LOCATION MANSKER TX+NM OK

Established Series
Rev. WMR-RM-TCB
09/2022

MANSKER SERIES

The Mansker series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in loamy, calcareous eolian deposits of the Blackwater Draw Formation of Pleistocene age. These soils are on nearly level to moderately sloping plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 483 mm (19 in) and the mean annual temperature is 16 degrees C (60 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, carbonatic, thermic Calcidic Paleustolls

TYPICAL PEDON: Mansker clay loam, on a gently sloping plain, 4 percent slopes in rangeland at an elevation of about 959 m (3,146 ft). (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in); brown (7.5YR 4/3) clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) moist; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; common very fine and fine roots; common masses and nodules in the lower part of horizon; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (18 to 30 cm thick)

Bkk--20 to 41 cm (8 to 16 in); white (7.5YR 8/1) loam, light gray (7.5YR 7/1) moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; few very fine roots; about 60 percent calcium carbonate by volume in the form of masses, nodules, and finely disseminated carbonates; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (15 to 30 cm thick)

Btkk--41 to 71 cm (16 to 28 in); pink (7.5YR 7/3) clay loam, light brown (7.5YR 6/3) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; hard, firm; few fine and medium roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; about 52 percent calcium carbonate by volume in the form of masses, nodules, and finely disseminated carbonates; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (20 to 50 cm thick)

2Btk1--71 to 114 cm (28 to 45 in); yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay loam, dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; hard, firm; few very fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; about 40 percent calcium carbonate by volume in the form of filaments, masses, and nodules; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline. (40 to 100 cm thick)

2Btk2--114 to 203 cm (45 to 80 in); yellowish red (5YR 5/8) clay loam, yellowish red (5YR 5/6) moist; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; hard, firm; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; about 30 percent calcium carbonate by volume in the form of filaments, masses, and nodules; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION:
Floyd County, Texas; from the intersection of US Hwy 62 and Ranch Road 37 approximately 3.2 miles south of Floydada; 5 miles west on Ranch Road 37; 1 mile north on County Road 91; 0.5 mile east in rangeland. Latitude: 33 degrees, 56 minutes, 58.6 seconds north; Longitude: 101 degrees, 26 minutes, 18.5 seconds West. Sandhill, Texas USGS quad, WGS 84.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: An ustic moisture regime bordering on aridic. The soil moisture control section is dry in some or all parts for more than 180 but less than 220 days, cumulative, in normal years. July through August and December through February are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through November and March through June.
Mean annual soil temperature: 15 to 18 degrees C (59 to 64 degrees F).
Mollic epipedon thickness: 18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 in)
Depth to argillic horizon: 20 to 65 cm (8 to 25 in).
Depth to calcic horizon: 18 to 40 cm (6 to 15 in).
Percent calcium carbonate by weight in control section: 40 to 60 percent
Particle-size control section: total clay ranges from 18 to 35 percent and carbonate-free clay ranges from 8 to 17 percent.
Solum thickness: more than 203 cm (80 in).

A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5 dry, 2 or 3 moist
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: Fine sandy loam, loam, clay loam
Rock fragments: 2 to 14 percent, gravel size, strongly cemented carbonate nodules or fragments.
Secondary calcium carbonate: ranges from 0 to 5 percent by volume as
masses or nodules
Effervescence: Strong or violent
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline

Bkk horizon (where present):
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 5 to 7 moist
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam and their gravelly counterparts.
Rock fragments: 15 to 34 percent; gravel size, strongly cemented carbonate nodules or fragments.
Secondary calcium carbonate: 50 to 70 percent by volume in the
form of masses, nodules, and finely disseminated carbonates
Calcium carbonate by weight: 40 to 60 percent
Effervescence: violent
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline

