Soil Survey of Jackson County, Texas Page: 92
vii, 147, [2] p., 50 folded p. of plates : ill., maps (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Soil Survey
exposed sediments have been modified in the past
hundred thousand years or more by weathering, mass
wasting, water erosion, and eolian activity.
The surface of the Lissie Formation is a plain that
slopes 5 to 10 feet per mile toward the gulf. In contrast
with the younger Beaumont Formation, the surface of
the Lissie Formation has lost all traces of any relict
depositional topography. This is mainly because of
modification by wind action. The surface is
characterized by a random distribution of isolated low
mounds (pimple mounds) and undrained circular to oval
depressional areas of Cieno soils.
In many areas of the Gulf Coastal plain, the
formations of Pleistocene age are separated by slightly
discernable scarps. In Jackson County, however, the
formations can be discriminated topographically only by
the increase in surface slope between the Beaumont
Formation and the Lissie Formation.
The Beaumont Formation is of late Pleistocene age.
It crops out in the southeastern four-fifths of the county.
It underlies the Laewest-Dacosta, Livco, Palacios-
Francitas, Telferner-Edna, Texana-Edna, and the
southern part of the Inez-Milby general soil map units.
The surface of the Beaumont Formation slopes about 2
to 5 feet per mile toward the Gulf.
The Beaumont Formation along the Texas Gulf Coast
is the product of laterally coalescing alluvial plains. It
was deposited during the Pleistocene age by streams
that now drain into the Gulf of Mexico. In Nueces
County, the Beaumont Formation was deposited by a
paleo-Nueces River. In Jefferson County, the Beaumont
Formation was deposited by a paleo-Trinity River. In
Jackson County, almost all of the Beaumont Formation
was deposited by paleo-Colorado, paleo-Lavaca, and
paleo-Navidad Rivers.
The surface of these alluvial plains of late
Pleistocene age have relict depositional topography.
The varying degrees of deterioration of the fluvial
patterns determines at least the broad soil patterns
shown on the general soil map.
The major relict patterns on the Beaumont Formation
that surface in Jackson County and in other areas of
the Texas Gulf Coast consist of meander-belt ridges,
generally with a local relief of 5 to 10 feet, and lower
flood basins. The meander-belt ridges have loamy and
sandy soils, pimple mounds, undrained depressions,
and segments of meandering stream channels. The
lower flood basins have clayey and loamy soils that
have a high shrink-swell potential. The clayey flood
basins in many places have a smooth to slightly
"wormy" appearance on aerial photographs, which is an
indication of gilgai microrelief (12). In most places the
patterns of meander-belt ridges are anastomosing orreticulate, as a result of numerous changes in the
courses of depositing streams.
In Jackson County, soils in the Lawest-Dacosta and
Palacios-Francitas general soil map units were formed
from flood basin deposits. Soils in the Telferner-Edna,
Texana-Edna, and Livco general soil map units were
formed from materials on the meander-belt ridges.
The surface of the Beaumont Formation east of the
Lavaca River and Lake Texana and south of Mustang
Creek was probably deposited by a larger extrabasinal
paleo-Colorado River. The entwining pattern of the
Texana-Cieno, Telferner-Edna, and Livco general soil
map units shows the shifting courses of this paleo-
stream. The trend of the relict meander-belt patterns
provides evidence that this part of the Beaumont
Formation originated with the paleo-Colorado River (10,
16, 17). This has been confirmed by a study on the
distribution of biotite mica in soils that have parent
material that originated with the Colorado River (15).
The remainder of the Beaumont Formation was
deposited principally by paleo-Lavaca and paleo-
Navidad Rivers.
The relict meandering stream and point-bar patterns
on the paleo-stream terraces in Wharton, Brazoria,
Harris, Galveston, Chambers, and Jefferson Counties
are more distinguishable. In many areas in these
counties, specific soils are associated with the fillings in
relict channels and point-bar deposits. In Jackson
County, the relationship between soils and geomorphic
features is more difficult to recognize because the
features are smaller and the margins are blurred.
The obscurity of meander-belt ridges in this area may
be the result of age differences within the Beaumont
Formation, the small size of meander patterns that were
produced by the Lavaca and Navidad Rivers, and
increased surface modification caused by eolian
processes, probably resulting from a steady decrease in
rainfall along the Texas coast to the southwest.
Even though the meander-belt ridges are not as well
preserved in Jackson County as in counties to the
north, a few can be seen on the detailed soil maps. A
comparison of fairly recent aerial photographs used for
the soil base maps with aerial photographs made in
previous decades shows better preserved meander-belt
ridges on the earlier photographs. This hastening of
natural processes was probably a result of intensive
cultivation, drainage, and land leveling.
A well preserved meandering channel segment is
shown in the southeast corner of sheet 18 and on part
of sheet 19 of the detailed soil maps. The channel
merges into a tributary of West Carancahua Creek. It is
a relict paleo-Colorado River channel.
The contrast between the partly preserved
depositional patterns on the surface of the Beaumont92
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Miller, Wesley L. Soil Survey of Jackson County, Texas, book, May 1997; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth224539/m1/102/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.