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A soil profile of Woolper soil. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
The Woolper series consists of deep, well-drained soils on footslopes, fans, and terraces. They formed in colluvium or alluvium from soils of limestone and shale origin. Permeability is moderately slow to slow. Slopes range from 0 to 50 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 45 inches, and the mean annual temperature is 55 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Argiudolls
The solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more, and depth to bedrock ranges from about 60 inches to 100 inches or more. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to mildly alkaline. The weighted average of rock fragments of limestone, siltstone, sandstone, or shale range from 0 to 15 percent but individual B horizons range to 35 percent. Some pedons have a few or common black or dark brown concretions or soft concretionary-like material in some or all horizons. The mollic epipedon ranges from 10 to about 24 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for hay, pasture, corn, or tobacco. Native forests have oaks, hickory, yellow poplar, maple, ash, hackberry, and black walnut as the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Extent is moderate.
For additional information about the soils of Kentucky, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/?utm_source=uknowledge.uky....
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/W/WOOLPER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Profile of Blackgap very gravelly loam in an area of Blackgap-Rock outcrop complex, 10 to 30 percent slopes. Hard limestone bedrock ranges in depth from 7 to 20 inches (18 cm to 51 cm). (Soil Survey of Big Bend National Park, Texas by James Gordon, Soil Scientist, James A. Douglass, Soil Scientist, and Dr. Lynn E. Loomis, Soil Scientist, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Blackgap series consists of very shallow to shallow, well drained, moderately permeable soils over very slowly permeable bedrock. These soils formed in cobbly, loamy residuum and colluvium derived from thick-bedded limestone bedrock. These nearly level to very steep soils have slopes ranging from 0 to 60 percent. The mean annual precipitation is about 280 mm (11 in) and the mean annual air temperature is about 21.1 degrees C (70 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, carbonatic, hyperthermic Lithic Ustic Haplocalcids
Because the epipedon has calcium carbonate equivalent greater than 40% and color value of 5 or less, it meets the color requirements for mollic epipedon. However, the soil does not meet the moisture requirement for a mollic epipedon because it is moist in some part of the epipedon for less than 90 days (cumulative) in normal years during times when the soil temperature at a depth of 50 cm (20 in) is 5 degrees C (41 degrees F).
Soil moisture: The moisture control section is dry in all parts more than three fourths of the time the soil temperature exceeds 5.0 degrees C (41 degrees F). Intermittently moist in some part of the soil moisture control section during June to September. More than 60 percent of the annual rainfall occurs during that period. The soil does not receive significant amounts of moisture during winter months. Ustic aridic soil moisture regime.
USE AND VEGETATION: Rangeland used for livestock grazing, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Vegetation physiognomy is desert shrubland. Dominant woody plants are creosotebush, ocotillo, lechuguilla, and dalea species. Grasses include Chino grama, red grama, and tridens species. Other characteristic plants include leatherstem, candelilla, and false agave.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: LRR I, MLRA 81D, Southern Edwards Plateau. The series is extensive. Blackgap soils were formerly included in the Lozier series.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/texas/bigbendT...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BLACKGAP.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of an Inceptisol (bordrline Oxisol) from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
This pedon has a lithologic discontinuity at a depth of about 50 centimeters (loamy colluvium over heavier-textured residuum).
Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have an ochric or umbric horizon and a cambic subsurface horizon. The central concept of Inceptisols is that of soils that are of cool to very warm, humid and subhumid regions and that have a cambic horizon and an ochric epipedon. The order of Inceptisols includes a wide variety of soils. In some areas Inceptisols are soils with minimal development, while in other areas they are soils with diagnostic horizons that merely fail the criteria of the other soil orders. Inceptisols have many kinds of diagnostic horizons and epipedons.
Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Oxisols are weathered soils that are low in fertility. They are most common on the gentle slopes of geologically old surfaces in tropical and subtropical regions. Their profiles are distinctive because of a lack of obvious horizons. Their surface horizons are normally somewhat darker than the subsoil, but the transition of subsoil features is gradual. Some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.
In the Brazil soil classification system, these Latossolos are highly weathered soils composed mostly of clay and weathering resistant sand particles. Clay silicates of low activity (kaolinite clays) or iron and aluminum oxide rich (haematite, goethite, gibbsite) are common. There are little noticeable horizonation differences. These are naturally very infertile soils, but, because of the ideal topography and physical conditions, some are being used for agricultural production. These soils do require fertilizers because of the ease of leaching of nutrients through the highly weathered soils.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
Profile of Zanesville silt loam in an area of Apalona-Zanesville silt loams, 2 to 6 percent slopes. This soil has a darker surface layer overlying a brown argillic horizon over a fragipan starting at a depth of about 80 centimeters. (Soil Survey of Harrison County, Indiana by Steven W. Neyhouse, Sr., Byron G. Nagel, Gary R. Struben, and Steven Blanford, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Setting
Landform: Hills underlain with Mississippian sandstone and shale bedrock
Position on landform: Summits and shoulders
Map Unit Composition
47 percent Apalona and similar soils
31 percent Zanesville and similar soils
Interpretive Groups
Land capability classification: 2e
Prime farmland: All areas are prime farmland
Properties and Qualities of the Zanesville Soil
Parent material: Loess over loamy residuum over Mississippian shale and sandstone bedrock
Drainage class: Moderately well drained
Permeability range to a depth of 40 inches: Very slow to moderate
Permeability range below a depth of 40 inches: Very slow to moderately rapid
Depth to restrictive feature: 20 to 40 inches to fragipan; 40 to 80 inches to lithic bedrock
Available water capacity: About 8.1 inches to a depth of 60 inches
Organic matter content of surface layer: 1.0 to 3.0 percent
Shrink-swell potential: Moderate
Highest perched seasonal high water table (depth, months): 2.0 feet; January,
February, and March
Ponding: None
Flooding: None
Hydric soil: No
Potential frost action: High
Corrosivity: High for steel and high for concrete
Potential for surface runoff: Medium
Water erosion susceptibility: Moderate
Wind erosion susceptibility: Slight
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
archive.org/details/HarrisonIN2009
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/Z/ZANESVILLE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A soil profile of Decobb very fine sandy loam. Sandstone bedrock is below a depth of 5 feet. (Soil Survey of Jackson County, Oklahoma; by Richard Gelnar, Clay Salisbury, and Scott Keenan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Decobb series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils. These nearly level to gently sloping upland soils formed in loamy material weathered from weakly cemented sandstone of Permian age. Slope ranges from 0 to 5 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, thermic Typic Haplustalfs
Solum thickness and depth to soft sandstone bedrock is 60 to 80 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: Decobb soils are used mainly as cropland with some areas used as rangeland. The major crops grown are wheat and cotton. Native grasses consist of a mixture of tall, mid, and short grasses such as little bluestem, grama species, and buffalograss. Mesquite trees invade if not controlled.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Central Rolling Red Plains of southwestern Oklahoma and northcentral Texas LRR H (MLRA 78C). The series is of moderate extent. These soils were formerly included with the Cobb, Grandfield, and Miles series in previous soil surveys.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/oklahoma/OK065...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DECOBB.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
In some cases, a single master horizon designation does not adequately convey information about the layer, such as where the horizon transitions to another layer or where it contains distinct parts from two kinds of master horizons.
