LOCATION PARRITA TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic, shallow Petrocalcic Paleustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Parrita sandy clay loam, on southeast-facing, convex, 1 percent slope in rangleand at an elevation of 79 m (260 ft) (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 15 cm (0 to 6 in); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) sandy clay loam, very dark brown (10YR 2/2), moist; weak fine and medium granular structure; soft, very friable; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 18 cm [4 to 7 in] thick)
Bt--15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 in); dark brown (7.5YR 3/2), sandy clay loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2), moist; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; common very fine roots; common very fine tubular pores; 10 percent distinct very dark brown (10YR 2/2) clay films on faces of peds; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 38 cm [4 to 15 in] thick)
Btk--25 to 46 cm (10 to 18 in); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), sandy clay loam, yellowish red (5YR 4/6), moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; common very fine roots between peds; common very fine tubular pores; 20 percent distinct clay films on faces of peds; 1 percent silica concretions; 2 percent carbonate nodules; noneffervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 30 cm [0 to 12 in] thick)
Bkkm--46 to 84 cm (18 to 33 in); pink (7.5YR 8/4), pink (7.5YR 7/4), moist; massive; extremely hard, slightly rigid, strongly cemented; common very fine roots on top of horizon; violent effervescence; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (20 to 64 cm [8 to 25 in])
BCk--84 to 203 cm (33 to 80 in); reddish yellow (7.5YR 8/6), loam, reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6), moist; massive; hard, firm; 10 percent coarse carbonate masses; violent effervescence, moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Goliad, Texas; from the intersection of Farm Road 239 and U.S. Highway 59 west of Goliad; 1.9 miles west on Farm Road 239 to private ranch road; about 2.2 miles north on ranch road; 100 feet east in rangeland; Goliad USGS quad Latitude is 28 degrees 41 minutes 34.00 seconds N; Longitude is 97 degrees 26 minutes 59.00 seconds W. NAD 83
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: An ustic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12 in). These soils remain dry in the soil moisture control section for more than 90 cumulative days. The dry period occurs during the late winter and early spring months. These soils are moist during the late summer and fall months.
Mean annual soil temperature: 22 to 23.5 degrees C (72 to 74 degrees F).
Depth to argillic horizon 8 to 20 cm (3 to 8 in)
Depth to petrocalcic horizon: 30 to 51 cm (12 to 20 in)
Particle-size control section (weighted average)
Clay content: 27 to 35 percent
A Horizon
Hue: 5YR to 10YR
Value: 2 to 4
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: fine sandy loam or sandy clay loam
Clay content: 15 to 25 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline.
Bt Horizon
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: sandy clay loam, or sandy clay
Clay content: 27 to 35 percent
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Btk Horizon
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 2 to 5
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: sandy clay loam (Some pedons contain a thin gravelly or very gravelly zone that is transitional to the petrocalcic)
Clay content: 25 to 33 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 0 to 15 percent
Identifiable secondary carbonate: amount-1 to 10 percent, size-5 to 15 mm, kind-petrocalcic fragments
Effervescence: none to strong
Reaction: slightly or moderately alkaline
Bkkm Horizon
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 7 or 8
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: cemented or indurated caliche wth a laminar cap that breaks to plate-like fragments. In some pedons it becomes less cemented with depth.
BCk Horizon
Hue: 2.5YR to 7.5YR
Value: 7 or 8
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: loam or sandy clay loam
Clay content: 20 to 30 percent
Calcium carbonate equivalent: 25 to 60 percent
Identifiable secondary carbonate: amount-5 to 15 percent, size-5 to 50 mm, kind-petrocalcic fragments, masses, or nodules
COMPETING SERIES: The
Jardin (TX) series in the same famil. Similar soils are the
Goliad (TX),
Lacoste (TX), Miter (TX),
Mierhill (TX),
Randado (TX) and the
Yologo (TX) series.
Goliad soils: fine particle-size family
Lacoste soils: in a loamy particle-size family
Jardin soils: do not have an argillic horizon
Mitre soils: in a clayey-skeletal particle-size family; mixed mineralogy
Mierhill and Yologo soils: in a loamyy-skeletal particle-size family; mixed mineralogy
Randado soils: do not have a mollic epipedon
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: loamy sediments derived from calcareous sandstone of the Goliad Formation
Landscape: inland dissected coastal plain
Landform: shoulder and summits of hills
Slope: 0 to 5 percent
Mean annual air temperature range: 21 to 24 degrees C (70 degrees to 75 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation range: 584 to 86 mm (23 to 34 in)
Precipitation Pattern:
Frost-free period: 280 to 290 days
Elevation: 250 to 500 feet
Thornthwaite annual P-E indices: 25 to 44
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Goliad(TX),
Olmedo(TX),
Pernitas(TX),
Pettus(TX), and
Weesatche (TX) series.
Goliad soils: moderately deep to petrocalcic; on similar landform
Olmedo soils: do not have an argillic horizon; are gravelly throughout; on similar landform
Pernitas, Pettus, and Weesatche soils: are very deep; do not have petrocalcic horizons; on backslopes of hills.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: well drained. Permeability is moderate. Runoff is negligible on slopes less than 1 percent; and low on slopes from 1 to 5 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for rangeland and improved pasture. Improve pasture is mainly buffelgrass. Present native vegetation includes fall witchgrass, plains bristlegrass, hooded windmillgrass, gramas, slim tridens, and tanglehead. Woody vegetation is mainly blackbrush, guajillo, and catclaw. (Ecological site name: Shallow Sandy Loam 25-35" Pz; Ecological site number: R083AY410TX)
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and eastern portions of the Rio Grande Plain of Texas (MLRA 83A). LRR I. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jim Wells County, Texas; 1976.
REMARKS: Parrita soils were formerly included in a shallow phase of the Goliad series. The series type location was moved from Jim Wells County ( from the intersection of U. S. Highway 281 and Texas Highway 44 in Alice; 9.5 miles north on U. S. Highway 281; 0.5 mile west on County Road 235; 59 feet north in native pasture) to Goliad County in December 2008 during the correlation of Goliad County. A study of the taxonomic unit and random pedons for survey areas where the series is correlated revealed that the majority of the areas correlated as the Parrita series have less than 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
Additional Comments:
The assignment of the cation-exchange activity class is inferred from other soils on the same geologic formation
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 in). (A horizon)
Argillic horizon: 15 to 46 cm (6 to 18 in). (Bt and Btk horizons)
Petrocalcic horizon: 46 to 84 cm (18 to 33 in). (Bkm horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Particle-size analysis was performed at the project office on 13 pedons.
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006