Soil Series Atlas

Amarillo soil series

Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Aridic Paleustalfs

050100150200250cm1 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft5 ft6 ft7 ft8 ftApTopsoil · plowed0–28 cm · 0–11 inBtSubsoil · clay build-up28–69 cm · 11–27 inBtkSubsoil · clay build-up, lime (carbonate)build-up69–98 cm · 27–39 inBtkkSubsoil · heavy lime build-up, claybuild-up98–142 cm · 39–56 inB'tk1Subsoil · clay build-up, lime (carbonate)build-up142–216 cm · 56–85 inB'tk2Subsoil · clay build-up, lime (carbonate)build-up216–251 cm · 85–99 in050100150200250cmApTopsoil · plowed0–28 cm · 0–11 inBtSubsoil · clay build-up28–69 cm · 11–27 inBtkSubsoil · claybuild-up, lime(carbonate) build-up69–98 cm · 27–39 inBtkkSubsoil · heavy limebuild-up, clay build-up98–142 cm · 39–56 inB'tk1Subsoil · claybuild-up, lime(carbonate) build-up142–216 cm · 56–85 inB'tk2Subsoil · claybuild-up, lime(carbonate) build-up216–251 cm · 85–99 in
Typical pedon, to scale: 251 cm (99 in), 6 horizons.

Alfisols — moderately leached soils with a clay-enriched subsoil

With 3.04 million acres mapped, Amarillo is the 13th-largest of 24,791 U.S. soil series. In Texas only three series cover more ground. It is the only series in the atlas that belongs to the great group Paleustalfs. No other Alfisol series covers as much ground.

Depth
Very deep
Drainage
Well drained
Water movement
Moderate

Compare with another seriesSimilar series in the finder

Where Amarillo is mapped

3,044,539 acres in 31 soil survey areas, from current SSURGO data.

AlabamaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexas: 2,411,020 acresWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew Mexico: 633,519 acresArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode Island

Share of all Amarillo acres

  1. Texas79%
  2. New Mexico21%
  • Rank in the state · share of its mapped soil
  • Texas 4th of 1,565 · 1.56%
  • New Mexico 8th of 1,301 · 1.04%

In the field

Drainage

Well drained

Drains fastStays wet

Soil depth

Very deep

ShallowDeep

Permeability

Moderate

SlowFast
Parent material
Eolian deposits
Landform
Plains
Type location
Texas

How it is classified

  1. OrderAlfisols
  2. SuborderUstalfs
  3. Great groupPaleustalfs
  4. SubgroupAridic Paleustalfs
  5. FamilyFine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Aridic Paleustalfsfine-loamy particle-size classmixed mineralogy classsuperactive cation-exchange activity classthermic soil temperature regime

Against other Alfisols

Amarillo makes up 1.10% of all mapped Alfisols — the 1st largest of 4,001 series in the order.

Solum thickness (topsoil + subsoil)

251 cm over a median of 127 cm

Depth to the subsoil

28 cm over a median of 23 cm

Depth described

251 cm over a median of 156 cm

Its relatives

1 other established series share the family “Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Aridic Paleustalfs”

  1. Amarillo3.0 M
  2. Patricia946 k

Other Alfisols in this atlas

  1. Amarillo251 cm · Aridic Paleustalfs
  2. Blount200 cm · Aeric Epiaqualfs
  3. Guyton203 cm · Typic Glossaqualfs
  4. Fayette185 cm · Typic Hapludalfs
  5. Loring165 cm · Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
  6. Menfro203 cm · Typic Hapludalfs

Horizon by horizon

HorizonLayerDepthThickness
ApTopsoil: plowed0–28 cm0–11 in28 cm
BtSubsoil: clay build-up28–69 cm11–27 in41 cm
BtkSubsoil: clay build-up, lime (carbonate) build-up69–98 cm27–39 in29 cm
BtkkSubsoil: heavy lime build-up, clay build-up98–142 cm39–56 in44 cm
B'tk1Subsoil: clay build-up, lime (carbonate) build-up142–216 cm56–85 in74 cm
B'tk2Subsoil: clay build-up, lime (carbonate) build-up216–251 cm85–99 in35 cm

Sources: USDA–NRCS Official Series Description (revised 2016-08), Soil Classification database and SSURGO. Ranks computed by Soil Series Atlas. Method · Guides