Dothan soil and landscape SC
Dothan soils consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in thick beds of unconsolidated, medium to fine-textured marine sediments that contain 5 percent or more plinthite in the subsoil. This pedon contains about 5 percent nodular plinthite. Individual components within the map unit range from 3 to 10 percent plinthite. Soils with less than 5 percent plinthite are within the range in characteristics of the Barnwell soil series.
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BARNWELL.html
Plinthite commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations if a nodular, platy, or blocky form. it irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun.
The upper soil is commonly underlain by a dense compact layer. This horizon exhibits very weak very coarse blocky structure with very thick clay coating on internal seams or cracks. Clay coating is common in the very deep layers (3-4 meters or more below the soil surface) where pedogenesis is thought to be minimal or not present. The red area has a sandy loam to sandy clay loam texture, whereas the gray area has texture of clay loam or clay.
These tubes or channels are thought to be formed by biological activity at a time when the sediments were being deposited. In the current environment, they commonly contain coarse roots within elongated macropores. The macropores may be completed filled with soil material or they be open (areas that once contained live roots but currently void of roots due to decomposition), allowing for the transmission of air and water within the channel.
Some soil scientists have described these layers as BCd horizons and as densic materials (see Barnwell soil series); however, densic properties by definition cannot be pedogenic. Densic materials are relatively unaltered materials (do not meet the requirements for any other named diagnostic horizons or any other diagnostic soil characteristic). The bulk density or the organization is such that roots cannot enter, except in cracks.
Densic materials slake when an air-dry sample is placed in water and thus differ from paralithic materials and the material below a lithic contact, neither of which slake due to their degree of coherence. Densic materials have, at their upper boundary, a densic contact if they have no cracks or if the spacing of cracks that roots can enter is 10 cm or more. These materials can be used to differentiate soil series if the materials are within the series control section.
Because of the dark red color and dense characteristics, these layers are referred to by the local soil scientists as the "brick" layer. Additional investigation is needed to distinguish these aquitard layers (or brick layers) from those with fragic soil properties.
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DOTHAN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution of the soil series, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#dothan
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
Dothan soil and landscape SC
Dothan soils consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in thick beds of unconsolidated, medium to fine-textured marine sediments that contain 5 percent or more plinthite in the subsoil. This pedon contains about 5 percent nodular plinthite. Individual components within the map unit range from 3 to 10 percent plinthite. Soils with less than 5 percent plinthite are within the range in characteristics of the Barnwell soil series.
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BARNWELL.html
Plinthite commonly occurs as reddish redox concentrations if a nodular, platy, or blocky form. it irreversibly hardens upon exposure to repeated wetting and drying, especially if exposed to heat from the sun.
The upper soil is commonly underlain by a dense compact layer. This horizon exhibits very weak very coarse blocky structure with very thick clay coating on internal seams or cracks. Clay coating is common in the very deep layers (3-4 meters or more below the soil surface) where pedogenesis is thought to be minimal or not present. The red area has a sandy loam to sandy clay loam texture, whereas the gray area has texture of clay loam or clay.
These tubes or channels are thought to be formed by biological activity at a time when the sediments were being deposited. In the current environment, they commonly contain coarse roots within elongated macropores. The macropores may be completed filled with soil material or they be open (areas that once contained live roots but currently void of roots due to decomposition), allowing for the transmission of air and water within the channel.
Some soil scientists have described these layers as BCd horizons and as densic materials (see Barnwell soil series); however, densic properties by definition cannot be pedogenic. Densic materials are relatively unaltered materials (do not meet the requirements for any other named diagnostic horizons or any other diagnostic soil characteristic). The bulk density or the organization is such that roots cannot enter, except in cracks.
Densic materials slake when an air-dry sample is placed in water and thus differ from paralithic materials and the material below a lithic contact, neither of which slake due to their degree of coherence. Densic materials have, at their upper boundary, a densic contact if they have no cracks or if the spacing of cracks that roots can enter is 10 cm or more. These materials can be used to differentiate soil series if the materials are within the series control section.
Because of the dark red color and dense characteristics, these layers are referred to by the local soil scientists as the "brick" layer. Additional investigation is needed to distinguish these aquitard layers (or brick layers) from those with fragic soil properties.
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DOTHAN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution of the soil series, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#dothan
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
or Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey manual:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/The-Soil-Su...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit: