LOCATION HENSLEY            TX

HENSLEY SERIES

The Hensley series consists of well drained, slowly permeable shallow soils over limestone bedrock that formed in residuum fromlimestone. These upland soils have slopes ranging from 0 to 8 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, active, thermic Lithic Rhodustalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Hensley loam in native grass pasture. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 4 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate fine granular structure, surface crusty when dry; hard, friable; many fine roots; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)

Bt--4 to 16 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay, dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) moist; moderate, very fine and fine angular blocky structure; extremely hard, very firm; common fine roots; thin distinct continuous clay films on faces of peds; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)

R--16 to 20 inches; indurated limestone bedrock with 1/8 inch to 1 1/2 inches wide fractures at intervals of about 2 to 4 feet.

TYPE LOCATION: Montague County, Texas; in pasture 90 feet west of Farm Road 677 and 1.9 miles southwest of its intersection with U. S. Highway 82 in Saint Jo, Texas.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum thickness and depth to bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches. The average clay content from soil surface to bedrock is more than 35 percent when solum is less than 14 inches thick. Fragments of limestone about 6 to 48 inches across and about 1 to 4 inches thick and ironstone fragments mainly less than 3 inches across cover 0 to 50 percent of the soil surface. Stony phases are recognized.

The A horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Fragments of limestone and ironstone 1 inch to 20 inches across range from 0 to 15 percent by volume. It is loam, clay loam, or their stony counterparts. Reaction ranges from slightly acid through mildly alkaline.

The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4 through 6. Moist values are 3 or less. It is clay loam or clay, with clay content of 35 to 55 percent. Fragments of limestone and ironstone 2 mm to 20 mm across range from 0 to 10 percent by volume. Reaction ranges from neutral through moderately alkaline. The underlying material is thick beds of fractured limestone bedrock.

COMPETING SERIES: These include the Exray series in the same family and the similar Lindy soils. Exray soils have E horizons, are more acid in the Bt horizon, and are underlain by sandstone bedrock. Lindy soils have sola more than 20 inches thick.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hensley soils are nearly level to gently sloping with plane or slightly convex surfaces. They are on stream divides with slopes of 0 to 8 percent; generally slopes are less than 3 percent. The soils formed mainly in residuum from Lower Cretaceous and Pennsylvanian limestones. The localities of probable occurrence have mean annual temperature of 64 to 66 degrees F., annual precipitation of 24 to 40 inches. Frost free period is 210 to 250 days and elevation ranges from 350 to 2250 feet. Thornthwaite annual P-E indices of 32 to 54.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Lindy and Speck series and the Bolar, Palopinto, and Yates series. Lindy and Speck soils are on similar landscapes. Bolar, Palopinto and Speck soils have mollic epipedons. Bolar soils lack argillic horizons, have fine-loamy control sections with carbonatic mineralogy and are on lower slopes. Palopinto soils lack argillic horizons have mollic epipedons and have loamy-skeletal control sections. Palopinto soils are on lower slopes. Yates soils lack Bt horizons.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; Runoff is medium on slopes less than 1 percent, high on slopes of 1 to 5 percent and very high on slopes 5 to 8 percent; permeability is slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly as rangeland. Some areas are used for small grain. Native vegetation is mainly little bluestem, indiangrass, sideoats grama, big bluestem, silver bluestem, Texas needlegrass, maximilian sunflower, Engelmann-daisy, live oak, post oak, and mesquite.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly in the limestone prairies of north-central and west-central Texas. It is of large extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gillespie County, Texas; 1970.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - the 0 to 4 inch zone.

Argillic horizon - the 4 to 16 inch zone.

Lithic contact - hard limestone at 16 inches depth.

ADDITIONAL DATA: National Soil Survey Laboratory - Palopinto Co. Tx., S74TX-363-9 (74L1127-1128).