LOCATION LENORAH TX

Established Series
TCB-WMR-RM
08/2013

LENORAH SERIES

The Lenorah series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in calcareous, loamy eolian deposits over sandy alluvium derived from the Tahoka Formation of Pleistocene age. These nearly level soils are on valley flats and ancestral drainageways. Slope ranges from 0 to 1 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 483 millimeters (19 inches) and mean annual temperature is about 16 degrees C (61 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, thermic Aeric Halaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Lenorah fine sandy loam, on broad, shallow basin floor, slightly concave, 0.3 percent slope in cultivated cropland at an elevation of about 923 meters (3,030 feet). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; many very fine and fine roots; common fine and medium pores; few distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in pore linings; strongly effervescent; strongly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (12 to 51 cm thick)

Bnz--20 to 56 cm (8 to 22 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; hard, firm; common fine and medium roots; common fine and medium pores; few fine masses of calcium carbonate; few fine distinct black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron manganese; strongly saline; moderately sodic; strongly effervescent; very strongly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (12 to 51 inches thick)

Bknz1--56 to 76 cm (22 to 30 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy clay loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak fine and medium subangular blocky; hard, friable; few very fine roots; common fine and medium pores; many masses and nodules of calcium carbonate, about 25 percent; strongly saline; moderately sodic; violently effervescent; very strongly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.

Bknz2--76 to 119 cm (30 to 47 inches); light gray (10YR 7/2) fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak fine and medium subangular blocky; hard, friable; few fine roots; common very fine and fine pores; many masses and nodules of calcium carbonate, about 30 percent; moderately saline; strongly sodic; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined Bknz horizons are 25 to 102 cm thick)

2Bnz--119 to 165 cm (47 to 65 inches); very pale brown (10YR 8/2) loamy fine sand, light gray (10YR 7/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; many coarse distinct yellow (10YR 7/6) and common medium distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) masses of iron accumulation on faces of peds; few fine masses of calcium carbonate; moderately saline; moderately sodic; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (12 to 51 cm thick)

2C--165 to 203 cm (65 to 80 inches); light gray (10YR 7/2) sand, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) moist; single grain; loose; few fine roots; few fine nodules of calcium carbonate; common very fine to medium fragments of snail shell; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Dawson County, Texas; from the intersection of Farm Road 2053 and Farm Road 179 about 8 miles northeast of Welch; 2 miles east on Farm Road 2053; 1.1 miles south on field road; 50 feet east into cultivated field; Latitude: 32 degrees, 57 minutes, 31 seconds N; Longitude: 101 degrees, 59 minutes, 09 seconds W; Gooch Lake, Texas USGS quad; NAD 83.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: An ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts more than 180 but less than 220 cumulative days in normal years. July through August and November through March are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through October and April through June.
Mean annual soil temperature: 15 to 18 degrees C (59 to 64 degrees F).
Depth to secondary carbonates: 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches).
Depth to calcic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches).
Depth to salts: Within 51 cm (20 inches).
Depth to endosaturation: above 100 cm (40 inches) for some time in a normal year.
Solum thickness: More than 203 cm (80 inches).
Particle-size control section: 18 to 35 percent silicate clay.

Ap horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 to 6 dry, 3 to 5 moist
Chroma: 3 or 4
Note: epipedons with moist value and chroma less than 3.5 are less than 7 inches thick or have less than 0.6 percent organic carbon.
Texture: fine sandy loam
Redoximorphic accumulations: 0 to 2 percent in the form of iron accumulation in pore linings
Visible calcium carbonate: 0 to 2 percent as threads or nodules
Effervescence: strong or violent
Reaction: moderately or strongly alkaline

Bnz horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 3 or less
Texture: fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam
Redoximorphic accumulations: 0 to 2 percent in the form of iron accumulation in pore linings
Visible calcium carbonate: 0 to 2 percent as films, threads, or nodules
EC (dS/cm): 8 to 32
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 13 to 30
Effervescence: strong or violent
Reaction: moderately to very strongly alkaline

Bknz horizons
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 8 dry, 4 to 7 moist
Chroma: 3 or less
Texture: sandy clay loam, loam, fine sandy loam
Redoximorphic accumulations: 0 to 2 percent in the form of iron accumulation in
pore linings or iron manganese masses
Visible calcium carbonate: 25 to 50 percent as filaments, films, masses, or nodules
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 15 to 40 percent
EC (dS/cm): 8 to 32
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 13 to 30
Effervescence: violent
Reaction: moderately to very strongly alkaline

