LOCATION IJAM                    TX

Established Series
CLN-SEB-KBH-AKS
08/2025

IJAM SERIES

Depth class: Very deep
Drainage class: Poorly drained
Flooding frequency and duration: Rarely, brief
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: Low
Shrink-swell potential: High
Parent material: Clayey dredge spoils
Slope: 0 to 3 percent
Mean annual air temperature: 21 degrees C (70 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 1443 millimeters (56 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, dredgic, smectitic, nonacid, hyperthermic Sodic Endoaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Ijam clay on a gently sloping dredge spoil at an elevation of 1 meter. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

^Ag--0 to 20 centimeters; dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay; massive; very hard, very firm, very sticky, very plastic; many fine roots; fragments; strong effervescence (HCl); moderately alkaline (pH 8.0); diffuse smooth boundary. (Ag horizon is 5 to 25 centimeters thick.)

^Cg--20 to 200centimeters; dark gray (5Y 4/1) stratified clay; few thin discontinuous strata or lens of sandy clay loam or fine sandy loam; massive; very hard, very firm, very sticky, very plastic; few very fine roots; 1 percent medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) iron-manganese concretions and 15 percent medium distinct dark brown (10YR 3/3) masses of oxidized iron; 1 percent medium carbonate concretions; 5 percent fine shell fragments; strong effervescence (HCl); moderately alkaline (pH 8.0).

TYPE LOCATION: Chambers County, Texas; From the Anuahuac Boat Ramp, approximately 1.3 kilometers (0.8) miles south-southwest on Detwiler Rd and approximately 10 meters (31 feet) to the west on dredge spoil; USGS quadrangle: Oak Island, Texas

Latitude: 29.7436556
Longitude: -94.6947778
Datum: WGS84
Coordinate Source: From hand-held GPS

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 200 centimeters
Moisture regime: Aquic
Human-transported material: 0 to 200 centimeters
Reaction throughout: Neutral to strongly alkaline (pH 6.6 to 9.0)
Particle-size control section (weighted average):
Clay content-37 to 55 percent

^A Horizon:
Hue-10YR to 5Y
Value-4 to 7
Chroma-0 to 3
Texture-loam, clay loam, or clay
Electrical conductivity (dS/m)-2 to 16
Sodium adsorption ratio-5 to 30

^C Horizon (where present):
Hue-10YR to 5Y
Value-4 to 7
Chroma-0 to 6
Texture-clay loam or clay
Electrical conductivity (dS/m)-0.5 to 16
Sodium adsorption ratio-8 to 30

^Cg Horizon:
Hue-2.5Y to 5B
Value-4 to 7
Chroma-0 to 2
Texture-loam, clay loam, or clay
Electrical conductivity (dS/m)- 3 to 16
Sodium adsorption ratio-10 to 30

COMPETING SERIES: There are no series in the same family. Similar soils are the Grassypoint and Tracosa series.
Grassypoint soils: do not have dredgic, human-transported materials and have reddish subsoils.
Tracosa soils: do not have dredgic, human-transported materials and have yellowish subsoils.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Clayey dredge spoils
Landscape: Barrier islands and coastal plains
Anthropogenic feature: Dredge spoils
Slope: 0 to 3 percent
Mean annual precipitation: 812 to 1575 millimeters (32 to 62 inches)
Mean annual air temperature: 20 to 23 degrees C (68 to 73 degrees F)
Frost-free period: 300 to 365 days
Elevation: 0 to 3 meters (0 to 10 feet)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the Basford, Harris, Hoeckers, Neel, and Sievers series.
Basford soils: are on subaqueous landscapes, have subaqueous drainage, and are formed in coarse-loamy soils from dredge deposits.
Harris soils: occur on lower coastal marshlands, not on anthropogenic landforms, and do not have dredgic human-altered and human-transported materials.
Hoeckers soils: are on subaqueous landscapes, have subaqueous drainage, and have high shell fragment volumes.
Neel soils: have better drainage throughout and are on slightly higher landscape positions.
Siever soils: are slightly coarser textured throughout and occur on slightly higher positions on the landscape.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class: Poorly drained
Saturated hydraulic conductivity: Low
Flooding frequency and duration: Rarely, brief
Seasonal water table: 0 to 58 centimeters
Surface runoff: Very high

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major use: Rangeland and wildlife habitat
Vegetation: Salt tolerant species such as gulf cordgrass and common reedgrass

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General Area: On barrier islands and mainland marshes near bays along the central coast of Texas
Land Resource Region: T-Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region
MLRA(s): 150B-Gulf Coast Saline Prairies and 151-Gulf Coast Marsh
Extent: Moderate

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Special Projects Office

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chambers County, Texas, 1969

REMARKS:
Ijam soils were formerly unclassified and mapped as Made land.

Typical pedon taxonomic features:
Anthropic epipedon: 0 to 20 centimeters (^A horizon)
Aquic conditions: 0 to 200 centimeters
Human-transported materials: 0 to 200 centimeters
Particle-size control section: 25 to 100 centimeters (^Cg horizons)
Stratification from dredging operations
Taxonomic version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 13th edition (2022)

ADDITIONAL DATA:
OSD User Pedon ID: S2010TX0715011
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.