LOCATION SHINER TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, carbonatic, hyperthermic, shallow Udic Calciustepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Shiner fine sandy loam - rangeland. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated).
A--0 to 6 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) fine sandy loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) moist; weak medium granular structure; hard, friable; sticky and plastic; many worm casts; 5 percent weathered calcareous sandstone fragments up to 0.5 inch in diameter; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; clear irregular boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bk--6 to 16 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/3) gravelly fine sandy loam, brown (10YR 5/3) moist; weak granular structure; hard, friable, sticky and plastic; 20 percent calcareous sandstone fragments 0.5 to 1.5 inches in diameter; common masses of calcium carbonate; calcium carbonate equivalent is 60 percent; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
2Crk--16 to 24 inches; yellow (10YR 7/6) weakly cemented calcareous sandstone thinly interbedded with lenses of massive very pale brown (10YR 8/3) fine sandy loam; weakly cemented chalky limestone and pockets of powdery calcium carbonate; the sandstone layers make up about 35 to 40 percent by volume; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
2BCk--24 to 70 inches; very pale brown (10YR 8/4) fine sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) moist; becomes stratified with sandy clay loam in the lower part; massive; very hard, friable; 10 to 15 percent white powdery masses of calcium carbonate; calcium carbonate equivalent is 40 percent; violently effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: DeWitt County, Texas; from the intersection of U. S. Highways 183 and 87 in Cuero; 13.6 miles west-northwest on U. S. Highway 87; 0.4 mile east on paved county road to the top of a hill; 275 feet east on the county road and 100 feet south of the road in rangeland.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 10 to 20 inches over sandstone. Calcium carbonate equivalent of the control section ranges from 40 to 70 percent by volume.
The A horizon as hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or their gravelly counterparts. Coarse fragments of calcareous sandstone range from 0 to 15 percent by volume.
The Bk horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 to 8, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy clay loam. Coarse fragments of calcareous sandstone range from 10 to 35 percent by
volume.
The 2Crk horizon and 2BCk horizon have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y with value of 6 to 8, and chroma of 3 to 8. The 2Crk has weakly to strongly cemented sandstone. The 2BCk has texture of fine sandy loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in the same family. Similar soils include the Olmos and Saspamco series. Olmos soils have mollic epipedons, more than 35 percent coarse fragments in the A horizon, and have a petrocalcic horizon. Saspamco soils have sola thicker than 20 inches, and have mixed mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Shiner soils are on very gently sloping to strongly sloping upland ridgetops. Slope gradients range from 1 to 12 percent. The soils formed in beds of strongly calcareous loamy earths containing thin strata of weakly cemented calcareous sandstone, mainly of the Oakville formation. Mean annual temperature ranges from 70 to 74 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 36 inches. Elevation ranges from 200 to 500 feet, and frost free days range from 275 to 300. Thornthwaite annual P-E indices ranges from 38 to 50.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cuero, Sarnosa and Weesatche soils. Cuero soils have mollic epipedons thicker than 20 inches, and have argillic horizons. Sarnosa and Weesatche soils have a mollic epipedon 10 to 20 inches thick and sola more than 20 inches thick. These soils occur in less sloping areas higher in the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate. Runoff is very low on 1 to 3 percent slopes, low on 3 to 5 percent slopes, and medium on 5 to 8 percent slopes.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in native rangeland. Vegetation includes broomweed, ragweed, doveweed, bullnettle, silver bluestem, grama grasses, common bermudagrass, mesquite and huisache.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South central Texas, mainly in the southern parts of the Blackland Prairie (86B), and the northeastern part of the Rio Grande Plain (83A). The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: DeWitt County, Texas; 1973.
REMARKS: Classification change from Calcic Udic Ustochrepts to Udic Calciustepts based on application of the 2nd edition of Soil Taxonomy, 1999.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 6 inches. (A horizon)
Calcic horizon - 6 to 16 inches. (Bk horizon)
Paralithic contact - at 16 inches to 24 inches. (2Crk horizon)