LOCATION VAYAS PREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, isohyperthermic Vertic Endoaquolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Vayas silty clay loam--Banana Plantation (Colors are for moist soil).
Ap--0 to 5 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky, moderately plastic; few faint pressure faces on faces of peds; few fine roots; common fine irregular pores; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bw--5 to 12 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky, moderately plastic; few prominent pressures faces on faces of peds; few fine roots; common fine irregular pores, few fine tubular pores; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bwg--12 to 23 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky, moderately plastic; few fine roots; common fine irregular pores, few fine tubular pores; many distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; common prominent very dark greenish gray (10Y3/1) areas of iron depletion; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (8 to 14 inches thick)
Cg1--23 to 49 inches; 50 percent olive gray (5Y 4/2) and 50 percent brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; massive; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky, moderately plastic; common distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; common prominent very dark gray (10YR 3/1) areas of iron depletion; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Cg2--49 to 65 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; massive; slightly hard, friable; slightly sticky, moderately plastic; common distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; common prominent dark greenish gray (10Y4/1) areas of iron depletion; neutral. (Combined thickness of the Cg horizons ranges from 6 to 39 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Yauco Municipality, Puerto Rico. Approximately 0.9 mile southeast of the city of Yauco downtown from the intersection of P.R. Hwy. 368 and P.R. Hwy. 371; about 0.3 mile southeast from the intersection of P.R. Hwy. 2 and P.R. Hwy. 359; about 1,000 feet south from P.R. Hwy. 359 on dirt road; about 100 feet south from dirt road on Banana plantation. USGS Yauco topographic quadrangle, Puerto Rico (1964); lat. 18 degrees 01 minute 52 seconds N.; long. 66 degrees 50 minutes 16 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness range from 15 to 25 inches. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline throughout.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silty clay loam or clay in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2.5 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silty clay loam, clay loam or clay in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bwg horizon has hue of 2.5Y to N, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Iron accumulation in shades of brown range from few to common, and areas of iron depletion in shades of gray range from few to common. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay or clay in the fine-earth fraction.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5GY, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. Iron accumulation in shades of brown range from few to many, and areas of iron depletion in shades of gray range from few to many. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam or silty clay in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are no other known series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Vayas soils are on river flood plains of the Semiarid Coastal Plains MLRA. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. They formed in fine textured alluvial deposits of mixed origin. The climate is humid tropical. The average annual precipitation range from 25 to 40 inches and the average annual temperature ranges from 78 to 81 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cortada, Fraternidad, and San Anton series. Cortada and San Anton soils are on similar positions but are well drained. Fraternidad soils are on similar to higher positions and are moderately well drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Vayas soils are on abandoned sugarcane plantations or on pastureland. Some areas are on banana plantations when this soil is properly drained.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: River flood plains on the Semiarid Coastal Plains MLRA. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Soil Survey of Puerto Rico; 1942.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 12 inches (Ap and Bw horizons).
Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 to 23 inches (Bw and Bwg horizons).
The type location was moved on 2006 to its present location due to field observations.
Vayas soils are in MLRA 273.