LOCATION ALJIBE PR
Established Series
SRT; JLL/GRB; ASR/SRT
03/2021
ALJIBE SERIES
MLRA(s): 270
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Moderately deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high to high
Index Surface Runoff: High
Parent Material: Serpentinite bedrock
Slope: 20 to 60 percent
Elevation (type location): xxx feet
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 70 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 79 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, ferruginous, isothermic Rhodic Haploperox
TYPICAL PEDON: Aljibe mucky peat--forestland (Colors are for moist soil).
Oi--0 to 5 inches; black (10YR 2/1) mucky peat, crushed and rubbed; about 75 percent fiber; weak very fine granular structure; soft, very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine and fine irregular pores; strongly acid; very abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
A--5 to 16 inches; dusky red (10R 3/4) clay; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable; slightly sticky and moderately plastic; many very fine and fine roots; few very fine and fine irregular pores; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 11 inches thick)
Bo1--16 to 27 inches; dusky red (10R 3/3) clay; strong very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm; slightly sticky and moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots, few medium and coarse roots; common very fine and fine irregular pores; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bo2--27 to 31 inches; 50 percent dusky red (10R 3/3) and 50 percent dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; moderate, very fine, and fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, firm; slightly sticky and moderately plastic; common fine roots, few medium and coarse roots; common fine irregular pores, few very fine tubular pores; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bo horizons ranges from 6 to 15 inches.)
BC--31 to 35 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) silty clay loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; soft, friable; slightly sticky and moderately plastic; few fine, medium and coarse roots; common fine irregular pores, few very fine tubular pores; about 10 percent, by volume, parapebbles; neutral; very abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches)
Cr--35 to 47 inches; highly fractured and moderately weathered serpentinite bedrock.
R--47 inches; hard consolidated serpentinite bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: San German, Puerto Rico. Approximately 4.2 miles east of the Rosario community from the intersection of P.R. Hwy. 330 and P.R. Hwy. 348; about 2.1 miles northeast from the intersection of P.R. Hwy. 119 and P.R. Hwy. 348; about 0.35 mile west on El Alto del Descanso trail road cut on forestland; USGS Rosario topographic quadrangle (1964); lat. 18 degrees, 09 minutes, 26.3 seconds N.; long. 67 degrees, 00 minutes, 12.3 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: 20 to 40 inches
Depth to bedrock: 20 to 40 inches
Depth to seasonally high water: More than 60 inches
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid to moderately acid in the Oi and A horizons, from moderately acid to slightly acid in the Bo1 horizon and from slightly acid to neutral in the Bo2 and BC horizons.
Rock fragment content: 0 to 15 percent, by volume, throughout the profile, mostly ironstone gravel.
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Oi horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 2.5, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture--mucky peat or muck, in the fine earth fraction
A horizon:
Color--hue of 10R or 2.5YR, value of 3, and chroma of 2 to 4
Texture--clay, in the fine earth fraction
Bo horizon:
Color--hue of 10R or 2.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4
Texture--clay, in the fine earth fraction
BC horizon:
Color--hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4 or 6
Texture--silty clay loam or clay loam, in the fine earth fraction
C horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR, value of 4, and chroma of 4
Texture--clay loam, in the fine earth fraction
Cr horizon:
Hard fractured and moderately weathered serpentinite. It can be excavated with difficulty with hand tools and is rippable by mechanized equipment.
R horizon:
Hard fractured consolidated serpentinite bedrock
COMPETING SERIES: There are no known series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Aljibe soils are on side slopes of mountains in the Humid Mountains and Valleys MLRA. Slopes range from 20 to 60 percent. They formed in iron-rich residuum weathered from serpentinite bedrock. The climate is humid tropical. The average annual precipitation ranges from 68 to 134 inches and the average annual temperature ranges from 62 to 68 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Cerro Gordo soils--have a fine-loamy particle size control section and are very deep to bedrock; on more stable landscape positions
El Descanso soils--have a clayey-skeletal particle size control section, lack an oxic horizon, and are shallow to bedrock; on similar landscape positions
Guama soils--have a depth to bedrock of greater than 60 inches; on similar landscape positions
Hoconuco soils--have a depth to bedrock of less than 20 inches, lack an oxic horizon, and contain more gravels; on similar landscape positions
Indiera soils--have a depth to bedrock of 40 to 60 inches; on similar landscape positions
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high to high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forestland used for wildlife habitat
Dominant vegetation: Native and introduced grasses, shrubs, and trees.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Side slopes of serpentinite mountains of the southern Humid Mountains and Valleys of Puerto Rico
Extent: Small
SERIES ESTABLISHED: San German Municipality, Puerto Rico; 2007.
REMARKS: Aljibe soils formed in the Jse-Serpentinite Formation (Jse). Aljibe soils were formerly included in the Rosario series. A soil moisture and soil temperature study performed in the San German Area Soil Survey Update recognized the Perudic Soil Moisture Regime in Puerto Rico, recognized the isothermic soil temperature regime at 750 meters above sea level (in Perudic Soil Moisture Regime) and 900 meters above sea level (in Udic Soil Moisture Regime) and adjusted the isothermic-isohyperthermic line.
The 2021 revision updates the classification from clayey, ferruginous, isothermic, shallow Rhodic Haploperox (2008).
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 16 inches (Oi and A horizons).
Oxic horizon - the zone from 16 to 31 inches (Bo1 and Bo2 horizons).
Rhodic feature - the zone from 10 to 35 inches (A, Bo1, Bo2 and BC horizons).
Paralithic contact - the zone from 35 to 47 inches (Cr horizon).
Lithic contact - the contact at 47 inches (R horizon).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.