LOCATION HONEYCREEK TX

Established Series
Rev. WCC-GLL-ALB
04/2011

HONEYCREEK SERIES

The Honeycreek series consists of deep to schist bedrock, well drained soils that formed in slope alluvium derived from schist and or gneiss of pre-Cambrian age. These gently sloping soils are on undulating plains on dissected plateaus. Slopes are 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 19 degrees C (67 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 686 mm (27 in).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Haplustalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Honeycreek fine sandy loam, in rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted)

A1--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 in); strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) fine sandy loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) moist; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable; common fine and few medium roots; many very fine and fine pores; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.

A2--23 to 43 cm (9 to 17 in); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; few fine and medium roots; common fine and very fine and few coarse pores; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 15 to 73 cm [6 to 29 in])

Bt1--43 to 64 cm (17 to 25 in); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm; few fine roots; few fine and medium pores; 5 percent clay bridging sand grains and 5 percent clay films in pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--64 to 94 cm (25 to 37 in); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) sandy clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm; common very fine and fine roots; 10 percent clay films on faces of peds; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt3--94 to 127 cm (37 to 50 in); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly sandy clay loam, dark brown (7.5 YR4/4) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; few very fine roots; common very fine and fine pores; 5 percent clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent, 2 to 50 mm, quartz gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 30 to 102 cm [12 to 40 in])

BCt--127 to 142 cm (50 to 56 in); reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) gravelly fine sandy loam, strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; few very fine and fine pores; 5 percent clay films; about 20 percent, 2 to 50 mm, quartz gravel; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (Thickness of the BCt horizon is 10 to 38 cm [4 to 15 in])

Cr--142 to 168 cm (56 to 66 in); weakly cemented weathered schist bedrock; weak coarse platy structure that is tilted about 30 degrees from horizontal.

TYPE LOCATION: Llano County, Texas; from the intersection of Texas Highway 71 and Texas Highway 16 in Llano, 11.5 miles southeast on Texas Highway 71, 6.0 miles southwest on County Road 308, and 150 feet southwest of intersection of County Road 308 and County Road 315 in rangeland. (Click USGS topographic quadrangle; Latitude: 30 degrees, 34 minutes, 22.44 seconds N; Longitude: 98 degrees, 34 minutes, 23.5 seconds W; NAD83)

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to paralithic contact: 100 to 150 cm (40 to 60 in)
Solum thickness: 50 to 100 cm (20 to 40 in)
Reaction: Slightly acid or neutral throughout

Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content: 18 to 25 percent
Rock fragments: amount-0 to 35 percent by volume, kind-quartz, size-gravel

A horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 2 to 6, dry and moist
Texture: Sandy loam or fine sandy loam
Clay content: 6 to 16 percent
Other features: In pedons where moist value and chroma are 3 or less, the epipedon is not thick enough for a mollic epipedon.

Bt horizon
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry and moist
Mottles: amount-0 to 10 percent, size-fine to coarse, contrast-distinct to prominent, shades-red, yellow, or brown, location-on faces of peds, boundary-clear to diffuse
Texture: Sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam and gravelly phases
Clay content: 15 to 30 percent

BCt horizon (where present)
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 6, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 to 6, dry and moist
Texture: Sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam, and gravelly phases

Cr layer
Color: Shades of yellow to brown
Kind: Schist, schistose-gneiss or gneiss
Cementation: Weakly cemented to moderately cemented
Vertical fractures: Greater than 10 cm (4 in) apart horizontally
Bed tilt from horizontal: 10 to 45 degrees

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cobb (TX), Lou (TX),, Mcknight (OK), Menard (TX),, and Rochelle (TX) series in the same family. Similar soils include the Castell (TX), Katemcy (TX), Lou (TX), and the Ligon (TX) series.
Castell, Cobb, Katemcy, and Ligon soils: are moderately deep over bedrock.
Castell, Katemcy, and Ligon soils: have greater than 35 percent clay in the control section.
Mcknight soils: have calcium carbonate masses in the argillic horizon and contrasting materials at a depth of 50 to 100 cm (20 to 40 in).
Menard soils: have identifiable secondary calcium carbonates within 150 cm (60 in) and are more than 200 cm (80 in) to bedrock.
Rochelle soils: are underlain with beds of sand and gravel within a depth of 100 cm (40 in).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Slope alluvium derived from schist and/or gneiss
Landscape: Undulating plains
Landform: Footslopes of ridges and hills
Slopes: 0 to 5 percent
Climate: Dry subhumid
Soil moisture: A typic ustic moisture regime
Precipitation Pattern: The majority of the yearly amount occurs during the fall and spring months. The winter and summer months are normally drier.
Mean annual air temperature: 18 to 20 degrees C (65 to 68 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 635 to 762 mm (25 to 30 in)
Frost-free periods: 210 to 240 days
Elevation: 305 to 610 m (1,000 to 2,000 ft)
Thornthwaite P-E indices: 38 to 44

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Castell, Katemcy, and Ligon soils. Also associated are the Fieldcreek and Keese soils.
Castell and Katemcy soils: are on slightly higher similar positions.
Fieldcreek soils: have a mollic epipedon greater than 50 cm (20 in) thick and are on flood plains.
Keese soils: are less than 50 cm (20 in) to granite bedrock and occur on shoulders, backslopes and summits of ridges and hills.
Ligon soils: occur on shoulders, backslopes and summits of ridges and hills.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate. Runoff is low on slopes less than 1 percent and medium on 1 to 5 percent slopes.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used for improved pastureland and rangeland. The native vegetation includes little bluestem, Indiangrass, hooded windmill grass, vine mesquite, threeawn, sideoats grama, plains lovegrass, and pinhole bluestem with a few live oak, mesquite and Texas persimmon trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Texas; Southwest Plateaus and Plains Range and Cotton Region, LRR-I; MLRA 82A-Central Basin of Texas. This series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Llano County, Texas, 1990.

REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric Epipedon: 0 to 43 cm (0 to 17 in) (A1 and A2 horizons)
Argillic Horizon: 43 to 127 cm (17 to 50 in) (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons)
Paralithic contact; 142 cm (56 in), (top of Cr layer)

ADDITIONAL DATA: None

TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 11th Edition, 2010.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.