LOCATION ORLA TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, gypsic, thermic Typic Haplogypsids
TYPICAL PEDON: Orla clay loam, on smooth, nearly level area of 0.5 percent slope in rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 5 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay loam, brown (10YR 4/3) weak very fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, sticky, and plastic; common fine roots; EC is 34 dS/m; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 20 inches thick)
Cky--5 to 23 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/3) silt loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) moist; massive; very hard, friable, sticky, and plastic; few fine roots; common fine pores; contains about 75 percent gypsum and CaCO3; EC is 20 dS/m; moderately alkaline, violently effervescent; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 28 inches thick)
Cy--23 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; massive; hard, friable, sticky, and plastic; few fine roots; about 10 percent brownish opaque gypsum crystals 2 to 3 millimeters wide and up to 5 millimeters long; EC is 25 dS/m; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Reeves County, Texas; 5.15 miles south of Interstate 20 in Pecos on the old Fort Stockton road, then 100 feet east in rangeland.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture - control section is dry more than half the time, and is moist for less than 90 cumulative days during the growing season. Typic aridic moisture regime.
Depth to gypsiferous materials: 1 to 20 inches
Apparent field texture of the control section: loam, silt loam, or clay loam
Clay content: 18 to 30 percent
Electrical conductivity: 4 dS/m to 36 dS/m.
Calcium carbonate content: 5 to 15 percent.
A horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 8
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam, or clay loam.
C horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 5 to 8
Chroma: 1 to 4
Textures: gypsiferous materials of loam, silt loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam or clay loam texture.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils occur on nearly level to gently sloping outwash plains, or dissected remnants of old salt lakes. Slopes are mainly 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 63 to about 66 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 8 to 12 inches. Frost free days range from 210 to 240 days, and elevation ranges from 2,550 to 4,000 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the similar Hoban, Holloman, McCarran, and Reeves series and the Upton series. Upton soils have a petrocalcic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate. Runoff is negligible on slopes less than 1 percent, and very low on 1 to 3 percent slopes.
USE AND VEGETATION: Use is for rangeland and irrigated cropland. Crops are cotton, alfalfa, and small grain. Native vegetation consists of alkali sacaton, fourwing saltbush, mesquite, and allthorn.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Trans-Pecos area of west Texas (MLRA 42), and possibly southern New Mexico. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Phoenix, Arizona
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Reeves County, Texas; 1976.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 5 inches. (A horizon)
Gypsic horizon - 5 to 60 inches. (C horizon)
Soil Interpretation Record: TX0721
Soil Taxonomy: Ninth Edition 2003