HomeSoil seriesOlton
Olton soil series
Olton soils cover 1,791,146 mapped acres, mostly in Texas and New Mexico. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 91% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 0%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 16 of the counties and cities on this site, including Parmer County, TX; Garza County, TX; Borden County, TX.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2016-08
of its land: shrink-swell limits houses without basements
of its land: a shallow water table limits basements
median highest linear extensibility (6% and up is high)
median highest clay content in the top 150 cm
USDA's description
The Olton series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in clayey, calcareous eolian sediments in the
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Olton, revised 2016-08. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 1,791,146 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 90.5% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 0.0% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 100.0% |
| Most common drainage class | Well drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | C |
| Taxonomic class | Fine, mixed, superactive, thermic Aridic Paleustolls |
| Type location | Randall County, Texas |
Where Olton is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Texas | 1,511,210 |
| New Mexico | 279,936 |
Places where Olton leads
Counties and cities where Olton covers more mapped land than any other series.
| Place | Share of mapped land |
|---|---|
| Crosbyton, TX | 82% |
| Hart, TX | 80% |
| Anton, TX | 77% |
| New Deal, TX | 64% |
| Friona, TX | 59% |
| Post, TX | 54% |
| Olton, TX | 50% |
| Parmer County, TX | 42% |
| Bovina, TX | 42% |
| Springlake, TX | 34% |
| Abernathy, TX | 32% |
| Spur, TX | 29% |
| Dickens, TX | 24% |
| Garza County, TX | 17% |
| Borden County, TX | 13% |
| Canyon, TX | 12% |
Other places where Olton is a main soil
Counties and cities where Olton is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
- Castro County, TX 26%
- Curry County, NM 21%
- Lubbock County, TX 19%
- Crosby County, TX 19%
- Hale County, TX 19%
- Dickens County, TX 11%
- Lamb County, TX 10%
- Deaf Smith County, TX 9%
- Randall County, TX 8%
- Floyd County, TX 8%
- Howard County, TX 6%
- Swisher County, TX 6%
- Quay County, NM 5%
- Briscoe County, TX 5%
- Armstrong County, TX 5%
Texas and Ohio cities
- Dimmitt, TX 32%
- Lorenzo, TX 32%
- Hale Center, TX 25%
- Shallowater, TX 22%
- Idalou, TX 17%
- Nazareth, TX 17%
- Littlefield, TX 17%
- Ralls, TX 16%
- Plainview, TX 14%
- Pampa, TX 12%
- Lubbock, TX 10%
- Booker, TX 9%
- Darrouzett, TX 8%
- Slaton, TX 7%
- Claude, TX 7%
- Earth, TX 5%
- Vega, TX 5%
- Floydada, TX 4%
- Petersburg, TX 4%
- Lockney, TX 4%
- Silverton, TX 4%
- Kress, TX 4%
- Howardwick, TX 4%
- Hedley, TX 4%
- Wolfforth, TX 4%
- Tulia, TX 4%
- Hereford, TX 3%
- Happy, TX 3%
- White Deer, TX 3%
- Panhandle, TX 3%
- Groom, TX 3%
Sources
Shares and properties: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access, weighted by each component's share of its map units. Description: the USDA NRCS series description. How we count.