LOCATION SHIPS TX+OKEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, mixed, active, thermic Chromic Hapluderts
TYPICAL PEDON: Ships clay--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 4/3) clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) dry; weak fine angular blocky structure; very hard, firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; very slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
A--6 to 14 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) dry; moderate fine angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; few pressure faces; very slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (the combined A subhorizons are 6 to 22 inches thick)
Bss1--14 to 34 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay reddish brown (5YR 4/3) dry; moderate fine angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; common fine roots; common large slickensides; common pressure faces; very slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
Bss2--34 to 54 inches; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) clay, red (2.5YR 4/6) dry; moderate fine angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; many large grooved slickensides; common pressure faces; vertical cracks filled with darker soil from above; few fine calcium carbonate concretions; moderately alkaline; diffuse wavy boundary. (combined Bss subhorizons are 30 to 68 inches thick).
Bkss--54 to 80 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) dry; weak coarse angular blocky structure; very hard, very firm, very sticky and very plastic; few fine roots; common slickensides; common pressure faces; few threads and masses of calcium carbonate; few calcium carbonate concretions; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Falls County, Texas; from the intersection of Texas Highway 7 and Texas Highway 6 in Marlin; 0.8 mile west on Texas Highway 7; 315 feet north in cultivated field.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is more than 80 inches. The weighted average clay content of the particle size control section ranges from 60 to 70 percent. Depth to threads, masses or concretions of calcium carbonate ranges from 28 to 60 inches. Cracks at least a centimeter wide extend from the surface to a depth of more than 20 inches when the soil is dry. The cracks are open for 60 to 90 cumulative days during most years. The COLE ranges from 0.07 to 0.18. There are many large grooved slickensides in some part of the control section. Undisturbed areas have subdued gilgai with Microknolls 2 to 6 inches higher than microdepressions. Some pedons have buried A horizons within a depth of 60 inches of the soil surface.
The A horizon has colors with hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 4, chroma of 2 or 4. Horizons with value of 3 and chroma of 2 are less than 12 inches thick in 50 percent or more of the pedon.
The Bss, Bkss, BCkss horizons have hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons have masses or spots with color value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2. These dark colors are related to organic material. Texture is clayey throughout but some pedons have thin discontinuous strata of silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam. Calcium carbonate threads, masses, and concretions range from none visible to about 5 percent in some subhorizons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no completing series. Similar soils are the Brazoria, Burkeville, Dylan, Miller, Moreland, Redco, Roetex, and Tahoula series. Brazoria and Dylan soils are in the hyperthermic family. Burkeville, Redco, and Tahoula soils have smectitic mineralogy. In addition Burkeville, Dylan, Redco, and Tahoula soils have hue yellower than 7.5YR. Miller and Moreland soils have a fine particle-size control section. Roetex soils have redox depletions due to wetness within a depth of 18 to 30 inches of the surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ships soils are on nearly level to gently sloping flood plains. Slopes are mainly less than 1 percent but range to 5 percent. The soil formed in reddish and brownish clayey alluvial sediments. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 40 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 64 to 69 degrees F. Frost free days range from 240 to 270 days, and elevation ranges from 200 to 1100 feet. Thornthwaite P-E indices range from 44 to 64.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the similar Roetex series, and the Highbank, Weswood, and Yahola series. Roetex soils have iron depletions within 30 inches of the surface layer and are in depressed, wetter positions. Highbank, Weswood and Yahola are in similar flood plain positions. Highbank soils have a loamy surface layer. Weswood soils have a coarse-silty control section. Yahola soils have a coarse-loamy control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Permeability is very slow. Runoff is low on 0 to 1 percent slopes; medium on 1 to 3 percent slopes; and high on 3 to 5 percent slopes. Flooding occurs at intervals of once in 1 to more than 20 years except where protected.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly used as cropland. Crops include cotton, corn, grain sorghum, small grain, and some improved pastures of bermudagrass, johnsongrass, or small grain. Native vegetation includes big bluestem, little bluestem, indiangrass, switchgrass, Virginia wildrye, and beaked panicum. Adjacent to stream channels ash, elm, and pecan are the dominant trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mainly along the Colorado and Brazos Rivers of Texas. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bastrop County, Texas, 1973.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Miller series. NSSL data is available from the type location of this series (74L351-74L354). Other data in Washington County (NSSL 76P0733-76P0735), Falls County (NSSL 78P0057-78P0065), and Burleson County (TAMU S86TX-051-005).
Active cation exchange activity class. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 34 inches (Ap, A, and Bss1 horizons)
Cambic horizon - 34 to 80 inches. (Bss and Bkss horizons)
Vertic properties - slickensides from 14 to 80 inches. When dry, cracks at least a centimeter wide extend from the surface to a depth of more than 20 inches.
Soil Interpretation Record No.: TX0288