Guanajibo soil and landscape
Soil Profile: Guanajibo gravelly sandy clay loam, 2 to 12 percent slopes. Guanajibo soils are characterized by a surface layer of gravelly sandy clay loam, clayey subsurface layers, and a content of plinthite of 5 percent or more. They are in the udic soil moisture regime.
Landscape: Naturalized pastureland in an area of Guanajibo gravelly sandy clay loam, 2 to 12 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of San Germán Area, Puerto Rico; by Jorge L. Lugo-Camacho, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Setting
Landscape: Coastal plains
Landform: Coastal terraces and alluvial fans
Major uses: Naturalized pastureland
Elevation: 15 to 165 feet
Composition
Guanajibo and similar soils: 90 percent
Dissimilar soils: 10 percent
Typical Profile
Surface layer:
0 to 10 inches—very dark reddish brown gravelly sandy clay loam
Subsoil:
10 to 21 inches—strong brown clay that has red mottles
21 to 37 inches—strong brown clay that has plinthite and red mottles
37 to 63 inches—mottled light olive brown, pale yellow, dark red, strong brown, and brown clay that has plinthite
Minor Components
Dissimilar:
• Delicias soils, which do not have plinthite in the subsoil and are in the higher positions
Soil Properties and Qualities
Depth class: Very deep
Depth to bedrock: More than 80 inches
Parent material: Fine-textured sediments of mixed origin
Surface runoff: Low or medium
Drainage class: Well drained
Permeability: Moderate
Available water capacity: Very high
Seasonal high water table: None within a depth of 80 inches
Flooding: None
Hazard of water erosion: Low or moderate
Rock fragments in the surface layer: 0 to 30 percent, by volume, pebbles
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Natural fertility: Moderate
Content of organic matter in the surface layer: Moderate to high
Reaction: Very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout
Land Use
Dominant uses: Naturalized pastureland
Other uses: Pasture; urban development
Agricultural Development
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Sugar cane
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Using a resource management system that includes terraces and diversions, stripcropping, contour tillage, no-till planting, and crop residue management reduces the hazard of erosion, helps to control surface runoff, and maximizes rainfall infiltration.
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: African star grass; guineagrass; pangola grass
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Using rotational grazing and implementing a well planned schedule of clipping and harvesting help to maintain the pasture and increase productivity.
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity during the establishment, maintenance, or renovation of hayland and pasture.
• Overgrazed pastures should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Naturalized pastureland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Guineagrass
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity during the establishment, maintenance, or renovation of pasture.
• Overgrazed areas should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Interpretive Group
Land capability classification: IVe
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/puerto_rico/PR...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GUANAJIBO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#guanajibo
Guanajibo soil and landscape
Soil Profile: Guanajibo gravelly sandy clay loam, 2 to 12 percent slopes. Guanajibo soils are characterized by a surface layer of gravelly sandy clay loam, clayey subsurface layers, and a content of plinthite of 5 percent or more. They are in the udic soil moisture regime.
Landscape: Naturalized pastureland in an area of Guanajibo gravelly sandy clay loam, 2 to 12 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of San Germán Area, Puerto Rico; by Jorge L. Lugo-Camacho, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Setting
Landscape: Coastal plains
Landform: Coastal terraces and alluvial fans
Major uses: Naturalized pastureland
Elevation: 15 to 165 feet
Composition
Guanajibo and similar soils: 90 percent
Dissimilar soils: 10 percent
Typical Profile
Surface layer:
0 to 10 inches—very dark reddish brown gravelly sandy clay loam
Subsoil:
10 to 21 inches—strong brown clay that has red mottles
21 to 37 inches—strong brown clay that has plinthite and red mottles
37 to 63 inches—mottled light olive brown, pale yellow, dark red, strong brown, and brown clay that has plinthite
Minor Components
Dissimilar:
• Delicias soils, which do not have plinthite in the subsoil and are in the higher positions
Soil Properties and Qualities
Depth class: Very deep
Depth to bedrock: More than 80 inches
Parent material: Fine-textured sediments of mixed origin
Surface runoff: Low or medium
Drainage class: Well drained
Permeability: Moderate
Available water capacity: Very high
Seasonal high water table: None within a depth of 80 inches
Flooding: None
Hazard of water erosion: Low or moderate
Rock fragments in the surface layer: 0 to 30 percent, by volume, pebbles
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Natural fertility: Moderate
Content of organic matter in the surface layer: Moderate to high
Reaction: Very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout
Land Use
Dominant uses: Naturalized pastureland
Other uses: Pasture; urban development
Agricultural Development
Cropland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Sugar cane
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Using a resource management system that includes terraces and diversions, stripcropping, contour tillage, no-till planting, and crop residue management reduces the hazard of erosion, helps to control surface runoff, and maximizes rainfall infiltration.
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity.
Pasture and hayland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: African star grass; guineagrass; pangola grass
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Using rotational grazing and implementing a well planned schedule of clipping and harvesting help to maintain the pasture and increase productivity.
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity during the establishment, maintenance, or renovation of hayland and pasture.
• Overgrazed pastures should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Naturalized pastureland
Suitability: Well suited
Commonly grown crops: Guineagrass
Management concerns: Slope
Management measures and considerations:
• Applying lime and fertilizer on the basis of soil testing increases the availability of nutrients to plants and maximizes productivity during the establishment, maintenance, or renovation of pasture.
• Overgrazed areas should be reestablished and then protected from further overgrazing.
Interpretive Group
Land capability classification: IVe
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/puerto_rico/PR...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GUANAJIBO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#guanajibo