Soil subgroup
Torriortent tapto árgico
It has a buried clay horizon (argillic): an old soil was covered by newer sediments, and the current soil formed on top.
What the name says
Soil Taxonomy names are built from parts, and each part says something about the soil. From general to specific:
| Taxonomic order | Entisol | Soil without diagnostic horizons, or almost: recently deposited material (sand, alluvium) or on which the climate did not have time to act. |
|---|---|---|
| Suborder | Ortent | Entisol on material that is neither sandy nor alluvial: eroded slopes, rock, recent sediments. |
| Great group | Torriortent | Within the Ortent suborder, it It has an arid climate (torric moisture regime). |
| Subgroup | tapto árgico | It has a buried clay horizon (argillic): an old soil was covered by newer sediments, and the current soil formed on top. |
What it means for farming
Very variable. The sandy ones (Psamentes) retain little water and blow away; alluvial ones (Fluventes) can be good but they flood; the shallow ones on rock (lithic) are barely useful for grazing.
The most widespread soil of extra-Andean Patagonia and the arid west: stony or sandy, without development, under steppe.
- Most common surface texture
- Sandy-gravillose
- Most common drainage
- Something Excessive
- Typical effective depth
- 120 cm
Where it is found
According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 273.530 ha, spread over 20 districts.
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National map units that list it. The scale is 1:500.000: good for seeing the region, not a single property.
| Province | Area |
|---|---|
| Salta | 92.455 ha |
| Chubut | 63.218 ha |
| Catamarca | 55.307 ha |
| Río Negro | 47.891 ha |
| Jujuy | 14.659 ha |
Districts where it is most common
- Cushamen · Chubut
- Ñorquinco · Río Negro
- Los Andes · Salta
- Antofagasta de la Sierra · Catamarca
- Tinogasta · Catamarca
- San Carlos · Salta
- Molinos · Salta
- Cochinoca · Jujuy
- Cachi · Salta
- Cafayate · Salta
- Río Senguer · Chubut
- La Poma · Salta
- Iruya · Salta
- Santa María · Catamarca
- Humahuaca · Jujuy
- Susques · Jujuy
- Yavi · Jujuy
- La Viña · Salta
- Belén · Catamarca
- Rosario de Lerma · Salta
How productive it is
Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 29 (low); half of the units fall between 29 and 29.
Taken from the maps that include this data. A map unit with several soils has a single index, and it is only attributed to the dominant soil.
Other Torriortent subgroups
Soils it shares map units with
Several soils share each map unit. These are the ones most often found alongside this one: on a property, you will likely find them in the nearby low ground or on the next rise.
The definitions are a plain-language summary of the USDA Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The formal definition includes thickness, color and percentage thresholds that are left out here.
Sources
- Soil Survey Staff. (2014). Claves para la Taxonomía de Suelos, 12.ª edición. USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service. · Dominio público (USDA)
- INTA · Dominio público (carta 1:500.000)