LOCATION MAYO PREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, isohyperthermic Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Mayo sandy loam--cultivated sugarcane.
(Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) sandy loam; moderate medium granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common fine roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 13 inches thick)
B--8 to 18 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine roots; common fine quartz grains and black concretions; common fine weathered feldspar crystals; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (8 to 13 inches thick)
C1--18 to 27 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam: massive; soft, very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; few fine roots; many fine quartz grains; common fine weathered feldspar crystals; few fine black concretions; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 13 inches thick)
IIC2--27 to 34 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand; massive; loose; many fine quartz grains; few fine shiny flakes; many fine dark grains; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
IIIC3--34 to 44 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam; massive; loose; very friable; many fine quartz grains; few fine dark grains; common fine weathered feldspar crystals; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 14 inches thick)
IIIC4--40 to 60+ inches; brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; massive; very friable, many fine quartz grains; common fine black grains; common fine weathered feldspar crystals; few fine shiny and flaky grains; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Este SCD, Puerto Rico; 2.6 miles north of the town of Yabucoa; 1.2 miles northwest of intersection of Highways 905 and 3.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum is 14 to 26 inches. Reaction of all horizons is strongly or very strongly acid.
The A horizon is very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2; 2.5Y 3/2), dark brown (10YR 3/3) or very dark brown (10YR 2/2). Texture is sandy loam or loam.
The B horizon is dark brown (10YR 3/3) or dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4). Texture is sandy loam or loam. Structure is weak subangular blocky or granular.
The C horizon is very pale brown (10YR 7/3, 7/4), pale brown (10YR 6/3), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), brown (10YR 5/3) or yellowish brown (10YR 5/4). Texture is sandy loam or loamy sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Limani, Pandura, Vivi, and Yunes series. Limani soils have organic matter content that does not decrease regularly with depth and they have more than 18 percent clay in the 10- to 40-inch control section. Pandura soils are shallow to plutonic rocks. Vivi soils have base saturation of 50 percent or more in the A and B horizons and organic matter decreases erratically with depth. Yunes soils have more than 35 percent coarse fragments and are shallow to volcanic rocks.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Mayo soils occur on gently to moderately sloping alluvial fans and terraces. Slope gradients range from 2 to 12 percent. The regolith consists of coarse textured sediments derived from overlying plutonic rocks. The climate is humid tropical. The average annual precipitation is 75 to 85 inches and the mean annual air temperature is 77 to 80 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Pandura and Vivi of the competing series and the Candelero, Coloso, Maunabo, Patillas, and Teja soils. The Candelero, Coloso, and Maunabo soils have colors of dominantly low chroma. The Patillas soils have argillic horizons and are shallow to saprolite from plutonic rock. Teja soils have hard plutonic rock at 10 to 20 inches beneath the soil surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well to excessively drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mayo soils are used for growing minor crops and sugarcane. Native vegetation consists of brush, weeds, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Puerto Rico. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Puerto Rico; 1942.
REMARKS: The Mayo soils were classified in the Alluvial great soil group.