LOCATION CATALINA PREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, ferruginous, isohyperthermic Typic Hapludox
TYPICAL PEDON: Catalina clay--native pasture (Colors are for the moist soil).
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay; weak fine granular structure; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; many sand-size aggregates; few fine pieces of charcoal; few fine distinct reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) pockets of Bo material; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary (2 to 8 inches thick).
Bo1--6 to 13 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; common very fine pores; many soft black (10YR 2/1) sand-size aggregates; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bo2--13 to 20 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; moderate to weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; firm; slightly sticky, plastic; common fine roots; common very fine pores; few sand-size aggregates; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bo3--20 to 34 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; weak fine subangular blocky structure; firm; slightly sticky, plastic; very few fine roots; few fine pores; few fine sand-size aggregates; few faint pressure faces; few faint clay films on ped faces; few reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) stains on ped surfaces; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bo4--34 to 46 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; weak fine angular blocky structure; firm; slightly sticky, plastic; few fine roots; very few sand-size aggregates; few fine pores; common faint pressure faces; few faint clay films on ped faces; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bo5--46 to 60 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; weak fine angular blocky structure; firm; nonsticky, plastic; very few fine roots; very few sand-size aggregates; very fine pores; common faint pressure faces; few faint clay films on ped faces; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary (Combined thickness of the Bo horizons range from 46 to 72 inches).
C1--60 to 72 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; weak fine angular blocky structure; firm; nonsticky, plastic; many fine pores; common faint pressure faces; very few sand-size quartz grains; about 5 percent, by volume, saprolite; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
C2--72 to 84 inches; 50 percent dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) and 50 percent dark red (2.5YR 3/6) clay; massive; firm; nonsticky, plastic; about 30 percent, by volume, saprolite; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
C3--84 to 120+ inches; 25 percent dusky red (10R 3/4), 25 percent dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4), 25 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), 15 percent dark gray (10YR 4/1), and 10 percent white (10YR 8/1) variegated saprolite having a clay texture; massive; firm; nonsticky, plastic, very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Torrecillas SCD, Puerto Rico; Barranquitas Soil Study Area, approximately 45 feet east of field road and about 470 feet south of house at Kilometer Marker 8.8 of P.R. Highway 152. Latitude 18 degrees, 14 minutes, 21 seconds north; longitude 66 degrees, 17 minutes, 2 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 50 to 80 inches. The organic matter content is less than 20 kilograms in a volume 1 meter square to a depth of 1 meter. No subhorizon below 7 inches is dry for as long as 60 consecutives days during the year. Cation retention ranges from 1 to 10 meq/100 grams of clay. CEC is 16 meq/100 grams of clay or less (ammonium acetate). Base saturation (ammonium acetate) is less than 35 percent in any subhorizon of the oxic. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 and 4. Texture is clay.
The Bo horizon has hue of 10R or 2.5YR, value of 3 and 4, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is clay.
The upper part of the C horizon has hue of 2.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 to 5; or there is no dominant color and is multicolored in shades of red and brown. Content of saprolite ranges from 5 to 50 percent, by volume. Texture is clay.
The lower part of the C horizon is composed of saprolite and has no dominant color. The saprolite is multicolored in shades of red, brown, yellow, gray, and white. Texture is clay.
COMPETING SERIES: The Lawai series is the only known series in the same family. The moderately well drained Lawai soils are on alluvial fans in Hawaii.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Catalina soils are on side slopes and hill tops of uplands. Slopes range from 5 to 40 percent. They formed in regolith consisting of fine-textured residuum that is derived from very highly weathered volcanic rocks. The climate is humid tropical. The mean average annual precipitation ranges from 80 to 100 inches and the average annual temperature ranges from 73 to 77 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Consumo, Daguey, Humatas, and Mucara series. All of these soils are on similar positions as Catalina soils. Consumo soils are moderately deep to saprolite, have less clay in the control section, and are not as weathered. Daguey soils have less clay in the subsoil and have kaolinitic mineralogy. Humatas soils are Ultisols, are less weathered, and have parasesquic mineralogy. Mucara soils are moderately deep over igneous rock and have less clay in the subsoils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Catalina soils are cultivated to subsistence crops. Plantains, bananas, yams, tanniers, and sugarcane are the primary crops grown. Some areas are planted to adapted grasses and used as pasture. The vegetation includes native and introduced grasses, shrubs, and trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Humid central mountainous areas of Puerto Rico. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Puerto Rico, 1936.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon).
Oxic horizon - the zone from 6 to 60 inches (Bo1, Bo2, Bo3, Bo4 and Bo5 horizons).
The 11/67 revision greatly narrowed the range of Catalina series. Comerio, Daguey, Humatas, and Consumo soils were included in the Catalina series as mapped in the soil survey published in 1936.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil characterization pedon 59PR019-008. Pedon number 40A0166. Soil characterization data by NSSL, Lincoln, NE.