Transitional horizons are dominated by properties of one master horizon but have subordinate properties of another. They are designated by two capital-letter symbols, e.g., AB, EB, BE, or BC. The first letter indicates the horizon whose properties dominate the transitional horizon.
A horizon can be designated as transitional even if one of the master horizons to which it transitions is not present. For example, a BE horizon recognized in a truncated soil has properties similar to those of a BE horizon in a soil from which the overlying E horizon has not been removed by erosion. A BC horizon may be recognized even if no underlying C horizon is present: it transitions to assumed parent materials.
This is an example of the aquitard layer below a well developed plinthic B horizon of a coastal plain soil. This BC 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 noncemented red or brown areas are very firm and brittle have a sandy clay loam texture, whereas the gray area has texture of clay loam or clay. Zones that roots can enter are greater than 10 cm apart.
It exhibits both fragic soil properties and properties of an argillic horizon.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
The Toisnot series consists of poorly drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in fluvial or marine sediments in the upper Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Fragiaquults
For a detailed description of the soil, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TOISNOT.html
A hydric soil is a soil that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part.
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing season. Water saturation (hydrology) largely determines how the soil develops and the types of plant and animal communities living in and on the soil. Wetlands may support both aquatic and terrestrial species. The prolonged presence of water creates conditions that favor the growth of specially adapted plants (hydrophytes) and promote the development of characteristic wetland (hydric) soils.
The concept of hydric soils includes soils developed under sufficiently wet conditions to support the growth and regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation. Soils that are sufficiently wet because of artificial measures are included in the concept of hydric soils. Also, soils in which the hydrology has been artificially modified are hydric if the soil, in an unaltered state, was hydric. Some soil series, designated as hydric, have phases that are not hydric depending on water table, flooding, and ponding characteristics.
For more information about Hydric Soils and their Field Indicators, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
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:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
A representative soil profile of the Hawthorne soil series. (Soil Survey of Macon County, Tennessee; by Charlie McCowan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Hawthorne series consists of moderately deep, somewhat excessively drained soils on uplands. The soil formed in residuum of interbedded siltstone and cherty limestone. Slopes range from 5 to 70 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 15 to 40 inches. Depth to soft bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is below 40 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid. Coarse fragments range from l0 to 35 percent in the A horizon, and 35 to 60 percent in the B and C horizons. Transitional horizons have colors and textures similar to adjacent horizon
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is woodland consisting of chestnut and white oaks, hickory, hackberry, and eastern red cedar. A few areas on ridgetops are cleared and used for pasture or hay.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Highland Rim and Nashville Basin of Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/maco...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HAWTHORNE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Note: The left side of the photo exhibits natural soil structure. The right side has been smoothed.
A soil profile of the Coyle soil series. (Soil Survey of Noble County, Oklahoma; by Gregory F. Scott, Troy L. Collier, Jim E. Henley, R. Dwaine Gelnar, and Karen B. Stevenson, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Coyle series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from sandstone of Permian age. These soils are on crests and side slopes of low hills in the Central Rolling Red Prairies (MLRA 80A). Slopes range from 1 to 12 percent. Mean annual air temperature is about 15.6 degrees C (60 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is about 910 mm (36 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, active, thermic Udic Argiustolls
Depth to paralithic contact: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 in)
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly used for livestock grazing or improved pasture. Some areas are cultivated with small grains being the principal crop. Native vegetation is tall grass prairie.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Central Oklahoma; LRR H; MLRA 80A; the series of large extent. These soils were formerly included in the Stoneburg series.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/oklahoma/OK103...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/COYLE.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
In prismatic structure, the individual units are bounded by flat to rounded vertical faces. Units are distinctly longer vertically, and the faces are typically casts or molds of adjoining units. Vertices are angular or subrounded; the tops of the prisms are somewhat indistinct or flat. Prismatic structures are characteristic of the B horizons or subsoils. The vertical cracks result from freezing and thawing and wetting and drying as well as the downward movement of water and roots.
There are five major classes of macrostructure seen in soils: platy, prismatic, columnar, granular, and blocky. There are also structureless conditions. Some soils have simple structure, each unit being an entity without component smaller units. Others have compound structure, in which large units are composed of smaller units separated by persistent planes of weakness. (Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils; pp. 2-53.)
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:
A representative soil profile of the Barger soil series. The Barger series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils on upland ridgetops. They formed in a loamy mantle and the underlying loamy paleosol which has a high lag chert content. These soils have a compact, slowly permeable fragipan that formed in the cherty residuum. Slopes range from 2 to 12 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Fragiudults
Thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges between 18 to 30 inches. Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid. Subrounded fragments of chert and small pebbles 1/8 to 1 inch across range from 5 to 15 percent in the horizons above the fragipan. Angular fragment of chert up to 5 inches across range from 30 to 70 percent in the fragipan. The amount generally increases with depth.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of the Barger soils are used for forest. A few areas are used for pasture and cultivated crops. Several of the areas currently in forest were cleared but have been allowed to return to forest. The principal vegetation of the forest is mixed hardwoods of the oak-hickory type and pines.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys in Tennessee and possibly Georgia. The series is of moderate extent. Barger soils were formerly included in the Bodine and Shack series.
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/B/BARGER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of an Oxisol from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Oxisols are weathered soils that are low in fertility. They are most common on the gentle slopes of geologically old surfaces in tropical and subtropical regions. Their profiles are distinctive because of a lack of obvious horizons. Their surface horizons are normally somewhat darker than the subsoil, but the transition of subsoil features is gradual. Some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.
In the Brazil soil classification system, these Latossolos are highly weathered soils composed mostly of clay and weathering resistant sand particles. Clay silicates of low activity (kaolinite clays) or iron and aluminum oxide rich (haematite, goethite, gibbsite) are common. There are little noticeable horizonation differences. These are naturally very infertile soils, but, because of the ideal topography and physical conditions, some are being used for agricultural production. These soils do require fertilizers because of the ease of leaching of nutrients through the highly weathered soils.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
Sugar cane as cut and harvested. Sugarcane is commonly grown on Oxisols in Brazil. Oxisols are an order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest, 15-25 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are classified as ferralsols in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources; some oxisols have been previously classified as laterite soils.The main processes of soil formation of oxisols are weathering, humification and pedoturbation due to animals. These processes produce the characteristic soil profile. They are defined as soils containing at all depths no more than 10 percent weatherable minerals, and low cation exchange capacity. Oxisols are always a red or yellowish color, due to the high concentration of iron(III) and aluminium oxides and hydroxides. In addition they also contain quartz and kaolin, plus small amounts of other clay minerals and organic matter.
