LOCATION BLUEGROVE               TX

Established Series
Rev. ACT-WJG
10/2013

BLUEGROVE SERIES



The Bluegrove series consists of moderately deep over sandstone bedrock, well drained, moderately slowly or slowly permeable, soils that formed in residuum weathered from sandstone and claystone. These soils are on gently sloping and sloping ridges and structural benches on hills. Slopes range from 1 to 8 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 737 mm (29 in).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Typic Haplustalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Bluegrove loam--rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in); brown (7.5YR 5/4) loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; weak medium granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; common very fine and fine roots; common fine irregular pores; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in) thick

Bt1--20 to 61 cm (8 to 24 in); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; common very fine and fine roots; many very fine pores; common iron-manganese concretions; few wormcasts; thin continuous clay films on surface of peds; slightly acid; gradual irregular boundary.

Bt2--61 to 86 cm (24 to 34 in); reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay loam, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) moist; few distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) iron accumulations with sharp boundaries in the matrix; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; common fine pores; common fine iron-manganese concretions; few wormcasts; thin patchy clay films on surfaces of peds; few fine fragments of sandstone; neutral; clear irregular boundary. Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 30 to 91 cm (12 to 36 in).

Cr--86 to 163 cm (34 to 64 in); light gray (2.5Y 7/2) weakly cemented sandstone.

TYPE LOCATION: Wichita County, Texas; in southeast edge of Wichita Falls, 900 feet south and 1,000 feet west of the intersection of Windthorst Road and the south access road of U.S. 287 Expressway. USGS topographic quadrangle: Wichita Falls East, TX; Latitude: 33 degrees, 54 minutes, 13 seconds, N; Longitude: 98 degrees, 27 minutes, 35 seconds, W. NAD 1983; UTM Easting 549950 m, UTM Northing 3751600 m, UTM Zone 14.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Typic-ustic soil moisture regime
Depth to sandstone bedrock: is 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in)

Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay Content: 35 to 55 percent

A Horizon
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
If chroma is 2 or 3, the A horizon is less than 25 cm (10 in) thick.
Texture: fine sandy loam, loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 35 percent by volume flagstones or stones on and/or in the surface layer
Reaction: moderately acid to neutral

Bt Horizon
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: clay loam, sandy clay, or clay or their paragravelly counterparts; Some pedons have a thin sandy clay loam Bt1 horizon.
A stone line occurs in some pedons.
Clay content: 35 to 60 percent
Redoximorphic features: relict, lithochromic, or both; but some pedons do not have redoximorphic features in the Bt horizon.
Base saturation: of at least one Bt horizon is 75 percent or more
Reaction: slightly acid to moderately alkaline

BCt Horizon (where present)
Hue: 2.5YR or 5YR
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: Clay or clay loam or their gravelly or paragravelly counterparts
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline
Rock fragments: up to 35 percent by volume gravel or paragravel

Cr Horizon
Cementation: weakly to moderately cemented sandstone bedrock
Some pedons have interbeded layers of strongly cemented sandstone.
The sandstone is interbedded with claystone bedrock in some pedons.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Acove (TX) and Callahan (TX) series.
Similar soils include the Bonti, Grainola, Menard, Newcastle, Rochelle, Truce, and Winters series.
Acove soils: have a broken sandstone layer in the upper Bt horizon.
Callahan soils: have secondary carbonates within 30 inches of the soil surface.
Bonti and Grainola soils: have less than 75 percent base saturation in all parts of the argillic horizon. In addition, the Bonti soils have an abrupt textural change between the surface layer and the argillic horizon.
Newcastle soils: contain less than 35 percent clay in the control section and have siliceous mineralogy.
Menard, Rochelle, Truce, and Winters soils: are all more than 60 inches to bedrock.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent Material: These soils formed from loamy residuum weathered from medium-grained sandstone and claystone of Permian and Pennsylvania age
Landscape: hills
Landform: ridges and structural benches
Slope gradient: dominantly 1 to 5 percent but ranges from 1 to 8 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 660 to 813 (26 to 32 in)
Thornthwaite annual P-E indices: 36 to 48
Mean annual temperature: 16.7 to 18.9 degrees C (62 to 66 degrees F)
Frost-free days: 215 to 235
Elevation: 282.0 to 396.2 meters (925 to 1300 feet)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cobb, Kamay, Tillman and Vernon series.
Cobb soils: occur on similar positions but have 18 to 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section
Kamay and Tillman soils: have carbonates within 30 inches of the surface, are underlain by clayey redbeds, and occur on lower positions in the landscape
Vernon soils: do not have argillic horizons, are underlain by claystone, and occur on similar positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is high 1 to 5 percent slopes and very high on 5 to 8 percent slopes.slopes. Permeability is moderately slow or slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: About one-half of these soils are cultivated. Small grains are the main crops. The present vegetation is buffalograss, sideoats grama, blue grama, Arizona cottontop, Texas wintergrass, and dropseed. Mesquite trees are the dominant woody plants but scattered post oak occurs on some areas.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Texas North Central Prairies (LRR H; MLRA 80B), and Central Rolling Red Prairies of north Texas and possibly southern Oklahoma (LRR H; MLRA 80A). The series is of large extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wichita County, Texas; 1973.

REMARKS: Changed to tabular format and included metric values (RFG-10/2013)

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in). (A horizon)

Argillic horizon - the zone from 20 to 86 cm (8 to 34 in). (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)

Paralithic contact: 86 cm (34 in). (Top of Cr horizon)

Paralithic material at 86 to 163 cm (34 to 64 in). (Cr horizon)

The increase in clay from the A to the Bt horizons is insufficient for an abrupt textural change.

ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL characterization data from Young County, Texas; S92TX-503-007.

Taxanomic version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.