2Bnz horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 8 dry, 4 to 7 moist
Chroma: 3 or less
Texture: loamy fine sand, fine sandy loam
Coarse fragments: none to common fine to very fine snail shell
Redoximorphic accumulations: 0 to 3 percent in the form of masses or coatings
Visible calcium carbonate: 0 to 2 percent as threads, films, or nodules
EC (dS/cm): 8 to 32
Sodium Adsorption Ratio: 13 to 30
Effervescence: slight or strong
Reaction: moderately or strongly alkaline

2C horizon: (where present)
Hue: 10YR to 5Y
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 5 to 7 moist
Chroma: 3 or less
Texture: sand, loamy fine sand
Coarse fragments: few to many fine and medium snail shells and none to common rounded limestone gravel
Effervescence: strong or violent
Reaction: slightly to strongly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Cobatus series. Similar soils include Arch, Cedarlake, Hindman, Midessa, and Portales series.
Cobatus series: does not have a calcic horizon.
Arch, Midessa, and Portales series: have a sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) less than 13.
Cedarlake series: has total clay content of 40 to 50 percent in the particle-size control section and has vertic properties.
Hindman series: has less than 18 percent silicate clay in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: calcareous, loamy eolian deposits over sandy alluvium derived from the Tahoka Formation of Pleistocene age.
Landform: are on valley flats and ancestral drainageways.
Slope: 0 to 1 percent.
Mean annual air temperature: 14 to 17 degrees C (57 to 63 degrees F).
Mean annual precipitation: 432 to 533 millimeters (17 to 21 inches).
Frost-free period: 185 to 220
Elevation: 792 to 1,189 meters (2,600 to 3,900 feet).
Thornthwaite annual P-E Index Values: 25 to 36.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the similar Arch, Cedarlake,
Hindman, Midessa, and Portales soils and the Arvana, Drake, Kimberson, Posey, Potter, Sharvana, and Tokio soils.
Arch, Hindman, Lenorah, and Midessa soils are on similar landscape positions.
Arvana, Kimberson, and Sharvana soils are on higher landscape positions and have a petrocalcic horizon.
Cedarlake soils are on lower landscape positions.
Drake soils are on higher landscape positions and have a sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) less than 13.
Posey soils are on higher landscape positions and have an argillic horizon.
Potter soils are on higher landscape positions and have carbonatic mineralogy.
Tokio soils are on slightly higher landscape positions and have an argillic horizon.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained and moderate permeability.
Surface runoff is negligible on less than 1 percent slopes. These soils are rarely flooded for very brief periods. An apparent water table occurs at a depth of 75 to 150 cm (30 to 60 inches) during the fall through spring months during most years.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for rangeland or wildlife but cotton and grain sorghum are grown in some areas. The natural plant community is a mixture of salt tolerant grasses and grass-like plants, forbs, and shrubs. Vegetation on most of the site is shrub dominant with saltcedar, Tamarix and Baccharis being the two most prevalent species. Occasionally there will be a few willows and cottonwoods present. In open areas and in the understory there are varying
amounts of alkali sacaton, Texas dropseed, creeping muhly, jointtail, sedge and rushes, inland saltgrass and occasionally some western wheatgrass. Forbs include portulaca sp., kochia, smartweed, dock and annual forbs. In extreme saline areas vegetation is sparse. This soil has been correlated to the Wet Saline (R077CY689TX) ecological site in MLRA-77C.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern High Plains of western Texas and eastern New Mexico (sub-MLRA-77C). The series is of minor extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: MLRA-77 Soil Survey; Terry County, Texas; 1996.

REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Arch and Portales series.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon: 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches). (Ap horizon)
Cambic horizon: 20 to 56 cm (8 to 22 inches). (Bnz horizon)
Calcic horizon: 56 to 119 cm (22 to 47 inches). (Bknz horizons)
Aeric features: chroma of 3 or more, 0 to 76 cm (0 to 30 inches). (A, Bnz, Bknz1 horizons)
Aquic feature: a water table at a depth of 76 to 152 cm (30 to 60 inches) during the fall through spring months during most years and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of 13 or more within 51 cm (20 inches).
The assignment of the cation-exchange activity class is supported by laboratory data from Terry County, Texas.

The assignment of the cation-exchange activity class is supported by laboratory data from Terry County, Texas.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Soil Characterization Laboratory, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas; S95TX-445-001; NSSL - S95TX-445-145 (Terry County, Texas)

Soil Interpretations record: TX1324

Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Eleventh Edition, 2010.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.