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Ken Bates, Soil Scientist was helping transect the rugged mountainous terrain of Pike County, KY in the fall of 1981 as part of the efforts to complete the Pike County Soil Survey.
A soil scientist is someone trained to analyze and interpret soils and related data to understand soil resources. Their work not only supports agricultural production but also addresses environmental quality and the management of soils to protect human health and the environment. A degree in Soil Science or a related field, such as natural resources, environmental science, or earth science, is required. It should include enough soil-related coursework to ensure a solid understanding of topics like soil morphology, soil-forming factors, soil chemistry, soil physics, soil biology, and how these areas interact dynamically.
In soil science, the "C" horizon is the soil layer consisting more or less of weathered parent rock or deposited material that is little affected by pedogenesis (soil formation). If an overlying horizon contains a significant amount of clay, over time, the clay may be transported into and along vertical cracks or along channels within macropores creating clay coats or clay flows.
This is an example of the aquitard layer below a well developed plinthic B horizon of a coastal plain soil. The 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 are currently void of roots due to decomposition), allowing for the transmission of air and water within the channel.
Because of the dark red color and dense characteristics, these layers are referred to by the local soil scientists as the "brick" layer.
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:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
A petroferric (Gr. petra, rock, and L. ferrum, iron; implying ironstone) contact is a boundary between soil and a continuous layer of indurated material in which iron is an important cement and organic matter is either absent or present only in traces. The indurated layer must be continuous within the limits of each pedon, but it may be fractured if the average lateral distance between fractures is 10 cm or more. The fact that this ironstone layer contains little or no organic matter distinguishes it from a placic horizon and an indurated spodic horizon (ortstein), both of which contain organic matter.
Using GPR to Characterize Plinthite and Ironstone Layers in Ultisols. Available from: www.researchgate.net/publication/282805887_Using_GPR_to_C... [accessed Dec 09 2020].
Several features can aid in making the distinction between a lithic contact and a petroferric contact.
First, a petroferric contact is roughly horizontal.
Second, the material directly below a petroferric contact contains a high amount of iron (normally 30 percent or more Fe2O3
Third, the ironstone sheets below a petroferric contact are thin; their thickness ranges from a few centimeters to very few meters. Sandstone, on the other hand, may be thin or very thick, may be level-bedded or tilted, and may contain only a small percentage of Fe2O3.
Soil scientists record the characteristics of the pedons, associated plant communities, geology, landforms, and other features that they study. They describe the kind and arrangement of soil horizons and their color, texture, size and shape of soil aggregates, kind and amount of rock fragments, distribution of plant roots, reaction, and other features that enable them to classify and identify soils. They describe plant species present (their combinations, productivity, and condition) to classify plant communities, correlate them to the soils with which they are typically associated, and predict their response to management and change.
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:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
A representative soil profile of the Rains soil series in North Carolina. The left side of the profile exhibits natural soil structure; the right side has been smoothed to better show changes in soil color.
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very shallow, persistent
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None, very rare, rare, occasional, frequent for brief to
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Negligible
Permeability: Moderate (Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Lower, middle, upper coastal plain
Landform: Flats, depressions, Carolina bays
Geomorphic Component: Talfs, dips
Parent Material: Marine deposits, fluviomarine deposits
Slope: 0 to 2 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleaquults
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forest, cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, and small grains. Where wooded--pond pine, loblolly pine, and hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
Extent: Large.
The central concept for the Rains series does not include a flooding hazard. However, the series has been correlated in flood plain positions. Additional research is needed to determine if areas of Rains soils that are subject to flooding have haplic or pale clay distribution.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/R/RAINS.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile: The Magic series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from basalt. (Soil Survey of Camos County, Idaho; by Charles W. Case, Soil conservation Service)
Landscape: Magic soils are on lava plains and have slopes of 0 to 8 percent. Magic soils are used mainly for rangeland and limited irrigated and dry-farmed hay and small grain. Vegetation is alkali sagebrush, Idaho fescue, and Sandberg bluegrass.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, frigid Vertic Haploxerepts
Depth to bedrock and thickness of the solum are 25 to 40 inches. The soil between depths of 4 and 12 inches is moist in some part in October or early November and remains moist until July. Mean annual temperature is 41 to 45 degrees F., and the mean summer soil temperature is 60 degrees to 65 degrees F.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly rangeland, some irrigated and dry-farmed hay and small grain. Vegetation is alkali sagebrush, Idaho fescue, and Sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South-central Idaho. The series is inextensive.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MAGIC.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A sandy-skeletal Arenic Paleudult. Arenic Paleudults have a layer, starting at the mineral soil surface, that is between 50 and 100 cm thick and has a sandy or sandy-skeletal particle-size class, that is, the texture is sand or loamy sand. The soils are otherwise like Typic Paleudults in defined properties, but the argillic horizon tends to have more sand and less clay than the one in the Typic subgroup. In the United States.
Arenic Paleudults occur on the coastal plain from Maryland to Texas. The natural vegetation consisted of forest plants. The soils are of moderate extent. Slopes generally are nearly level to strongly sloping. Most of the soils are used as cropland or forest, but some are used as pasture.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
The Duckston series consists of poorly drained sands near the coast. These soils are in shallow depressions between coastal dunes and on nearly level flats between the dunes and the marshes. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, thermic Typic Psammaquents
USE AND VEGETATION: The native plant community consists of waxmyrtle, black willow, black highbush blueberry, marshhay cordgrass, dotted smartweed, three square, virginia buttonweed, and sphagnum moss.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Along the Atlantic coast in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is moderate in extent.
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
Established in 1996, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) is committed to protecting and enhancing air quality, groundwater as well as the biodiversity of our desert and marine ecosystem. By partnering with other government entities, the private sector, NGOs and global environmental agencies, we embrace international best practice, innovation and hard work to institute effective policy measures. We seek to raise environmental awareness, facilitate sustainable development and ensure environmental issues remain one of the top priorities of our national agenda.
A three-day international conference on Soil Classification and Reclamation of Degraded Lands in Arid Environments (ICSC 2010) bringing together more than 130 scholars, researchers and experts was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The conference, held under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), aims to share information on land use and planning and discuss various issues in the field of soil classification and reclamation of degraded lands in arid environments.
On the first day of the conference, EAD will reveal the outcomes of the Abu Dhabi Soil Survey, which was initiated in 2006 and completed at the end of 2009.
The conference, which is organized by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) from 17-19 May, 2010 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, was inaugurated by H.E. Majid Al Mansouri, EAD’s Secretary General.
