LOCATION LUEDERS TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Lithic Calciustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Lueders gravelly clay loam--native rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) gravelly clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; strong fine subangular blocky structure parting to strong granular; hard, friable, sticky; common fine roots; many fine pores; 20 percent limestone fragments mostly less than 3 inches across the long axis; 30 percent calcium carbonate; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear irregular boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bk--5 to 13 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) extremely cobbly clay loam, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist; strong fine subangular blocky structure parting to strong granular; hard, friable; common very fine roots; many very fine pores; about 65 percent limestone fragments mostly less than 6 inches across the long axis; fragments coated with carbonates, pendants of calcium carbonate on lower sides; about 55 percent calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
R--13 to 48 inches; fractured layered limestone; fractures are 6 inches to 2 feet apart; layers are 4 inches to 18 inches thick; thin seams and bands of brown silty clay loam in fractures and between upper limestone layers; thin bands of bluish or olive gray shaly clay in horizontal fractures and between lower limestone layers; coatings of secondary carbonates on upper surface; some fractures in upper layers are plugged or partially plugged with carbonates.
TYPE LOCATION: Baylor County, Texas; 50 feet east of county road, at a point 3.75 miles south of junction of Farm Road 1152 and 2395. This site is 12 miles south-southwest of Seymour, Texas.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 7 to 20 inches and commonly is the same as the depth to bedrock. The control section contains from 35 to 80 percent limestone fragments that are less than 10 inches across the long axis.
The A and Bk horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma is 2 or 3. The fine-earth fraction is silty clay loam, loam, or clay loam with a clay content of 20 to 35 percent. The whole soil contains more than 40 percent calcium carbonate equivalent. The amount of coarse fragments ranges from 15 to 65 percent in the A horizon and from 50 to 80 percent in the Bk horizon. Most fragments in the Bk horizon have pendants of calcium carbonate on the lower side.
The R layer is indurated limestone. It is layered and fractured and has carbonate coatings in the upper part. Brownish, pinkish, whitish, olive, and grayish clays, clay loam, caliche, chalks, and marls are between some of the limestone layers.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Aledo (TX), Altuda (TX), Ector (TX), and Oplin (TX) series. Similar soils are the Eckert, Eckrant, Latom, Lozier, Palopinto, Purves, Talpa, Tarrant, and Volco series. Aledo, Eckert, and Palopinto soils do not have a calcic horizon. Altuda soils are dry in the soil moisture control section for slightly longer periods of time. Eckrant, Purves, and Tarrant soils have smectitic mineralogy. Ector, Lozier, and Volco soils are dry in the moisture control section for longer periods of time. Latom soils are less clayey and are developed from sandstone. Oplin soils developed in limestone of Cretaceous age materials. Talpa soils have less than 35 percent coarse fragments in the control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lueders soils are on convex ridgetops and breaks of erosional uplands. Slopes are mainly 1 to 5 percent, but some are as much as 30 percent. These soils formed in residuum from indurated limestones of the Permian period. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 20 to 28 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 61 to 66 degrees F. Frost free days range from 210 to 230 days, and elevation ranges from 1,400 to 2,400 feet. Thornthwaite annual P-E indices range from 32 to 40.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Newcastle, Leeray, Nukrum, Owens, Speck, and Throck series. Newcastle and Owens soils are underlain by shaly clay and lack a lithic contact. Leeray soils occur on divides or in valleys and have thicker sola and gilgai relief. Nukrum and Throck soils have sola more than 20 inches thick. Speck soils occur on nearly level and gently sloping areas and have Bt horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to high. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for rangeland. Vegetation consists of sideoats grama, silver bluestem, indiangrass, buffalograss, little bluestem, and small mesquite trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in the Eastern part of the Rolling Plains, Rolling Limestone Prairie and North central Prairie of Texas. The series is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Baylor County, Texas; 1971.
REMARKS: This soil was formerly included with the Ector series
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 13 inches. (A horizon)
Calcic horizon - 5 to 13 inches. (Bk horizon)
Family placements - the control section contain more than 35 percent coarse fragments and has a calcium carbonate equivalent of more than 40 percent;
Lithic contact - hard limestone occurs at 13 inches.