LOCATION LIHUE HIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, ferruginous, isohyperthermic Rhodic Eutrustox
TYPICAL PEDON: Lihue silty clay - sugarcane (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. All texture are apparent field textures.)
Ap1--0 to 6 inches; dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) silty clay, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) dry; cloddy, parting to weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, firm, sticky and plastic; many roots; common very fine and fine pores; many black concretions; strong effervescence with hydrogen peroxide; strongly acid (pH 5.5); abrupt smooth boundary (4 to 8 inches thick)
Ap2--6 to 12 inches; dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) silty clay, yellowish red (5YR 4/6) dry; massive very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many roots; many very fine and fine pores; many very fine black concretions; strong effervescence with hydrogen peroxide; strongly acid (pH 5.5); abrupt smooth boundary (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bo1--12 to 21 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) silty clay, red (2.5YR 4/6) dry; moderate medium, fine, and very fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many roots; many very fine and fine pores; many fine black concretions; moderate effervescence with hydrogen peroxide; nearly continuous glaze on surface of peds that look like clay films slightly acid (pH 6.3); clear broken boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
Bo2--21 to 27 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) silty clay, red (2.5YR 4/6) dry; strong very fine subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable, sticky and plastic; many roots; many very fine and fine pores; nearly continuous glaze on peds; common black concretions; weak effervescence with hydrogen peroxide; few fine black manganese dioxide staining on peds; neutral (pH 6.6); clear smooth boundary (5 to 8 inches thick)
Bo3--27 to 48 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) silty clay, red (2.5YR 4/6) dry; strong very fine subangular and angular blocky structure; hard, firm sticky and plastic; few roots; many very fine and fine pores continuous glaze on faces of peds that looks very much like thick clay films; glaze has superimposed on it 10YR 3/6 material which appears like pseudo sand under magnification; large black coatings on primary structural units; neutral (pH 6.6); gradual smooth boundary. (15 to 30 inches thick)
Bo4--48 to 60 inches; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) silty clay, red (2.5YR 4/6) dry; strong very fine subangular and angular blocky structure; hard, firm, slightly sticky and plastic; many very fine and fine pores; thin patchy coatings that look like clay films; many distinct pressure cutans; ped surfaces have superimposed on them stringy 10YR 3/6 pseudo sand or frost-like coatings; this is more prevalent than in horizon above; neutral (pH 6.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Island of Kauai, Kauai County Hawaii; Lihue Quad; about half mile northeast of Lihue town at a point 568 feet north and 2,100 feet east of the junction of Highway 56 and Highway 57. The pit is 256 feet north of the highway which leads to the airport; lat. 21 degrees 59 minutes 6.7 seconds N. and long. 159 degrees 21 minutes 50 seconds W. (Old Hawaiian Datum).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The A horizon has hue of 10R through 5YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 2 or 3. The B horizon has hue of 10R or 2.5YR, and chroma of 4 through 6.
COMPETING SERIES: (This needs updating.) These are the Koloa, Makaweli, and Wahiawa series. Koloa soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Makaweli soils have weak structural grade in the B horizon. Wahiawa soils have a mollic epipedon and effervesce with hydrogen peroxide throughout the profile.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lihue soils are on uplands and have slope gradients ranging from 0 to 40 percent. The dominant slope ranges from 3 to 15 percent. Elevation ranges from near sea level to 800 feet. The soils formed in material weathered from basic igneous rock and influenced by tropospheric dust. The median annual rainfall is 40 to 60 inches. The mean annual temperature is about 73 degrees F. Average January temperature is 72 degrees F. and the median July temperature is 78 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ioleau and Puhi soils. Ioleau soils have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR in the A horizon and are very strongly acid or extremely acid in the B horizon. Puhi soils have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR in the A horizon and have less than 35 percent base saturation (NH40Ac) in the B horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to rapid runoff depending on slope; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is used for production of sugarcane. Other uses are for production of pineapple, pasture, truck crops and orchard, with the remainder in brush. Vegetation on noncultivated areas is lantana (Lantana camera), guava (Psidium guajava), koa-haole (Leucaena glauca), joee (Stachytarpheta cayannensis), kikuyugrass (Pennisetum clandestinum), molassesgrass (melinis minutiflora), guineagrass (Panicum maximum), bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), java plum (Eugenia cumini), and associated plants.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Island of Kauai, Hawaii. The soil is moderately extensive, comprising about 15,500 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kauai County, Hawaii, 1971.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - from soil surface to 12 inches (Apl and Ap2 horizons).
Oxic horizon - from a depth of 27 to 60 inches (Bo3 and Bo4 horizons; Bo1 and Bo2 have too much mica for oxic horizon).
FCC Classification: Cdik and Cdi-k.
Edit Log: 3/04 SN. Horizon designations and type location updated; added tropospheric dust to parent material; and added diagnostic horizons in remarks.
8/00 SN. Classification changed from Clayey, kaolinitic, isohyperthermic Tropeptic Eutrustox due to changes in Taxonomy.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Lihue NSSL sample S62HI-007-007 (modal, formerly S62Ha-2-7); and S62HI-007-008 (formerly S62Ha-2-8).