LOCATION FABENS TXTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey over loamy, smectitic, calcareous, thermic Typic Torrifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Fabens loam--cropland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 48 centimeters (0.0 to 18.9 inches); brown (7.5YR 5/3) crushed clay, brown (7.5YR 4/3)crushed, moist; 29 percent sand; 29 percent silt; 42 percent clay; strong coarse cloddy structure; noncemented, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; high excavation difficulty; electrical conductivity of 1.3 mmhos/cm by ECe meter, 1:1 water; violent effervescence, by HCl, 1 normal; moderately alkaline, pH 8.2, pH meter 1:1 water; gradual smooth boundary. Lab sample # D7372. (15 to 20 inches thick)
C--48 to 203 centimeters (18.9 to 79.9 inches); light brown (7.5YR 6/3) crushed stratified very fine sandy loam, brown (7.5YR 4/3) crushed, moist; 61 percent sand; 30 percent silt; 9 percent clay; massive; noncemented, nonsticky, nonplastic; moderate excavation difficulty; electrical conductivity of 1.0 mmhos/cm by ECe meter, 1:1 water; strong effervescence, by HCl, 1 normal; moderately alkaline, pH 8.2, pH meter 1:1 water; common thin (.5 to 2 inch thick) pink (7.5YR 7/3) crushed strata of fine sandy loam and loamy very fine sand, brown (7.5YR 5/3) crushed, moist. Lab sample # D7373.
TYPE LOCATION: El Paso County, Texas; from the junction of Interstate 10 and Highway 793 at the Fabens exit, 2.0 miles southwest on Highway 793; 0.6 miles north on Highway 20; .33 miles north on Highway 258 to irrigation ditch; 0.11 miles south along ditch; 717 feet west in field. Clint USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle. Latitude 31 degrees 30 minutes 39.19 seconds north and longitude 106 degrees 10 minutes 17.37 seconds west. UTM zone 13, 388757E, 3486632N; NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: Typic aridic soil moisture regime. The moisture control section is usually dry in all parts more than three-fourths of the time that the soil temperature exceeds 41 degrees F.
Mean annual soil temperature: 63 to 67 degrees F.
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Contains contrasting textures:
Upper part:
Clay content: 40 to 59 percent
Sand content: 10 to 35 percent
Lower part:
Clay content: 8 to 17 percent
Ap horizon:
Value: 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Clay content: 40 to 59 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to less than 1 percent
C horizon:
Value: 6 or 7 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 4, dry or moist
Texture: very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam
Clay content: 8 to 17 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to less than 1 percent
Stratification: Usually .5 to 3 inches thick consisting of finer or coarser material. Some strata may range to 8 inches thick.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: clayey smectitic alluvium over loamy mixed alluvium deposited by water
Landform: flood plain, protected by large dams
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean annual air temperature: 62 to 66 degrees F.
Mean annual precipitation: 8 to 10 inches
Precipitation pattern: precipitation falls mostly during the months of July through September. The driest months are March and April. Precipitation during the months of January, February, and March is less than 13 percent of the total.
Frost-free period: 200 to 240 days
Elevation: 3,600 to 3,800 feet
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Alcazar,
Isla,
Lantana,
Riverway,
Tigua, and
Ysleta soils.
Alcazar soils are coarse-silty over sandy or sandy-skeletal and are on similar positions.
Isla soils are fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal and are on similar positions.
Lantana soils coarse-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal and are on similar positions.
Riverway soils are fine-loamy and are on similar positions.
Tigua soils are very-fine and are on similar positions.
Ysleta soils are sandy and are on similar positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is slow in the solum and moderate in the substratum. Runoff is medium.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for irrigated crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Rio Grande Valley of Texas and southern New Mexico; LRR D, MLRA 42; small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES PROPOSED: El Paso County, Texas; 2004.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Particle-size control section: The zone from 10 to 40 inches. (Ap and C horizons)
Ochric epipedon: The zone from 0 to 7 inches. (Ap and C horizons, mixed)
Entisol feature - The absence of diagnostic subsurface horizons
ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil characterization data is available on this series, sample Number S03TX141-009.