Soil Series Atlas

Vertisols

Clay soils that shrink and crack when dry

050100150cm1 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft5 ftAbove the subsoilTopsoil and any leached layer0–18 cm · 0–7 inSubsoilFirst B horizon to the base of the solum18–152 cm · 7–60 inBelow the solumParent material or rock, to the mediandepth described152–165 cm · 60–65 in050100150cmAbove the subsoilTopsoil and any leachedlayer0–18 cm · 0–7 inSubsoilFirst B horizon to thebase of the solum18–152 cm · 7–60 inBelow the solumParent material orrock, to the mediandepth described152–165 cm · 60–65 in
The typical Vertisols profile: a schematic drawn to scale from the medians of 409 official series descriptions. It is not a real pedon.

Soil order · 463 established series in the classification database

Vertisols cover 42.57 million acres of mapped U.S. soils — 2.7% of all series acres, the 8th largest of the twelve orders — across 481 mapped series.

Median solum thickness in their typical pedons is 152 cm, with the first B horizon at 18 cm. Official descriptions of Vertisols go down a median 165 cm.

Vertisols among the twelve orders

Share of all acres mapped to a named series, with this order highlighted.

Mollisols 27.3% · Alfisols 17.3% · Entisols 12.3% · Ultisols 11.8% · Inceptisols 11.4% · Aridisols 9.7% · Spodosols 3.7% · Vertisols 2.7% · Histosols 1.9% · Andisols 1.3% · Gelisols 0.5% · Oxisols <0.1%

Guide: The twelve soil orders, measured

Largest Vertisols series

Mapped acres in current SSURGO data, across all series in the order.

  1. Sharkey3,651,582 acres3.7 M
  2. Houston Black1,411,597 acres1.4 M
  3. Alligator1,183,290 acres1.2 M
  4. Heiden1,099,293 acres1.1 M
  5. Opal1,002,661 acres1.0 M
  6. Fargo977,384 acres977 k
  7. Perry908,885 acres909 k
  8. Promise786,716 acres787 k
  9. Victoria730,829 acres731 k
  10. Lake Charles657,410 acres657 k

Vertisols on this site

2 Vertisols series profiled here, largest first, drawn at one depth scale.

  1. SharkeyChromic Epiaquerts · 5 states
  2. Houston BlackUdic Haplusterts · 1 state · state soil