LOCATION ECKERT TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, thermic Lithic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Eckert very stony silt loam--rangeland.
(Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 12 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/3) very stony silt
loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; weak fine subangular blocky
and granular structure; hard, friable; many roots; contains 8
percent angular limestone gravel and about 40 percent angular limestone fragments from 3 to 18 inches across long axis; noncalcareous; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to
14 inches thick)
R--12 to 15 inches; gray indurated limestone; fractured; contains less than 5 percent fine earth in fractures and crevices. TYPE LOCATION: Gillespie County, Texas; from its intersection with Ranch Road 648 in Doss, 3.6 miles north on Ranch Road 783 (to about 700 feet south of the Mason County line), 0.5 mile southeast then northeast on a private road, then 10 feet west in rangeland. Latitude 30 degrees, 29 feet, 42 inches N; Longitude 97 degrees, 7 feet, 29 inches W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 4 to 14
inches to indurated limestone. Angular gravel, cobbles and stones
up to 30 inches across the long axes comprise 35 to 70 percent by volume. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline. The soil is typically noncalcareous, but some pedons are weakly effervescent with HC1.
The A horizon hue is 7.5YR or 10YR, value is dominantly 4, and
chroma is 2 or 3. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silt
loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam. Structure
is weak to moderate, fine, subangular blocky or granular.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Aledo,
Ector,
Eckrant,
Eddy,
Maloterre,
Purves,
Talpa,
Tarrant, and
Yates series. Aledo,
Ector, Eddy, and Maloterre soils have carbonatic mineralogy. In addition, Ector soils are dry for longer periods and Eddy and Maloterre soils lack mollic epipedons. Eckrant soils have more
than 35 percent clay in the fine earth fraction. Maloterre soils have less than 35 percent coarse fragments in the solum. Purves
and Tarrant soils have a calcareous clayey solum. Talpa soils are calcareous, have calcic horizons, and have less than 35 percent coarse fragments. Yates soils lack a mollic epipedon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Eckert soils are on undulating to rolling landscapes. Slopes are mainly 2 to 8 percent but range from 1 to 20 percent. These soils formed in hard crystalline dolomite
limestone, containing appreciable glauconite of the Ordovician and Cambrian Systems. Rock outcrops comprise 5 to 15 percent of the landscape. Climate is dry subhumid. Average annual rainfall
ranges from 24 to 30 inches; mean annual air temperature is about
67 degrees F., and Thornthwaite annual P-E index ranges from 38 to 44.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Tarrant series, and the Nebgen and Pontotoc series. Nebgen and Pontotoc soils formed over sandstone and lack mollic epipedons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for rangeland. Grasses are sideoats
grama, green sprangleton, Texas tridens, annual grasses; scattered woody plants consists of Texas persimmon, juniper, agarito, tasajillo, pricklypear, and yucca.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in the Central Basin of Texas. Series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gillespie County, Texas; 1970.
REMARKS: Eckert soils were previously included with the Yates series. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this
pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - The A horizon from 0 to 12 inches.
Lithic contact - occurs at 12 inches.