In his opening speech, H.E Al Mansouri welcomed scientists, researchers and experts from 35 countries who have gathered to discuss various issues related to soil, land use and planning of agricultural expansion and sustainable use of natural resources.
"Our economy is rapidly growning and we have a hard desert environment, therefore we needed to identify the characteristics of soils in the various regions of the Emirate, for the development of land management and optimum economical use of those soils,” he said.
"EAD has undertaken an integrated project to survey the soils in the Emirate. This project has been brought to a successful conclusion after five years of studies, field surveys, and collection of soil samples, training and capacity-building culminating in the development of an integrated “Abu Dhabi Soil Information System” (ADSIS)”.
Dr Ahmed Al Masoum, ICBA’s Deputy Director General, said that "This conference is the beginning of a new era in soil research within the global scientific community."
"The Survey was the first of its kind in the Emirate and covered all areas of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Maps on current land use, vegetation and salinity were produced as well as detailed suitability maps for irrigated agriculture. The soil was mapped and classified using the latest satellite images, and norms and standards of the United States Department of Agriculture” he added.
Dr. Al Masoum added that the soil survey project was undertaken in two phases and involved the mapping and classification of the various types of soils in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in two different scales. In the first phase the entire emirate was surveyed at a scale of 1:100,000, and in the second phase 400,000 hectares of land, evaluated as suitable for irrigated agriculture was surveyed at a scale of 1:25,000.
“We have uncovered valuable information for strategic planning for sustainable land use in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and particularly for the development of agriculture and sustainable management of natural resources,” he said.
The conference will feature six keynote speakers from Australia and India, Austria, Spain, Thailand and the United States, in addition to 130 speakers representing 35 countries from all over the world. Speakers will highlight Soil Survey and Classification Strategies and Use in Different Ecological Zones; Advances in Soil Salinity Mapping, Monitoring and Reclamation; Land Use Planning and Policy Implications; Use of Marginal Quality Water in Agriculture and Landscaping and Research and Development/Innovations in Soil Classification & Reclamation.
A workshop on how to use soil survey data in planning and policy making will be held on the sidelines of the conference.
For more photos related to soils and landscapes visit:
Photo courtesy of EAD-Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. www.ead.gov.ae/
The soil survey of the Northern Emirates, United Arab Emirates (UAE) was conducted during 2010 – 2012. The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) implemented the Soil Survey through GRM International. The project was funded by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and its objective was to develop a digital soil information repository to aid in broad land-use planning and agricultural expansion in the Northern Emirates.
The survey used Geographic Information Systems, satellite image processing, and field mapping to produce a Soil Information System. Scientific and technical standards, including the soil classification system and nomenclature, were based on those of the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service. These standards have been used in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, and more recently in the Abu Dhabi soil survey project in the UAE. The project was completed at scale of 1:50,000.
A number of thematic maps, including suitability for irrigated agriculture, salinity, and current land use, were generated as part of the project. The Abu Dhabi Soils Information System (ADSIS) was expanded and enhanced and renamed to United Arab Emirates Soils Information System (UAESIS), to assist in the storage, processing, retrieval, and management of the national soil-related information.
Information from the soil survey is expected to be used by various groups, including the agricultural farming community, decision makers, land-use planners, officials, engineers, and environmental impact assessors. Conservationists and specialists in recreation, wildlife management, waste disposal, and pollution control will also use the soil information to help understand, protect and enhance the environment.
The report and maps provide a detailed assessment and account of soil in the Northern Emirates and are a fitting accompaniment to the Soil Survey of the Abu Dhabi Emirate. Finally, the project produced a national soil map of the United Arab Emirates, by compiling results from this survey, the soil survey of Abu Dhabi completed in 2010, and the soil map of Dubai developed in 2003.
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
vdocument.in/united-arab-emirates-keys-to-soil-taxonomy.h...
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:
Soil profile: A typical profile of a Nella soil. Nella soils are very deep and on mountain footslopes. They support highly productive woodlands of yellow-poplar, maple, and oak. (Soil Survey of Overton County, Tennessee; by Carlie McCowan, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Nella series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils. These soils formed in alluvium or colluvium and in residuum of limestone, sandstone and shale. They are on hillsides, benches and foot slopes. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
Solum thickness is greater than 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is 6 feet or more. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid except the surface layer is less acid where limed. Rock fragments range from 15 to about 35 percent in each horizon. The fragments are mostly sandstone and range from 0.25 inch to about 20 inches in diameter.
USE AND VEGETATION: About one-third is in forest consisting chiefly of oaks, hickories, yellow poplar, beech, and shortleaf and Virginia pine. Cleared areas are used chiefly for pasture but a few areas are cropped to tobacco, corn, truck, and small grain.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Appalachian Ridges and Valleys, Highland Rim, and Cumberland Plateau and Mountains in Tennessee and in Northwest Georgia, Northern Alabama, and Arkansas. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/tennessee/TN13...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/N/NELLA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Soil profile of Kleinpeter silt, 1 to 5 percent slopes. (Soil Survey of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana; by Donald R. McDaniel and Gerald J. Trahan)
KLEINPETER SERIES
The Kleinpeter series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in Peorian age loess deposits 4 to 10 feet thick over Pleistocene age terrace deposits. They are on salt domes. Slopes range from 0 to 30 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Glossudalfs
Solum thickness is more than 80 inches. Thickness of the loess over Pleistocene age terrace deposits (2Bt horizon) ranges from 4 to 10 feet. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly acid in the A horizon, and from very strongly acid through moderately acid in the E, Bt and Bt/E horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly used for woodland. Some small areas are in cropland or gardens.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Mississippi River Valley silty uplands (MLRA 134) in Louisiana. The series is of small extent. The series was proposed in 1996, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The series was retypified and established in St. Mary Parish by an Amendment to the Correlation in 2002 based on data from the hyperthermic study. It was reclassified from a Glossic Hapludalf to an Oxyaquic Glossudalf based on closer observations in a pit at the current type location. Kleinpeter soils were formerly included in the Memphis and Loring series.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/louisiana/LA10...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/K/KLEINPETER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Cedron series. (Soil Survey of Teton Area, Idaho and Wyoming; by Carla B. Rebernak, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Cedron series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils on flood plains and oxbows adjacent to rivers. These soils formed in silty alluvium. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual precipitation is 406 millimeters and the mean annual air temperature is 5 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, carbonatic Calcic Cryaquolls
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: pasture, cultivation (minimal acres primarily in barley production), wildlife habitat
Range/ecological site: R013XY039ID
Dominant native vegetation: Baltic rush, beaked sedge, red top, and willows
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Eastern Idaho, MLRA 13
Extent: The series is not extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/wyoming/TetonI...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CEDRON.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Ceda soil series. (Soil Survey of Sevier County, Arkansas; by Alex L. Winfrey, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Ceda series consists of very deep, well drained, rapidly permeable soils that formed in loamy, gravelly alluvium. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils are on flood plains of the Ouachita Mountains, MLRA 119, and the Arkansas Valley and Ridges, MLRA 118. Slopes are 0 to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, semiactive, nonacid, thermic Typic Udifluvents
Solum Thickness: 13 to 38 cm (5 to 15 inches)
Depth Class: Very deep
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: If it occurs, greater than 100 cm (40 inches)
Rock Fragment content: 15 to 60 percent, by volume, in the A horizons; 35 to 80 percent, by volume, in the C horizons.
