LOCATION COLINAS            PR
Established Series
Rev. GRB
08/2002

COLINAS SERIES


The Colinas series consists of moderately deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on ridges and side slopes of limestone hills of the humid mountain and valley MLRA in northern Puerto Rico. They formed in material that weathered from limestone. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 75 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 80 inches. Slopes range from 12 to 60 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, carbonatic, isohyperthermic Typic Haprendolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Colinas clay loam--sugarcane. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3), grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry, clay loam; moderate fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; about 5 percent, by volume, limestone fragments 0.5 to 1.0 inch in diameter; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)

Bw1--6 to 12 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay loam with; weak medium subangular blocky breaking to weak fine subangular blocky; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; few fine light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) wormcasts; about 10 percent, by volume, limestone fragments 0.5 to 1.0 inch in diameter; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.

Bw2--12 to 16 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; common distinct tongues of dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) material; about 10 percent, by volume, limestone fragments 0.25 to 1.0 inch in diameter; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons range from 12 to 17 inches)

C--16 to 20 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) clay loam; massive; friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; dark brown (10YR 3/3) coatings along root channels; about 10 percent, by volume limestone fragments 0.25 to 1.0 inch in diameter; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 6 inches thick)

Cr--20 to 60 inches; mixture of soft yellow (10YR 7/6) and white (10YR 8/1) soft limestone with about 10 percent, by volume, hard limestone fragments and concretions 0.25 inch to 1.0 inch in diameter.

TYPE LOCATION: Culebrinas SCD, Puerto Rico. Approximately 3.5 miles east of the town of Moca, about 2,800 feet on dirt road north of kilometer marker 9.65 of Highway 111, and about 50 feet west of dirt road.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 24 inches. Reaction is moderately alkaline throughout. Depth to the soft limestone ranges from 20 to 32 inches.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3, and chromas of 2 and 3. Texture is clay loam, gravelly clay loam, or very gravelly clay loam. Content of pebbles and cobbles range from 5 to 50 percent.

The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is silty clay loam or clay loam. Content of pebbles and cobbles range from 5 to 10 percent.

The BC horizon, where present, has colors and textures similar to the Bw horizon.

The Cr horizon consist of soft limestone bedrock that is easily rippable by a spade.

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

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Colinas soils are on ridges and side slopes of low limestone hills. They formed in residuum from soft limestone. The climate is humid tropical. Slopes range from 12 to 60 percent. The average annual temperature ranges from 74 to 78 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation ranges from 77 to 83 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Camaguey, Naranjo, Santa Clara, and Sollar series. The somewhat poorly drained Camaguey soils are on lower foot slope positions and have smectitic clay subsoils. Naranjo and Soller soils are on similar positions as Colinas soils. In addition, Naranjo soils are very deep to limestone and have finer-textured subsoils. Soller soils are moderately deep to hard limestone bedrock and have clayey mixed mineralogy subsoils.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas are used for cropland and pasture. A few small areas have reverted to native and introduced perennials.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Humid uplands of the limestone hills of northern Puerto Rico. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Puerto Rico, 1942; Soil Survey of Puerto Rico.

REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Limestone outcrop miscellaneous land type.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:

Mollic epipedon - The zone from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon).

Cambic horizon: - The zone from 6 to 16 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizon).

Paralithic contact - The contact at 20 inches (Cr horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL Characterization Data Pedon No. S73PR-07-5; 74B-186 to 74B-188; sample by NSSL, Lincoln, NE.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.