Search results
Port Silt Loam can be found in 33 of the 77 counties in Oklahoma and covers around one million acres (4,000 km 2). The name comes from the small community of Port, in Washita County, and the texture of the top soil (silt loam).
Many states have a designated state bird, flower, fish, tree, rock, etc. And, many states also have a state soil – one that has significance or is important to the state. The Port Silt Loam is the oficial state soil of Oklahoma. Let’s explore how the Port Silt Loam is important to Oklahoma.
Principal reasons for soil erosion in Oklahoma are 1) insufficient vegetative cover, which usually is a result of inadequate fertility to support a good plant cover, 2) growing cultivated crops on soils not suited to cultivation and 3) improper tillage of the soil.
Port silt loam, our state soil, is the most common soil in Oklahoma and is present in at least 33 counties. It is very productive and is used to grow a wide range of crops—cotton, wheat, sorghums, oats and others.
Students will answer questions from a chart showing the many different varieties of soil in Oklahoma’s Major Land Resource Areas. Procedures Show students the Soil Map of Oklahoma, available online: http:// www.ogs.ou.edu/pubsscanned/EP9p16_19soil_veg_cl.pdf —Students will find your part of the state on the map.
Oklahoma's state soil is port silt loam. Port silt loam is dark brown to dark reddish brown and is derived from upland soil materials weathered from reddish sandstones, siltstones and shales. The natural soil supports a native, undisturbed vetetation of tall prairie grass and native trees, including pecan, walnut, bur oak and cottonwood.
Oklahoma designated Port silt loam (Cumulic haplustolls) as the official state soil in 1987; named after the small community of Port in Washita County, Oklahoma.
