Soil subgroup

Torripsament lítico

It has continuous rock (lithic contact) within 50 cm: it is a shallow soil.

What the name says

Soil Taxonomy names are built from parts, and each part says something about the soil. From general to specific:

Taxonomic orderEntisolSoil without diagnostic horizons, or almost: recently deposited material (sand, alluvium) or on which the climate did not have time to act.
SuborderPsamentEntisol sandy throughout the profile: dunes, sand sheets.
Great groupTorripsamentWithin the Psament suborder, it It has an arid climate (torric moisture regime).
SubgrouplíticoIt has continuous rock (lithic contact) within 50 cm: it is a shallow soil.

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.

Most common surface texture
Sandy
Most common drainage
Something Excessive
Typical effective depth
50 cm

Where it is found

According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 572.929 ha, spread over 10 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.

ProvinceArea
La Pampa530.299 ha
Neuquén42.631 ha

Districts where it is most common

How productive it is

Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 4 (very low); half of the units fall between 4 and 4.

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 Torripsament 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