Soil Series Atlas

Ector soil series

Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Lithic Calciustolls

050100cm1 ft2 ft3 ftATopsoil0–10 cm · 0–4 inBkSubsoil · lime (carbonate) build-up10–20 cm · 4–8 inRk/BkMixed hard bedrock and subsoil · heavylime build-up20–38 cm · 8–15 inRHard bedrock38–102 cm · 15–40 in050100cmATopsoil0–10 cm · 0–4 inBkSubsoil · lime(carbonate) build-up10–20 cm · 4–8 inRk/BkMixed hard bedrock andsubsoil · heavy limebuild-up20–38 cm · 8–15 inRHard bedrock38–102 cm · 15–40 in
Typical pedon, to scale: 102 cm (40 in), 4 horizons.

Mollisols — soils with a thick, dark, organic-rich topsoil

With 4.01 million acres mapped, Ector is the 6th-largest of 24,791 U.S. soil series. No series covers more of Texas: it accounts for 2.0% of the state’s mapped soil. It is the only series in the atlas that has carbonatic mineralogy. Among the 7,593 mapped Mollisols it is the 2nd-largest.

Depth
Very shallow
Drainage
Well drained
Water movement
Moderate

Compare with another seriesSimilar series in the finder

Where Ector is mapped

4,014,662 acres in 26 soil survey areas, from current SSURGO data.

AlabamaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexas: 3,079,771 acresWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew Mexico: 934,891 acresArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode Island

Share of all Ector acres

  1. Texas77%
  2. New Mexico23%
  • Rank in the state · share of its mapped soil
  • Texas 1st of 1,565 · 1.99%
  • New Mexico 2nd of 1,301 · 1.54%

In the field

Drainage

Well drained

Drains fastStays wet

Soil depth

Very shallow

ShallowDeep

Tarrant and Eckrant also are classed very shallow.

Permeability

Moderate

SlowFast
Parent material
Residuum, limestone
Landform
Ridges/interfluves
Major land resource areas
81A
Type location
Texas

How it is classified

  1. OrderMollisols
  2. SuborderUstolls
  3. Great groupCalciustolls
  4. SubgroupLithic Calciustolls
  5. FamilyLoamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Lithic Calciustollsloamy-skeletal particle-size classcarbonatic mineralogy classthermic soil temperature regime

Against other Mollisols

Ector makes up 0.92% of all mapped Mollisols — the 2nd largest of 7,593 series in the order.

Solum thickness (topsoil + subsoil)

20 cm under a median of 104 cm

Depth to the subsoil

10 cm under a median of 25 cm

Depth described

102 cm under a median of 152 cm

Its relatives

4 other established series share the family “Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, thermic Lithic Calciustolls”

  1. Ector4.0 M
  2. Oplin342 k
  3. Aledo300 k
  4. Lueders277 k
  5. Altuda159 k

Close relatives, at one scale

  1. Ector102 cm · Lithic Calciustolls
  2. Tarrant76 cm · Lithic Calciustolls
  3. Zahl152 cm · Typic Calciustolls

Horizon by horizon

HorizonLayerDepthThickness
ATopsoil0–10 cm0–4 in10 cm
BkSubsoil: lime (carbonate) build-up10–20 cm4–8 in10 cm
Rk/BkMixed hard bedrock and subsoil: heavy lime build-up20–38 cm8–15 in18 cm
RHard bedrock38–102 cm15–40 in64 cm

Sources: USDA–NRCS Official Series Description (revised 2016-01), Soil Classification database and SSURGO. Ranks computed by Soil Series Atlas. Method · Guides