Soil subgroup

Ustortent 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.
SuborderOrtentEntisol on material that is neither sandy nor alluvial: eroded slopes, rock, recent sediments.
Great groupUstortentWithin the Ortent suborder, it It has a subhumid to semiarid climate (ustic 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
Loamy sand
Most common drainage
Excessive
Typical effective depth
20 cm

Where it is found

According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 1.501.486 ha, spread over 38 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
Córdoba983.461 ha
San Luis203.330 ha
Catamarca171.770 ha
Salta46.444 ha
Jujuy39.217 ha
Tucumán32.230 ha
Santiago del Estero25.033 ha

Districts where it is most common

It also appears on the detailed maps of: Buenos Aires, Santiago del Estero.

How productive it is

Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 11.5 (very low); half of the units fall between 9 and 13.

Land capability

VI
VII

class VI: 11% · class VII: 89%

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 Ustortent subgroups

Soil series

Series are the specific soils, named after places, that detailed maps describe under this name. Two properties with the same series have the same soil.

Buenos Aires

Las Barrancas

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