LOCATION CATTO                   TX

Established Series
Rev. RAC/JLR/ACT
10/2012

CATTO SERIES

The Catto series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained, moderate over moderately slowly permeable bedrock. The soils formed from chert bedrock. They are on strongly sloping to steep hills and ridges. Slopes range from 5 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 13 inches and the mean annual air temperature is about 65 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, nonacid, thermic Lithic Ustic Torriorthents

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

A--0 to 7 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) very gravelly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium granular and subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots; 50 percent angular chert gravel; slightly alkaline; abrupt irregular boundary (4 to 20 inches thick).

R--7 inches; fractured chert bedrock with angular fragments; small amount of A horizon in seams in upper 4 inches.

TYPE LOCATION: Brewster County, Texas; from the junction of U. S. Highways 90 and 385; 15.1 miles south on U. S. Highway 385 to ranch road; 0.5 miles east on ranch road to ranch headquarters; 1.3 miles east on ranch road to corrals; 0.8 miles east along south side of mountain on ranch road; 530 feet north of road in range. Heart Mountain, Texas USGS topographic quadrangle; Latitude: 29 degrees, 59 minutes, 47 seconds North; Longitude: 103 degrees, 13 minutes, 59 seconds West NAD83; UTM coordinates: 670518 m E, 3319849 m N, Zone 13.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:

Soil moisture - Intermittently moist in the soil moisture control section during July-September. The soil is moist for less than 90 cumulative days during the growing season in the control section. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.

Depth to lithic contact: 4 to 20 inches

A horizon
Hue: 5YR, 7.5YR, 10YR
Value: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Chroma: 2 or 3, dry or moist
Texture: loam, clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 35 percent
Rock fragments: 35 to 65 percent angular chert fragments: 5 to 50 percent cobbles; 0 to 15 percent stones
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

R horizon
Indurated chert bedrock of the Maravillas (black) and Caballos (white) formations
In some pedons, the chert bedrock is interlayered with shale.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Catto soils are on chert hills and ridges along the tilted uplift of the Oauchita Formation in the Trans-Pecos of Texas. Slopes are dominantly 12 to 30 percent but range from 5 to 60 percent. Rock outcrops are common along ridges. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 15 inches, with most occurring in the summer months. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 61 to 68 degrees F. Frost free period ranges from 210 to 250 days and elevation ranges from 3,500 to 5,000 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bullis, Buckear, Coyanosa, Sanderson, Stovall, and Upton series. Bullis soils have sola greater than 60 inches, and have clayey particle size control sections. Bullis soils are on lower footslope positions. Buckear soils are on similar positions in the landscape. Coyanosa soils are on adjacent sandstone mountains and hills. Sanderson soils are very deep and contain more than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. Sanderson soils are in valleys and on foot slopes. Stovall soils are very deep soils, and do not contain rock fragments. Stovall soils are in adjacent valleys and broad flats. Upton soils are shallow over a petrocalcic horizon and are on adjacent hills and ridges.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate over moderately slowly permeable bedrock. Runoff is medium on 5 to 20 percent slopes, and high on slopes greater than 20 percent.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Typical vegetation is blue grama, sideoats grama, threeawns, tanglehead, silver bluestem, skeletonleaf goldeneye, ephedra, catclaw, and sotol.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Texas. MLRA 42. The series is of minor extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Brewster County, Texas, 1996

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 7 inches (A horizon)

Lithic contact: The boundary at 7 inches

Ustic feature - Soil has an aridic moisture regime that borders on an ustic regime

Classified according to Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999; Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010

Active cation exchange activity class is assigned to separate this soil from the Reduff series. This is based on a difference in production capacity. 2/8/08, CEM.

Updates and revisions for recorrelation Brewster County, TX, Main Part, 2/8/08, CEM.

Revised for the correlation of Presidio County, Texas ; Oct, 2012, WWJ

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data from Texas A&M University is available for a pedon S90TX-043-007 for Brewster County, Texas.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.