LOCATION CATANO PREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Carbonatic, isohyperthermic Typic Udipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Catano sand--coconut grove (Colors are for moist soil).
A--0 to 4 inches; 50 percent light gray (10YR 7/2) and 50 percent very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sand that is composed of shell fragments and subrounded grains of quartz and miscellaneous volcanic rock fragments with organic matter coatings; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) rubbed; single grain; loose; many fine roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
AC--4 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sand; single grain; loose; common fine roots; many distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) shell fragments and very dark brown (10YR 2/2) miscellaneous volcanic fragments; moderately alkaline; strongly effervescent; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
C1--10 to 50 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sand; singly grain; loose; few fine roots; light gray (10YR 7/2) shell fragments and very dark brown (10YR 2/2) miscellaneous subrounded volcanic; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (30 to 60 inches thick)
C2--50 to 80 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sand; single grain; loose; very few fine roots; moderately alkaline; strongly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Cabo Rojo Municipality, Puerto Rico; approximately 2.3 miles northwest from the intersection of P.R. Hwy. 114 and P.R. Hwy. 311, about 250 feet southeast from P.R. Hwy. 102 in an abandoned coconut plantation. Latitude 18 degr4ees 08 minutes 36 seconds N.; longitude 67 degrees 10 minutes 45 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the sand is more than 6.0 feet. Content of silt plus clay ranges from 5 to 10 percent in the control section. The sand consists of shell fragments, quartz grains, and volcanic subrounded fragments. Effervescence with dilute HCL varies from slight to violent. Reaction ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in the Ap horizon and moderately alkaline in the AC and C horizons.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is coarse sand or sand.
The AC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 3. Generally, it is a mix of the A and C horizons. Texture is coarse sand or sand.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is coarse sand or sand.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no known series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Catano soils are in beach areas along the coast. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. They formed in regolith of beach sand deposits consisting of sand-size shell fragments, quartz grains, and miscellaneous volcanic subrounded fragments. The climate is humid tropical. The average annual precipitation ranges from 72 to 72 inches and the average annual temperature ranges from 76 to 80 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aguadilla, Corcega, Coloso, and Espinal series. Aguadilla and Espinal soils are on similar positions and have mixed mineralogy. In addition, Aguadilla soils are acid. The somewhat poorly drained Corcega and Coloso soils are farther inland along river floodplains and terraces, have more clay in the control sections, and have cambic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Catano soils are planted to coconuts with an undergrowth of pasture. A few small areas are in subsistence crops. The vegetation consists of native and introduced species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Humid coastal plains of Puerto Rico. The series is of moderate extent along the coast.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Puerto Rico, 1942; Soil Survey of Puerto Rico.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 10 inches (A and AC horizons).