LOCATION OCHOPEE FLEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, calcareous, hyperthermic Lithic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Ochopee fine sandy loam
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 6 inches thick)
Bk--6 to 10 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) fine sandy loam; few fine strong brown mottles; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; sand grains are coated with calcium carbonate; violently effervescent; strongly alkaline; calcareous; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 13 inches thick)
R--Hard fractured limestone that can be excavated with power equipment.
TYPE LOCATION: Hendry County, Florida; about 4 miles south of county road 846 at a point about 7 miles east of the Collier County line. SW1/4NW1/4 sec. 19, T. 47 S. R. 32 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to hard fractured limestone is less than 20 inches. Reaction is moderately to strongly alkaline and calcareous throughout. Texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam. Carbonate free texture is fine sand. The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 5 and chroma of 3 or less. The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 7 and chroma of 2 or less.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Ochopee series occur primarily on low lying prairies in southern Hendry county and central and eastern Collier County. Slopes are less than 2 percent. Mean annual soil temperature is about 72 degrees F. Mean annual rainfall is about 55 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Boca, Chobee, Gentry, Hallandale, Jupiter, and Riviera. All of these lack the calcareous solum and with the exception of Hallandale and Jupiter, lack rock shallower than 20 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; runoff is slow. Under natural conditions the water table is at or near the surface for 3 to 6 months in most years. Permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas of Ochopee soils are in native range. Some areas are farmed. Natural vegetation is waxmyrtle, sparse sawpalmetto, cordgrass, foxtail grass, maidencane, sawgrass, and switchgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South Central Florida. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hendry County, Florida; 1986. The proposed series name has not been used in any soil survey that meets the standards of the NCSS. However, the Ochopee series name was used in a 1954 publication by the University of Florida, Agricultural Experiment Station for Collier and Dade Counties, Florida.
REMARKS: The mineralogy of this soil is mixed due to 20 percent calcium carbonate equivalent. However, the sand mineralogy is siliceous. The carbonates are due to recharge from a fluctuating ground water table.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 6 inches - the A horizon
Calcic horizon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 10 inches - the A and Bk horizons
Lithic contact - at a depth of 10 inches - the surface of hard limestone