Soil Reaction: Strongly acid to Slightly acid
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: native pasture and woodland
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--southern red oak, sweetgum, American sycamore, white oak, and shortleaf pine.
Pastureland--Bermuda grass, Bahaiagrass
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Ouachita Mountain of Arkansas and Oklahoma, Boston Mountain of Arkansas and Cumberland Plateau and Mountain of Alabama
Extent: Large extent, about 205,486 acres in size
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/arkansas/AR133...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CEDA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Eufaula series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in sandy sediments of Pleistocene age. These soils are on stabilized dunes on reworked stream terraces in the Central Rolling Red Prairies (MLRA 80A) and Northern Cross Timbers (MLRA 84A). Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual air temperature is 16 degrees C (61 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is 820 mm (32 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Siliceous, thermic Psammentic Paleustalfs
Solum depth: greater than 183 cm (72 in)
USE AND VEGETATION: Dominantly used for range. Considerable amounts of the loamy fine sand on lesser slopes are cropped to sorghums, small grains, and peanuts; or used for tame pastures. Native vegetation is post oak and blackjack oak with an understory of mid and tall grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
General area: central Oklahoma, central Texas, and south central Kansas
Land Resource Region: H-Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region, and J-Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region
MLRA 80A-Central Rolling Red Prairies, MLRA 84A-North Cross Timbers
Extent: large
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/E/EUFAULA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of Trevino stony loam. Trevino soils generally are near areas of Rock outcrop and on more recent pahoehoe flows, where loess and mixed alluvial deposits are less than 50 centimeters thick to bedrock. (Soil Survey of Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Idaho; by Francis R. Kukachka, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Trevino series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained soils on plains. They formed in loess, alluvium, and material weathered from basalt. Permeability is moderate. Slopes are 0 to 30 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 9 inches and the average annual temperature is about 49 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Lithic Xeric Haplocambids
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 56 degrees F.
Depth to bedrock - 8 to 20 inches
Depth to calcium carbonate - 8 to 18 inches
Particle-size control section
Clay content - 10 to 18 percent
Sand content - more than 15 percent coarser than VFS
Rock fragments - 0 to 35 percent including gravel, cobbles and stones
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mostly for rangeland and wildlife habitat. Some minor areas are irrigated and used for small grains, corn, beans, hay, and pasture. Potential vegetation in the natural plant community is Wyoming big sagebrush, Thurber needlegrass, and bluebunch wheatgrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Idaho; MLRA 11. The series is extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/idaho/cratersN...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TREVINO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
he Gramercy series consists of very deep, poorly drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in clayey over fine-silty alluvium. These soils are on alluvial flats and on the lower parts of natural levees on the alluvial plain of the Mississippi River and its distributaries. Mean annual air temperature is 68 degrees F. near the type location, and mean annual rainfall is about 65 inches. Slope is dominantly less than 0.5 percent but ranges to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, hyperthermic Chromic Epiaquerts
Solum thickness: 60 to more than 80 inches
Clay content in the Control Section: 35 to 60 percent. Some pedons have thin layers in the lower part of the control section that have more than 60 percent clay.
Redoximorphic features: Depleted matrix with iron accumulations throughout the solum
Other distinctive soil features: Depth to subsoil layers with less than 40 percent clay ranges from 30 to 60 inches. A clayey discontinuity is at 60 to more than 80 inches deep in some pedons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Gramercy soils are cultivated to sugarcane, soybeans, cotton, small grains, corn, hay, or pasture. A smaller amount of the total acreage is in bottomland hardwoods. In wooded areas, the overstory generally consists of cherrybark oak, eastern cottonwood, green ash, nuttall oak, sweetgum, American sycamore, elm, water oak, hackberry, pecan, and water hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Mississippi Valley Alluvium (MLRA 131) in South-central Louisiana; The series is of moderate extent. Gramercy soils formerly were included with the Sharkey, Mhoon, and Tunica series.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GRAMERCY.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Gloucester series. (Photo provided by Jim Turenne, USDA-NRCS; New England Soil Profiles)
The Gloucester series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils formed in sandy till. They are nearly level through very steep soils on ground moraine uplands and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 through 50 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or very high. Mean annual temperature is about 48 degrees F. (9 degrees C) and mean annual precipitation is about 43 inches (1092 centimeters).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
Solum thickness ranges from 37 through 76 centimeters. Gravel content ranges from 5 through 30 percent in the surface, from 15 through 35 percent in the upper part of the Bw horizon, and from 20 through 45 percent in the lower part of the Bw and in the C horizon. Total rock fragment content ranges from 5 through 40 percent in the surface, from 15 through 50 percent in the upper part of the Bw horizon and from 35 through 70 percent in the lower part of the Bw and in the C horizon. Below the particle-size control section the total rock fragment content ranges from 10 through 70 percent in the C horizon. Reaction of the A horizon ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid, unless limed. Reaction of the Bw and C horizons ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly in forest. Cleared areas are used for hay, pasture, and silage corn, or are idle. Common tree species are oaks, gray birch, eastern white pine, maples, and eastern hemlock. Unimproved pasture and idle land contain juniper, sweet fern, hardhack, and blueberry. A few areas are in urban uses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, eastern New York, and Rhode Island. MLRAs 144A, 145, and 149B. The series is extensive, more than 100,000 acres.
For additional information about New England soils, visit:
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GLOUCESTER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
Note: The left side of the photo exhibits natural soil structure. The right side has been smoothed.
A representative soil profile of the Grenada series. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
The Grenada series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in thick loess. These soils are shallow or moderately deep to a fragipan that perches water during wet seasons in late winter and early in spring. Permeability is moderate above the fragipan and slow in the fragipan. These nearly level to strongly sloping soils are in the Southern Mississippi Valley Silty Uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, thermic Oxyaquic Fraglossudalfs
Note: The Grenada series classification was changed from a Glossic Fragiudalf to an Oxyaquic Fraglossudalf in 2001 because the former classification was removed from taxonomy. The depth to saturated zone that the series has been interpreted with, and the amount of albic intrusions observed in the upper part of the fragipan near the type location support this new classification.
Thickness of the solum is more than 80 inches. Depth to the fragipan generally ranges from 18 to 36 inches, however an eroded phase is recognized that has a fragipan as shallow as 12 inches. Combined thickness of horizons having less than 10 percent sand is more than 48 inches. The A, Bw, E, and upper part of the Btx/E horizons are very strongly acid to moderately acid except for the surface layer in areas that have been limed; the lower part of the Btx/E horizon and the Btx horizon range from strongly acid to neutral.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is used for row crops and pasture. Cotton, corn, and soybeans are principal crops. A small acreage is in mixed hardwoods including oaks, beech, hickory, elm, and tulip poplar. Shortleaf and loblolly pines are in the southern part of the range.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. This series is of large extent.
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/G/GRENADA.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Port series, the Oklahoma State Soil. (Soil Survey of Noble County, Oklahoma; by Gregory F. Scott, Troy L. Collier, Jim E. Henley, R. Dwaine Gelnar, and Karen B. Stevenson, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Port series consist of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable flood plain soils that formed in calcareous loamy alluvium of Recent age. These nearly level to very gently sloping soils are on narrow flood plains in the Central Rolling Red Prairies (MLRA-80A) and the Central Rolling Red Prairies (MLRA 78C). Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation is 32 inches. Mean annual temperature is 63 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, thermic Cumulic Haplustolls
Depth of secondary calcium carbonates ranges from 20 to 60 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The A, Bk/Bw, and C horizons are silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly cultivated to alfalfa, small grains, grain sorghum, and cotton. Some areas are used for tame pasture or rangeland for grazing beef cattle. Native vegetation is tall grasses with an overstory of pecan, black walnut, bur oak, and eastern cottonwood trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern part of the Central Rolling Red Plains (MLRA-78C) and the Central Rolling Red Prairies (MLRA-80A) of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The series is extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/oklahoma/OK103...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/PORT.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
The Hosmer series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in loess on hills. They are moderately deep to a fragipan. Slopes are commonly 2 to 12 percent, but range from 0 to 30 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1068 mm (42 inches) and mean annual temperature is about 14 degrees C (57 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 127 to more than 203 cm (50 to more than 80 inches)
Depth to the fragipan: 51 to 91 cm (20 to 36 inches)
The particle-size control section averages: 22 to 30 percent clay and 2 to 10 percent sand
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for growing corn, soybeans, winter wheat, or used for hay. Some areas are used for pasture and woodland. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Indiana, southern Illinois and western Kentucky. The acreage is of large extent and is in MLRAs 113, 114B, 115A, 120A and 120B. The type location is in MLRA 115A.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/H/HOSMER.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/see/#hosmer
Original photo by : M. McCauley
A representative soil profile of the Osito series. The Osito series consists of shallow, well drained soils formed in material weathered from interbedded sandstone and shale. Osito soils are on uplands and have slopes of 15 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is 432 centimeters (17 inches) and mean annual temperature is 14 degrees C (58 degrees F).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Typic Haploxerepts
Soil Moisture: usually dry below 10 cm (4 inches) for at least 45 consecutive days within the 4 months following the summer solstice.
Mean annual soil temperature: 15 to 21 degrees C (59 to 70 degrees F)
Depth to a paralithic contact: 25 to 50 cm (10 to 20 inches)
Rock fragments: less than 15 percent gravel in the solum
Reaction: neutral or mildly alkaline.
Organic carbon: averages less than 0.6 percent after mixing the upper 18 cm (7 inches)
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for watershed, wildlife habitat and recreation. The vegetation is chamise, manzanita, ceonothus, scrub oak, mountain mahogony, black sage, white sage, yerba santa, laurel sumac, buckwheat, and annual grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern California Mountain and foothills. This soil is moderately extensive.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/california/los...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/O/OSITO.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Rabun soil series on the farm of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, mesic Typic Rhodudults
The Rabun series consists of deep, well drained permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered from dark colored rock high in ferromagnesium minerals. These soils are on gently sloping to steep ridges and mountain slopes. The slope is dominantly 25 to 45 percent but ranges from 2 to 50 percent.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the sloping and much of the
moderately steep soils have been cleared and used for corn, hay, and pasture. Concave forested areas are mostly in yellow-poplar ridges and long slopes are mostly in upland oaks, eastern white pine, pitch pine, shortleaf pine, pignut hickory, and mockernut hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Appalachian Mountains of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, please visit:
Bohicket soil series:
casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/sde/?series=bohicket#osd
Marsh soils may give off a sulfurous odor. This odor is not a reliable indicator of the presence of significant amounts of oxidizable sulfides; however, odor can be a reliable indicator that sulfides are present. The sulfurous odor (“rotten egg smell”), if detected, should be noted in the soil description. Qualitative class terms for odor intensity are:
Slight.—Odor is faint, only detected close to nose.
Moderate.—Odor is readily noticeable, even at arm’s length from the nose.
Strong.—Odor is intense and readily noticed as soon as sample is exposed to the air.
A hydric soil is a soil that formed under conditions of saturation, flooding or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part. A Gley is a wetland soil ( hydric soil ) that, unless drained, is saturated with groundwater for long enough periods to develop a characteristic gleyic color pattern. This pattern is essentially made up of reddish, brownish, or yellowish colors at surfaces of soil particles and/or in the upper soil horizons mixed with greyish/blueish colors inside the peds and/or deeper in the soil.
In the humid environments, earthy materials may extend to a depth of many meters with no obvious changes below the upper 1 or 2 m, except for an occasional stone line. In many wet soils, gleyed soil material may begin a few centimeters below the surface and, in some areas, continue down for several meters apparently unchanged with increasing depth.
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:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hQaXV7MpM
For additional information about soil classification using USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/keys-...
or;
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/soil-...
For more information about Hydric Soils and their Field Indicators, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
For more soil related images, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Mazarn soil series. (Soil Survey of Montgomery County, Arkansas; by Jeffrey W. Olson, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
The Mazarn series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in loamy sediments from shale, siltstone and sandstone. These soils are adjacent to small, upland drains and intermittent streams in the Ouachita Mountains; MLRA 119. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 62 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 52 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Aquic Hapludults
Solum thickness and depth to weathered, shale bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid throughout.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for pasture and woodland. The native vegetation was mixed hardwoods and pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. The series is of small extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/arkansas/AR097...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/M/MAZARN.html
For acreage and geographic distribution, visit:
A representative soil profile of the Tannahill series in Idaho. The Tannahill series consists of deep, well drained soils that formed in material weathered from fine grained igneous rocks, mainly basalt, with some loess in the surface horizons. Tannahill soils are on south and west facing canyon slopes and have gradients of 7 to 90 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 14 inches and the average annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Calcic Argixerolls
Depth to bedrock is 40 to 60 inches or more. The mollic epipedon is 10 to 20 inches thick and may include the upper part of the argillic horizon. The top of the argillic horizon is within 24 inches of the surface and this horizon contains more than 35 percent rock fragments. Average annual soil temperature ranges from 49 to 56 degrees F. Average summer soil temperature ranges from 65 to 70 degrees F. The soils are usually moist but are dry for 45 to 90 days in the summer.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most is used for grazing by livestock and big game animals, some for recreation. The natural vegetation is mainly bluebunch wheatgrass, Sandberg bluegrass, arrowleaf balsamroot and pear cactus.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West-central Idaho, northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington; MLRA 9. The series is of moderate extent.
For additional information about Idaho soils, please visit:
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/97d01af9d4554b9097cb0a477e04...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/T/TANNAHILL.html
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Soil profile: Profile of Frederick silt loam. The argillic horizon begins at a depth of about 15 centimeters and extends to below a depth of more than 150 centimeters (Soil Survey of Bland County, Virginia; by Robert K. Conner, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Landscape: Hay windrows in an area of Frederick silt loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes.
The Frederick series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in residuum derived mainly from dolomitic limestone with interbeds of sandstone, siltstone, and shale. They are on are nearly level to very steep uplands. Permeability is moderate. Slopes range from 0 to 60 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 42 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 55 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudults
Solum thickness is more than 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 72 inches. Depth to the top of the argillic horizon ranges from 0 to 20 inches. Variegated colors in the solum range from 40 to more than 60 inches below the soil surface. Rock fragments are mostly chert and range from 0 to 60 percent in the A, E, BA, and BE horizons, and 0 to 35 percent in the Bt, BC, and C horizons. In some areas the upper part of the solum is capped with as much as 20 inches of silty material. The soil ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid, unless limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are cleared and cultivated. Crops are corn, small grain, hay, tobacco, and apple orchards. Most of the steeper areas are in pasture or forest. Vegetation is largely hardwoods such as oak, hickory, maple, and yellow poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Tennessee. The series is of large extent.
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/virginia/VA021...
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FREDERICK.html
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The Gooding series consists of deep to a duripan, well drained soils that formed in mixed alluvium and loess. Gooding soils are on alluvial fan terraces on basalt plains and buttes. Permeability is very slow. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 12 inches and the average annual air temperature is about 47 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Vertic Paleargids
Depth to calcium carbonates - 17 to 34 inches
Depth to bedrock - 41 inches or more
Depth to duripan - 40 to 60 inches
Average annual soil temperature - 47 to 53 degrees F.
Average summer soil temperature - 60 to 70 degrees F.
Other features - AE horizon occurs in some pedons
USE AND VEGETATION: Gooding soils are used mainly for rangeland, wildlife habitat, and irrigated pasture and cropland. Common crops are small grains, beans, and alfalfa. The dominant natural vegetation is Wyoming big sagebrush, alkali sagebrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, needlegrass, and sandberg bluegrass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: South central and southwest Idaho. The series is of moderate extent.
For a detailed description, visit:
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A soil profile of a well drained Eutrustox in a semiarid, tropical area of Jamaica. This soil has an ochric epipedon about 15 centimeters thick underlain by a reddish oxic horizon that extends to a depth of about 120 centimeters. Limestone bedrock is below thus depth. This soil has a relatively high level of natural fertility compared to most other highly weathered tropical soils. (Soil Survey Staff. 2015. Illustrated guide to Soil Taxonomy. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, Lincoln, Nebraska)
Eutrustox have high base saturation throughout the profile. They are well known by local farmers because of their relatively high natural fertility. Although a significant proportion of the exchange sites are occupied by base cations (positively charged plant nutrients), the total CEC of these soils is still low. As a result, the initial supply of naturally occurring plant nutrients is rapidly depleted by cropping. Supplemental irrigation is needed for continuous cropping. Commonly, these soils supported natural forests while the surrounding areas that had similar rainfall but low base saturation in the soil supported savannas. Currently, forest vegetation is rare because the forests have been completely cut by native farmers. The reason Ustox have high base saturation throughout their profile is not known, but these soils tend to occur over or near mafic (basic) rocks, such as limestone and basalt.
For additional information about soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/cla...
A representative soil profile of an Inceptisol from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Landscape: Typical landscape and vegetation (eucalyptus plantation) associated with Inceptisols occurring on an interfluve in Brazil.
Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have an ochric or umbric horizon and a cambic subsurface horizon. The central concept of Inceptisols is that of soils that are of cool to very warm, humid and subhumid regions and that have a cambic horizon and an ochric epipedon. The order of Inceptisols includes a wide variety of soils. In some areas Inceptisols are soils with minimal development, while in other areas they are soils with diagnostic horizons that merely fail the criteria of the other soil orders. Inceptisols have many kinds of diagnostic horizons and epipedons.
In the Brazil soil classification system, these Latossolos are highly weathered soils composed mostly of clay and weathering resistant sand particles. Clay silicates of low activity (kaolinite clays) or iron and aluminum oxide rich (haematite, goethite, gibbsite) are common. There are little noticeable horizonation differences. These are naturally very infertile soils, but, because of the ideal topography and physical conditions, some are being used for agricultural production. These soils do require fertilizers because of the ease of leaching of nutrients through the highly weathered soils.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
A representative soil profile of Lithic Ustipsamments, which have a thin cemented surface crust. (Soil Survey of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii; by Chris Jasper, United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service)
Lithic Ustipsamments in this survey area consist of very shallow and shallow soils in areas of pahoehoe lava. These soils formed in volcanic base surge and volcanic ash reworked by wind and water. Slopes range from 2 to 10 percent. The mean annual rainfall is about 1,015 millimeters (40 inches), and the mean annual air temperature is about 18 degrees C (65 degrees F).
These sandy soils are shallow to pahoehoe. Climatic conditions result in seasonal dryness. The pattern of seasonal rainfall, sandy texture, and shallow soil depth limit the success of seedling germination to winter and spring. The nutrient-holding capacity is low. If soil amendments are applied, quantities should be reduced and timing spaced so that loss through leaching is minimized. The capacity to supply natural potassium is low. The shallow soil depth affects the susceptibility to erosion
For additional information about the survey area, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/hawaii/HI701/0...
A representative soil profile of an Inceptisol from the Cerado physiographic region--a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and the Federal District of Brazil. (Horizonation is by Brazil soil classification system.)
Landscape: Typical landscape and vegetation associated with Inceptisols occurring on an interfluve in Brazil.
Inceptisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. They form quickly through alteration of parent material. They are more developed than Entisols. They have little or no accumulation of clays, iron oxide, aluminium oxide or organic matter. They have an ochric or umbric horizon and a cambic subsurface horizon. The central concept of Inceptisols is that of soils that are of cool to very warm, humid and subhumid regions and that have a cambic horizon and an ochric epipedon. The order of Inceptisols includes a wide variety of soils. In some areas Inceptisols are soils with minimal development, while in other areas they are soils with diagnostic horizons that merely fail the criteria of the other soil orders. Inceptisols have many kinds of diagnostic horizons and epipedons.
