture regime.
Depth to secondary carbonates: 35 to 51 cm (14 to 20 in)
Depth to salt accumulation: 68 to 81 cm (27 to 32 in)
Soil salinity ranges from 2 to 30 dS/m
Sodium saturation ratio is more than 15 percent in the B and C horizons and increases with depth.
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: fine sandy loam or sandy loam
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
E horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: fine sandy loam or sandy loam
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Btnz horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: sandy clay loam or clay loam
Clay content: 25 to 35 percent
Reaction: moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline
Btknz horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: sandy clay loam or clay loam
Reaction: moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline
Cknz horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 6 or 7
Chroma: 3 or 4
Texture: sandy clay loam or clay loam
Identifiable secondary carbonates: amount - 2 to 30 percent, kind - carbonate masses and nodules
Reaction: moderately alkaline to very strongly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: There are no series in the same family. Similar series include
Dietrich,
Jarron,
Matagorda,
Ramita, and
Sauz series.
Dietrich soils: have an active activity class, are poorly drained and have thicker, sandy epipedons.
Jarron soils: have a fine particle size family, have an active activity class, are poorly drained and have a loamier surface.
Matagorda soils: have a fine particle size family and have an active activity class.
Ramita soils: have an active activity class, are poorly drained, occur on the Sandsheet geology, and have a thicker loamier surface.
Sauz soils: have a coarse-loamy particle size family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material: loamy fluviomarine deposits derived from igneous metamorphic and sedimentary rock
Landscape: low coastal plains
Landform: flats
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean annual air temperature: 22.8 to 24.4 degrees C (73 to 76 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 508 to 737 mm (20 to 29 in)
Frost-free period: 301 to 365 days
Elevation: 3 to 15 m (10 to 50 ft)
Thornthwaite annual P-E indices: 22 to about 34
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are
Clareville,
Delfina,
Latina,
Lomalta,
Lozano,
Lyford,
Miguel,
Sejita, and
Willacy series.
Clareville,
Delfina,
Lozano,
Lyford,
Miguel, and
Willacy soils: are better drained and lack a natric horizon.
Latina,
Lomalta, and
Sejita soils: lack argillic horizons.
Lomalta soils: are clayey and have intersecting slickensides.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is high. Permeability is very slow. Seasonal water table occurs at depths of 0.9 to 1.8 m (3 to 6 ft) below the surface. A water table is perched above the subsoil during wet seasons, and some areas are ponded.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly used for dry cropland. Grain sorghum and cotton are the main crops. Several hundred acres are utilized as rangeland supporting stunted mesquite, pricklypear, and whorled dropseed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South Texas, mainly along the coastal fringe of the lower Texas Gulf Coast and probably in Mexico. Land Resource Region: T; MLRA: Gulf Coast Saline Prairies (MLRA 150B). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cameron County, Texas; 1970.
REMARKS: These soils were mapped Lomalta clay and Victoria clay loam in the 1923 published soil survey of Cameron County, Texas.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 51 cm (0 to 20 in)(A, E, and Btnz horizons)
Argillic horizon: 8 to 203 cm (3 to 80 in)(Btnz, Btknz, and Cknz horizons)
Natric horizon: 8 to 81 cm (3 to 32 in)(Btnz and Btknz horizons)
Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.