LOCATION FELIPE TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Ustic Haplocambids
TYPICAL PEDON: Felipe very gravelly clay--rangeland.
(Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 5 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) very gravelly clay, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; weak medium granular and fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, few fine roots; few medium fossil shells; about 45 percent by volume of 1/4 to 2
inch in diameter angular limestone fragments; few thin flat limestone, ironstone and siltstone fragments; about 70 percent of surface covered with scattered fossil shells, iron nodules,
gravel, and a few cobbles, stones, and boulders of limestone, siltstone, sandy limestone and ironstone; calcareous; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
B2--5 to 18 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) clay, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) moist; weak fine angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm; few fine roots; few fine gypsum crystals; calcareous; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (8 to
18 inches thick)
Cr--18 to 72 inches; olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) shaly silty
clay, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) moist; few fine faint brownish yellow mottles; coarse platy and blocky rock structure; extremely hard, extremely firm; few fine and medium gypsum crystals; few
fine FeMn concretions; calcareous; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Val Verde County, Texas; 14 miles west of Del Rio
on U. S. Highway 90 from its intersection with U. S. Highway 277;
6 miles southwest on private road; 700 feet to hill north of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness to shale or shaly clay
is 10 to 20 inches. The soil is grayish brown (10YR 5/2; 2.5Y
5/2), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2; 2.5Y 6/2), pale brown (10YR 6/3), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4; 2.5Y 6/4), yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4), or pale olive (5Y 6/3, 6/4).
The A horizon is gravelly clay loam, gravelly sandy clay loam, gravelly silty clay loam, gravelly clay, gravelly silty clay or
their very gravelly counterparts. It contains 20 to 70 percent by volume of angular fragments of limestone, siltstone, ironstone, fossil shells, and iron nodules that are mainly 1/4 to 3 inches in diameter. The surface is covered with 30 to 80 percent scattered limestone, siltstone, and ironstone pebbles, cobbles, stones, and boulders, fossil shells, and iron nodules.
The B horizon is clay loam, silty clay, or clay with clay content
of 40 to 60 percent. Carbonate clay comprises 2 to about 10
percent. Coarse fragments comprise 0 to about 10 percent.
The Cr horizon is clayey shale, shaly clay, or shaly silty clay. Some pedons contain interbedded layers of limy marl and thin calcareous weakly cemented shaly flagstones. Some of these
fragments do not slake in water. Colors are mainly shades of
olive and yellow but some pedons contain red and gray colors. Salinity ranges from about 1 to 4 mmhos/cm in the saturation
extract.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no series in the same family.
Similar series include the
Glenrio,
Maverick, and
Owens series. Glenrio soils have sola with hues of 2.5YR and 5YR and have mean annual soil temperature of less than about 65 degrees F.
Maverick soils are underlain with shales at 20 to 40 inches and
have average annual soil temperatures of more than 72 degrees F. Owens soils are moist in the moisture control section for longer periods.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Felipe soils are on the steep sides and lower footslopes of hills. Slopes are mainly 8 to 40 percent but range from 1 to 45 percent. The soils formed from shaly sediments like those of the Grayson formation of Cretaceous age. The climate is semiarid. Average annual rainfall ranges from 12 to 20 inches, Thornthwaite P-E indices from 16 to 32, and mean annual soil temperatures from 65 degrees to 70 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Ector and
Reagan series. Ector soils have less slope gradient. Reagan soils occur
in valleys or outwash plains at lower elevations. Ector soils are underlain with limestone bedrock at depths of 10 to 20 inches. Reagan soils are deep silty clay loam.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for rangeland. Native vegetation is
short and midgrasses, mainly gramas, tridens, and threeawns.
Shrubs are agarito, cactus, blackbrush, and guajillo.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in southwest Texas. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Vel Verde, Texas; 1979.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly called Badlands.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Texas A & M University Samples Nos. S77TEX-465-2-1, 2, & 3.
C Total C Inorganic C calcium carbonate eq Organic C
0- 5@ 5.65 4.08 34.1 1.57
5-18@ 4.77 4.10 34.2 0.67
18-72@ 5.23 4.79 39.9 0.44