LOCATION BOQUERON                PR

Established Series
SRT; JLL; GRB; ASR/SRT
03/2021

BOQUERON SERIES

MLRA(s): 271
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately low
Index Surface Runoff: Slow
Parent Material: Clayey alluvial and marine sediments
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Elevation (type location): xxx feet
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 79 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 25 inches

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, nonacid, isohyperthermic Vertic Fluvaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Boqueron muck --forestland (Colors are for moist soil).

Oa--0 to 2 inches; very dark gray (2.5Y 3/1) muck; about 60 percent fiber, by volume, unrubbed and about 15 percent fiber, by volume, rubbed; weak fine granular structure; very friable; nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)

A--2 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay; weak fine granular structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; common medium faint olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) masses of oxidized iron along root channels; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

Cg1--4 to 8 inches; 50 percent black (N 2.5/) and 50 percent very dark gray (N 3/) mucky clay loam; massive; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine roots; about 5 percent, by volume, shell fragments; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Cg2--8 to 12 inches; dark gray (N 4/) silty clay; massive; firm, sticky, plastic; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/8) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron throughout; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Cg3--12 to 55 inches; dark gray (N 4/) silty clay; massive; firm, sticky plastic; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.

Cg4--55 to 80 inches; greenish gray (10Y 5/1) clay; massive; firm, sticky, plastic; common medium distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of oxidized iron throughout; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Cabo Rojo Municipality, Puerto Rico. Refugio de Aves de Boqueron; approximately 0.9 mile southwest of Las Arenas, about 1,400 feet west-northwest of road junction, and about 200 feet south of road. USGS Puerto Real topographic quadrangle; lat. 18 degrees, 01 minute, 10 seconds N.; long. 67 degrees, 09 minutes, 35 seconds W.; PRD 1940.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to seasonally high water: 0 to 6 inches
Soil reaction: Moderately alkaline throughout. The soil is moderately saline throughout.

RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Oa horizon:
Color-- hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2.
Texture--muck, in the fine earth fraction

A horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or N, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2
Texture--silty clay loam or silty clay or its mucky counterparts
Shell fragments--none to common

Cg horizon (upper part):
Color--hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 or 2; or it is neutral with value of 2.5 to 5
Texture-- clay loam, mucky clay loam, or silty clay
Shell fragments--none to common
Redoximorphic features--masses of oxidized iron in shades of brown and red range from none to common

Cg horizon (lower part):
Color--hue of 5Y, 5GY, 10Y or 10GY value of 4 to 6, and value of 1; or it is neutral with value of 4 or 5.
Texture-- clay loam, mucky clay loam, or silty clay
Shell fragments--none to common
Redoximorphic features--masses of oxidized iron in shades of brown and red range from none to common

COMPETING SERIES: There are no known series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Boqueron soils are in tidal marshes and flats. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. They formed in clayey alluvial and marine sediments. The climate is tropical semiarid. The average air temperature ranges from 78 to 80 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation ranges from 20 to 30 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Jaucas soils--have a sandy particle size control section; on slightly higher landscape positions
Manglillo soils--have an organic control section; on similar landscape positions
Serrano soils--have a fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal particle size control section; on slightly higher landscape positions
Teresa soils--have a clayey particle-size control section; on higher adjacent landscape positions
Ursula soils--have a clayey particle size control section and more organic matter accumulation on the surface; on lower positions where the tidal flat is more influenced by tidal water

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Very poorly drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately slow

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Wildlife refuge
Dominant vegetation: Mangroves

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Coastal areas of Puerto Rico
Extent: Small

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cabo Rojo Municipality, Puerto Rico; 2007.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon:
Organic horizon - the zone from 0 to 16 inches (Oa horizon).
Ochric horizon - the zone from 2 to 4 inches (A horizon).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.