In the Brazil soil classification system these are Latossolos. They are highly weathered soils composed mostly of clay and weathering resistant sand particles. Clay silicates of low activity (kaolinite clays) or iron and aluminum oxide rich (haematite, goethite, gibbsite) are common. There are little noticeable horizonation differences. These are naturally very infertile soils, but, because of the ideal topography and physical conditions, some are being used for agricultural production. These soils do require fertilizers because of the ease of leaching of nutrients through the highly weathered soils.
For additional information about these soils, visit:
sites.google.com/site/soil350brazilsoilsla/soil-formation...
and...
For additional information about U.S. soil classification, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/survey/class...
A representative soil profile of the Pope series from eastern Kentucky.
The Pope series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in alluvium on flood plains. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. Slopes range from 0 to 4 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 48 inches and mean annual air temperature is about 53 degrees F. near the type location.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Fluventic Dystrudepts
Thickness of the solum ranges from 30 to 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rock fragments, mostly sandstone gravels and channers, range from 0 to 30 percent in the solum and 0 to 75 percent in the substratum. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through extremely acid, unless limed.
USE AND VEGETATION: Largely cultivated to corn, sorghum, small grains, tobacco, hay, pasture and vegetables. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forests of mainly tulip poplar, white oak, river birch, sycamore, beech and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Pope soils are found mainly in MLRAs 124, 125, 126, and 128 consisting of mountain and plateau areas of Kentucky, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Pope soils are also mapped less extensively in Alabama, Indiana, New Jersey and New York. The extent is large.
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/P/POPE.html
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The Dothan series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in thick beds of unconsolidated, medium to fine-textured marine sediments. Dothan soils are on interfluves. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 18 degrees C (65 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation is about 1360 millimeters (53 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Plinthic Kandiudults
Plinthite: Depth to horizons that contain 5 percent or more plinthite ranges from 60 to 152 centimeters (24 to 60 inches). Silt content is less than 20 percent. Clay content is between 18 to 35 percent in the upper 51 centimeters (20 inches) of the Bt horizon. Depth to Redox features: Predominantly greater than 102 centimeters (40 inches), but some pedons have iron depletions below a depth of 76 centimeters (30 inches).
USE AND VEGETATION:
Most areas of Dothan soils have been cleared and are used for the production of corn, cotton, peanuts, vegetable crops, hay, and pasture. Forested areas are in longleaf pine, loblolly pine, sweetgum, southern red oak, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA): The series occurs primarily in the Southern Coastal Plain (MLRA 133A), but it also occurs to a lesser extent in the Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 153A).
Extent: large extent
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/D/DOTHAN.html
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DESCRIPTION (Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils; Version 3.0, p.2-10):
"Few to common, coarse, prominent, black iron-manganese nodules, moist, dendritic, in the matrix, weakly cemented, sharp"
This concentration formed in a very poorly drained sandy substratum below organic layers. It was weakly cemented by aluminum-humus complexes and other amorphous materials, including iron and manganese. They formed along old abandoned root channels where water ladened with these materials accumulated.
For more information about describing and sampling soils, visit:
www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/guides-and-instructions/field...
For additional information on "How to Use the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils" (video reference), visit:
Soil profile: The Sadler series consists of deep or very deep, moderately well drained soils with a fragipan in the subsoil. The soil formed in a mantle of loess underlain by residuum of acid sandstone, siltstone, and shale on level to rolling upland ridgetops. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent. (Kentucky Soil Atlas; by Anastasios D. Karathanasis, University of Kentucky)
Landscape: Sadler soils are on level to rolling upland ridgetops. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent. The soil formed in 12 to 48 inches of loess underlain by residuum of acid sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Most areas are used for corn, small grains, soybeans, tobacco, specialized truck crops, hay, and pasture. The remainder are in forest. Native vegetation is chiefly oak, hickory, maple, gum poplar, dogwood, beech, ironwood, persimmon, and sassafras.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, semiactive, mesic Oxyaquic Fraglossudalfs
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Western Coalfields part of Kentucky (MLRA 120), southern and southeastern Ohio, Missouri and possibly Arkansas. The series is of moderate extent. The Sadler soils previously were included in the Tilsit series.
For additional information about Kentucky soils, visit:
uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/4/
For a detailed soil description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/S/SADLER.html
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A representative soil profile of the Ruston soil series: the State Soil of Louisiana. The left side of the profile exhibits natural soil structure; the right side has been smoothed to show change in color or features.
Established in 1909, the Ruston series was named for the town of Ruston which is the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. It is located in the north-central part of the state. In 1884, the town of Ruston was named for Robert E. Russ who offered 640 acres to the Vicksburg, Shreveport, and Pacific Railroad, stipulating that the tracks run across the property and that the land be used as a town site. At the time Ruston was selected as the state soil, it had the most extensive acreage and widespread distribution in the upland areas of Louisiana.
The Ruston series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in loamy marine or stream deposits. These soils are on uplands of the Western and Southern Coastal Plains. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
Solum thickness exceeds 60 inches. The Bt/E and B't horizons are definitive for the series. Calcium-magnesium ratios are variable in the Bt horizons, but typically are less than 1 in the B't horizons. The concept of the series limits the series to a bisequal profile. Soils formerly included in Ruston but having low silt content are excluded.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principal use is woodland consisting of southern pine and some hardwoods with understories of shrubs or grasses. A small acreage is used for cotton, corn, soybeans, small grain, truck crops, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Plains of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. The series is of large extent, with an area of more than 2 million acres.
For more information about this soil, visit:
www.soils4teachers.org/files/s4t/k12outreach/la-state-soi....
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soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/R/RUSTON.html
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The Fenwick series consists of moderately deep, moderately well drained soils with moderately slow permeability. These soils formed in material weathered from acid sandstone or interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Fenwick soils are on broad mountain ridgetops and benches. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 47 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Hapludults
Solum thickness and depth to bedrock are 20 to 40 inches. Sandstone fragments range from 0 to 15 percent by volume in the A, AB, BA, and Bt horizons and from 5 to 35 percent in the BC and C horizons. Fragments are commonly of channer and flagstone size. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through neutral in the A horizons and is very strongly acid or strongly acid in the Bt, BC, and C horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Fenwick soils are mostly in mixed hardwood forest. Many areas have been cleared for corn or hay crops or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia and possibly Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and western Virginia. The acreage is small.
These soils were previously mapped as Variants of the Cookport series. In West Virginia, they are associated with the Kanawha and New River Formations of the Pottsville group. It is not clear whether these soils formed in sandstone residuum or from extremely old sediments deposited on the sandstone.
For a detailed description, visit:
soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/F/FENWICK.html
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