LOCATION HANSFORD TX+NM OKEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Ustic Epiaquerts
TYPICAL PEDON: Hansford clay, on a nearly level playa floor, 0.3 percent slopes in pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 inches); very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silty clay; dark gray (10YR 4/1) dry; moderate fine granular structure and moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, extremely firm; common fine and very fine roots; common black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese concretions, few iron stains on ped surfaces; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (13 to 25 cm thick)
Bssg1--18 to 53 cm (7 to 21 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay; gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate coarse wedge-shaped aggregates parting to moderate medium angular blocky structure; very hard, extremely firm; common fine and very fine roots; few black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese masses and concretions, common iron stains on ped surfaces; neutral; gradual wavy boundary.
Bssg2--53 to 117 cm (21 to 46 inches); dark gray (10YR 4/1) silty clay; gray (10YR 5/1) dry; moderate coarse wedge-shaped aggregates parting to moderate medium angular blocky structure; very hard, extremely firm; few very fine roots; few black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese masses and concretions, common iron stains on ped surfaces; neutral; gradual wavy boundary.
Bss--117 to 185 cm (46 to 73 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate coarse wedge-shaped aggregates parting to moderate medium angular blocky structure; very hard, extremely firm; few very fine roots; estimated less than 2 percent by volume of calcium carbonate filaments; few iron stains on ped surfaces; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (combined thickness of the Bss horizons is 125 to 180 cm)
Bkss--185 to 203 cm (73 to 80 inches); brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay; pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm; estimated 3 percent by volume of calcium carbonate filaments; few iron stains on ped surfaces; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Hansford County, Texas; from the intersection of Highway 207 and Highway 51 approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) southwest of Spearman; 1.1 kilometers (0.7 mile) east on Highway 51; 0.6 kilometers (0.4 mile) south on farm road; 322 meters (1056 feet) east into playa basin; Latitude: 36 degrees, 04 minutes, 30.4 seconds N; Longitude: 101 degrees, 16 minutes, 01.4 seconds W; Morse SE, Texas USGS Quad; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: An aquic moisture regime. These soils receive runoff from surrounding uplands and are moist for longer periods than normal for the climate. The soil cracks and is dry in parts of the upper 50 cm for more than 90 cumulative days in normal years. July through August and November through March are the driest months. These soils are intermittently moist in September through October and April through June.
Mean annual soil temperature: 13 to 15 degrees C (55 to 59 degrees F)
Linear Extensibility averages from 12 to 16 cm in the upper 100 cm
Depth to slickensides: 13 to 25 cm (5 to 25 in)
Depth to secondary calcium carbonate: 150 to 203 cm (60 to 80 in)
Depth to Redoximorphic features: 0 to 50 cm (0 to 20 in)
Solum thickness: more than 203 cm
Particle-size control section: 45 to 60 percent silicate clay
This is a cyclic soil and undisturbed areas have gilgai or micro relief with micro knolls 8 to 13 cm higher than micro depressions. Distance between the center of the micro knoll and the center of the micro depression is about 1.5 to 4.5 meters. The micro knoll makes up about 20 percent, the intermediate, or area between the knoll and depression, about 40 percent, and the micro depression about 40 percent. Cracks open and close each year except during higher than normal rainfall years, and remain open for 90 or more cumulative days during most years. Cracks are more prominent in the micro depressions. When dry, 1 to 8 cm wide cracks extend from the surface to a depth of 100 cm or more. The range in characteristics represents 50 percent or more of each pedon unless otherwise stated.
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 2 to 4, 3 to 5 dry
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: silty clay or clay
Effervescence: none to strong
Reaction: slightly acid to neutral
Redoximorphic features: iron-manganese masses and/or concretions, iron stains on ped surfaces, and oxidized rhizospheres range from few to common. Iron/clay depletions on ped surfaces in the lower part of the A horizon are common.
Bssg horizons:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 5, 4 to 6 dry
Chroma: 2 or less
Texture: silty clay or clay
Effervescence: none to strong
Reaction: neutral or slightly alkaline
Redoximorphic features: iron-manganese masses and/or concretions, iron stains on ped surfaces, and oxidized rhizospheres range from few to common. The horizon is commonly in a reduced state and iron depletions on ped surfaces are present when the soil is saturated.
Bss horizon:
Hue: 10YR, 2.5Y, or N
Value: 3 to 5, 4 to 6 dry
Chroma: 2 or less
Texture: silty clay or clay
Visible secondary calcium carbonate: less than 2 percent by volume as films or filaments
Effervescence: none to strong
Reaction: neutral to moderately alkaline
Redoximorphic features: iron-manganese concretions or iron stains on ped surfaces range from none to few.
Bkss horizon (where present):
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 3 to 6, 4 to 7
Chroma: 2 or less
Texture: silty clay or clay
Visible secondary calcium carbonate: 3 to 10 percent by volume as filaments, masses, or nodules
Effervescence: slight to strong
Reaction: slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline
Redoximorphic features: iron-manganese concretions or iron stains on ped surfaces range from none to few.
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no competing series. Similar soils include the
Knoblaw,
Lautz, and
Ness series.
Knoblaw series: have a calcic horizon and are dry in the soil moisture control section for longer periods; in addition they do not have aquic moisture conditions.
Lautz series: have secondary carbonates within 150 cm and are dry in the soil moisture control section for longer periods; in addition they do not have aquic moisture conditions.
Ness series: have smectitic mineralogy and do not have secondary carbonates below 150 cm.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: clayey lacustrine sediments of Pleistocene age
Landform: playa floor
Slope: 0 to 1 percent
Mean annual air temperature: 12 to 14 degrees C (54 to 61 degrees F)
Mean annual precipitation: 432 to 559 mm (17 to 22 in)
Frost-free period: 170 to 200 days
Elevation: 916 to 1,448 meters (3,000 to 4,750 ft)
Thornthwaite annual P-E Index Values: 25 to 36
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
These are the similar
Knoblaw and
Lautz soils and the
Dallam,
Dumas,
Gruver,
Oslo,
Perryton,
Sherm,
Sunray, and
Texline soils.
Knoblaw and Lautz soils: are on similar landscape positions.
Dallam, Dumas, Gruver, Oslo, Perryton, Sherm, Sunray, and Texline soils: are on higher landscape positions and have a argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained and very slow permeability. Surface runoff is negligible. These soils are frequently ponded for very long periods in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat. Vegetation varies according to amount of water available. It includes knotgrass, bur ragweed, sedges, spike rushes, smartweed, saltmarsh aster, curly dock, frog-fruit, and bushy knotweed. In areas of standing water longbarb arrowhead, soft-stem bulrush, and southern cattail may be present. Around the margins, where ponding occurs for shorter periods the woody vegetation includes western willow or cottonwood. This soil has been correlated to the Playa (R-077AY005TX) ecological site in MLRA-77A.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern High Plains, Northern Part (MLRA 77A in LRR H) of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: MLRA-77 Soil Survey; Hansford County, Texas; 2007
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Randall and Ness series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Vertic properties: wedge-shaped aggregates and slickensides (Bss and Bkss horizons - 18 to 203 cm)
Episaturation: saturated with water in a one or more layers within 200 cm of soil surface (A, Bssg horizons - 0 to 117 cm)
Redoximorphic features: accumulation of Fe-Mn oxides and/or depletions of Fe-Mn oxides or clay (A, Bssg horizons - 0 to 117 cm)
ADDITIONAL DATA: none
TAXONOMIX VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Tenth Edition, 2006.