LOCATION BERNARD TX

Established Series
Rev. LCB-RM
02/2015

BERNARD SERIES

The Bernard series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils that formed in clayey fluviomarine deposits of the Beaumont Formation. These soils are on flats on flat coastal plains. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1143 mm (45 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 20.6 degrees C (69 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Vertic Argiudolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Bernard clay loam--cropland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 15 cm (0 to 6 in); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) clay loam, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium granular structure; very hard, friable; few iron manganese concretions; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (11 to 33 cm [4 to 13 in] thick)

Bt1--15 to 56 cm (6 to 22 in); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) clay, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky and granular structure; very hard, firm; common fine and very fine pores; patchy clay films on faces of peds; few iron manganese concretions; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt2--56 to 79 cm (22 to 31 in); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) clay, dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; weak and moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm; few grooved and polished pressure faces 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 in) across; few very fine pores; few faint clay films on faces or peds; Ap and B1 material in crack fillings; few iron manganese concretions; neutral; diffuse wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 20 to 68 cm [8 to 27 in] thick)

Btk1--79 to 127 cm (31 to 50 in); dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) clay, gray (2.5Y 5/1) dry, weak coarse angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm; few grooved and polished pressure faces 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 in) across; few patchy clay films on faces of peds; few iron manganese concretions; few fine distinct yellowish brown and strong brown masses of oxidized iron; few fine calcium carbonate masses; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (33 to 106 cm [13 to 42 in] thick)

Btk2--127 to 152 cm (50 to 60 in); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; weak subangular structure; extremely hard, very firm; few iron manganese concretions; few fine pitted calcium carbonate concretions; common medium faint to distinct yellowish brown masses of oxidized iron; noncalcareous in matrix; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the lower Btk horizons is 51 to 79 cm [20 to 31 in] thick)

Btk3--152 to 203 cm (60 to 80 in); brown (10YR 5/3) clay loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry;; very hard, firm; common coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) masses of oxidized iron; few fine and medium calcium carbonate concretions; noncalcareous in matrix; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.

TYPE LOCATION: Fort Bend County, Texas; about 0.3 mile east of Tavener, which is about 10 miles west of Rosenberg on U.S. Highway 90A, 450 ft east and 300 ft south of intersection of an unpaved road and U.S. Highway 90A, in pastureland. Orchard USGS quad. Latitude, 29 degrees, 32 minutes, 24.04 seconds N; Longitude, 95 degrees, 59 minutes, 7.86 seconds W. NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: A udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is moist in some or all parts for more than 275 days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 21.5 to 22 degrees C (71 to 72 degrees F)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 34 to 49 percent

A horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or N
Value: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: clay loam or silty clay loam
Clay content: 30 to 32 percent
Electrical Conductivity (mmhos/cm): 0.6 to 2.1
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 1 to 2
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately alkaline

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or N
Values: 2 or 3
Chroma: 1
Texture: clay, clay loam, silty clay or silty clay loam
Clay content: 34 to 49 percent
Redoximorphic concentrations: amount- 0 to 1 percent, location-matrix, shades-brown
Electrical Conductivity (mmhos/cm): 0.6 to 1.2
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 2 to 7
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately alkaline

Upper Btk horizons:
Hue: 10R, 2.5Y, 5Y, or N
Value: 2 to 5
Chroma:1 or 2
Texture: clay, clay loam, silty clay or silty clay loam
Clay content: 35 to 52 percent
Redoximorphic concentrations: amount-0 to 10 percent, location-in matrix and in matrix surrounding redoximorphic concentrations, shades-brown
Electrical Conductivity (mmhos/cm): 0.7 to 2.4
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 7 to 11
Reaction: strongly acid to moderately alkaline.

Lower Btk horizon (where present):
Hue: 2.5Y or 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: clay, silty clay or silty clay loam
Clay content: 38 to 50 percent
Redoximorphic concentrations: amount-0 to 5 percent, location-in matrix, shades- yellow and brown
Electrical Conductivity (mmhos/cm): 0.9 to 2.2
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 8 to 10
Reaction: neutral to stronglyalkaline; in some pedons the soil is calcareous.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Faddin and Labelle series. Similar soils are the Daosta and Spindletop soils.
Faddin soils: have a loamier surface
Labelle soils: are located in areas with a higher rainfall
Dacosta soils: occur in drier areas and have sandy clay loam surfaces
Spindletop soils: are not vertic , occur on mounds and have a loamier surface

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: clayey fluviomarine deposits derived from igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock
Landscape: flat coastal plains
Landform: flats
Slope: 0 to 1 percent, but areas bordering narrow natural drains range to 5 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 1,092 to 1,245 mm (43 to 49 in)
Mean annual air temperature: 20 to 22 degrees C (68 to 72 degrees F)
Frost-free period: 270 to 300
Elevation: 3 to 30.5 m (10 to 100 ft)
Thornthwaite P-E Index: 54 to 75

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Addicks, Clodine, Edna, Lake Charles, Verland series.
Addicks and Clodine soils: have coarse-loamy control sections.
Edna soils: do not have a mollic epipedon
Lake Charles soils: are vertisols and are clayey to the surface
Verland soils: do not have a mollic epipedon

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; runoff is high; very slow permeability. The soil is saturated within 0.6 m (2 ft) of the surface during the winter and early spring.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly used for growing corn, cotton, grain sorghums, and rice. A few areas are in improved pastures of bermudagrass, bahiagrass, and dallisgrass. Native vegetation is tall prairie grasses, mainly andropogons and paspalums, and a few widely spaced elm and huisache trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Prairie of Texas and Louisiana. MLRA150A. The series is extensive, the estimated area is about 500,000 acres.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fort Bend County, Texas; 1952.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:

Mollic epipedon: 0 to 79 cm (0 to 31 in)(Ap, Bt1, and Bt2 horizons).

Argillic horizon: 15 to 203 cm (6 to 80 in)(Btk horizons)

ADDITIONAL DATA: S55TX-79-91, Published in SSIR-30 and in Ft. Bend County Soil Survey Report.
Pedon horizon designations for the OSD pedon have been updated due to soil moisture data on similar sites.

Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.