Btkk horizon:
Hue: 5YR or 7.5YR
Value: 6 to 8 dry, 5 to 7 moist
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam and their gravelly counterparts.
Rock fragments: 15 to 34 percent, gravel size, strongly cemented carbonate nodules or fragments.
Secondary calcium carbonate: 50 to 60 percent by volume in the
form of masses, nodules, and finely disseminated carbonates
Calcium carbonate by weight: 40 to 50 percent
Effervescence: Violent
Reaction: moderately alkaline or strongly alkaline

2Btk horizons (where present):
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 4 to 7 dry, 3 to 6 moist
Chroma: 4 to 6
Texture: loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam
Rock fragments: 0 to 14 percent, gravel size, strongly cemented carbonate nodules or fragments.
Secondary calcium carbonate: 10 to 48 percent by volume in the
form of films, filaments, masses, and nodules.
Effervescence: strong or violent
Reaction: moderately alkaline

COMPETING SERIES:
There are no other series in the same family. Similar soils include the Bovina Estacado, Manson, Pep, Portales, Posey, and Tulia series.
Bovina, Estacado, and Manson soils: soils have a fine-loamy particle-size class. Pep and Portales soils: soils have a fine-loamy particle-size class. and do not have argillic horizons.
Posey and Tulia soils: have an ochric epipedon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: calcareous, loamy eolian deposits from the Blackwater Draw Formation of Pleistocene age.
Landform: nearly level to moderately sloping plains adjacent to draws or scarps.
Slopes: 0 to 8 percent.
Mean annual air temperature: 14 to 17 degrees C (57 to 62 degrees F).
Mean annual precipitation: 406 to 533 mm (16 to 21 in).
Frost-free period: 185 to 220 days.
Elevation; 823 to 1,433 m (2,700 to 4,700 ft)
Thornthwaite annual P-E Index Values: 25 to 36.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the similar Estacado and Posey soils and also the Berda, Bippus, Olton, Posey, Potter and Pullman series.
Berda soils: occur on lower landscape positions, do not have an argillic horizon and have mixed mineralogy.
Bippus soils: occur on lower landscape positions, have much fewer carbonates and have mixed mineralogy.
Estacado and Posey soils: occur on similar landscape positions.
Olton, and Pullman soils: occur on higher landscape positions and have mixed mineralogy.
Potter soils: occur on lower landscapes positions and have a loamy-skeletal particle-size class.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability; surface runoff is negligible on less than 1 percent slopes, low on 1 to 5 percent slopes, and medium on 5 to 8 percent slopes.

USE AND VEGETATION: Primarily used for rangeland. Where cultivated, the principal crops are grain sorghum, small grains, and forage crops. Climax vegetation is mainly mid and short grasses and includes blue grama, sideoats grama, and buffalograss, with lesser amounts of vine-mesquite, western wheatgrass, galleta or tobosa, silver bluestem, wild alfalfa, and prairie clover with a light to moderate overstory of mesquite. This soil has been correlated to the Limy Upland (R077CY028TX) ecological site in MLRA-77C.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma in the Southern High Plains (MLRA 77C in LRR H). The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Harding County, Mesa Soil Conservation District, New Mexico; 1939.

REMARKS: Series Revised MLRA-77 Soil Survey update in Floyd County, Texas; 2004. After review of the lab data, the taxonomic family particle-size class was changed from fine-loamy to coarse-loamy in 2008.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Mollic epipedon: 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in) (A horizon)
Argillic horizon: 41 to 203 cm (16 to 80 in) (Btkk, Btk horizons)
Calcic horizon: 20 to 203 cm (8 to 80 in) (Bkk, Btkk, Btk horizons)
Plugged (kk) horizon: 20 to 71 cm (8 to 28 in) (Bkk, Btkk horizons)
Note: the kk feature is defined as pedogenic carbonate accumulation that is characterized by laterally continuous carbonates that have engulfed rock, sand, silt, and clay particles; plugged the macroporosity of the soil horizon with 50 percent or more calcium carbonate; and obliterated the original soil structure.

ADDITIONAL DATA: KSSL data from Floyd County, TX (S99TX-153-003 and S1999TX153001).

Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.