LOCATION LIMROCK AL,TNTentative Series
The Limrock series consists of moderately deep, well drained, stony and boundery soils on rolling to very steep hillsides. The soils formed in material weathered from argillaceous limestone. Slopes range from 5 to 65 percent. The mean annual temperature is 59.5 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is 58.7 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, smectitic, thermic Vertic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Limrock very bouldery clay- on a 30 percent slope - wooded. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 4 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very bouldery clay; strong fine granular structure; friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many fine and very fine roots, common medium and coarse roots throughout; few very fine dendritic tubular pores throughout; approximately 20 percent limestone boulders, 15 percent stones, 5 percent flagstones, and 5 percent channers of limestone; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.(2 to 6 inches thick)
BA--4 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very stony clay; strong very fine and fine angular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout; few very fine dendritic tubular pores throughout; approximately 10 percent stones, 10 percent flagstones, and 15 percent channers of limestone; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bw1--8 to 18 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very stony clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; common fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout; few very fine dendritic tubular pores throughout; about 15 percent stones, 15 percent flagstones, and 10 percent channers of limestone; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--18 to 24 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very bouldery clay; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure parting to moderate fine angular blocky; firm, very sticky, very plastic; common very fine, fine, medium, and coarse roots throughout; few very fine dendritic tubular pores throughout; about 15 percent boulders, 10 percent stones, 10 percent flagstones, and 10 percent channers of limestone; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 18 to 38 inches)
BC--24 to 28 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very flaggy clay; common medium faint light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) mottles; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; few fine, medium, and coarse roots; few very fine dendritic tubular pores throughout; about 25 percent flagstones and 25 percent channers of limestone; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary.
R--28 inches; hard limestone bedrock with thin strata of shale, fractures range from about 12 to 60 inches apart.
TYPE LOCATION: Miller Mountain, Jackson County, Alabama; From Francisco, 2.1 miles southeast on AL Highway 65; 4.5 miles north of Larkin, 0.8 miles northeast on the Hogyard Ridge logging road, 10 feet north of the logging road in woods. USGS Estill Fork Quad (Latitude: 34 degrees 58 minutes 20 seconds North; Longitude: 86 degrees 13 minutes 0.5 seconds West); elevation 1247 feet.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches, but commonly is less than 30 inches. Rock fragments, primarily limestone boulders and stones with lesser amounts of channers and flagstones, range from 15 to 60 percent by volume in each horizon. Reaction ranges from neutral through moderately alkaline.
The A horizon has hue of 2.5Y to 7.5YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
Some pedons may have a thin E horizon with hue of 2.5Y to 7.5YR, value of 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The BA horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y to 7.5YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Mottles in shades of brown range from none to common. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The Bw horizon has hue of 2.5Y to 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. Some pedons can have hue of 5YR in small pockets. Mottles in shades of yellow, brown, red, or gray range from none to common. Gray mottles are relicts of weathered parent material. Texture of the fine earth fraction is clay or silty clay.
The BC or C horizon, where present, have hue of 5Y to 7.5YR, value of 4 to
6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons are mottled in shades of yellow, brown, red, or gray without a dominant color. Gray mottles are relicts of weathered parent material. Texture of the fine earth fraction is clay or silty clay.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Similar
competing soils are the
Ashwood,
Barfield,
Carbo,
Colbert,
Gladdice,
Gladeville,
Lyerly, and
Talbott series. Gladeville and Barfield soils are less than 20 inches to bedrock. The Ashwood, Carbo, Colbert, Gladdice, Lyerly,
and Talbott series have less than 35 percent rock fragments in the control
section. Colbert and Lyerly soils have a water table or wetness features in the subsoil during parts of the year. Carbo soils are in the mesic temperature regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Limrock soils are on rolling to very steep hillsides in association with numerous outcrops of limestone bedrock. Slopes range from 5 to 65 percent, but are commonly steeper than 20 percent. They formed in fine textured residuum of limestone and, in some areas, a thin layer of soil creep. Sinkholes are common. Near the type location, the mean annual air temperature is 59.5 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 58.7 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Enders and
Bouldin soils on
higher mountain slopes.
Cobstone,
Colbert,
Gladdice,
Barfield, and
Etowah soils are in similar positions or in the valleys below.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium to very rapid runoff; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Forested areas consist mostly of white oak, northern red
oak, chinquapin oak, hickories, sugar maple, black gum, and eastern red
cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys and rocky outliers on the Highland Rim of Alabama and Tennessee. The series is of unknown extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: 2003, Jackson County, Alabama
REMARKS: The soil has previously been included in units known as Rockland and the Barfield, Talbott, or Carbo series.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (A horizon)
Cambic horizon - 8 to 24 inches (Bw horizon)
Characterization data for the typifying pedon is in the National Soil Survey
Laboratory database, pedon number 03AL-071-2. Data from two
additional pedons in the NSSL database are: 03AL-071-1 and
03TN-051-3. More data is available from Alabama A&M University, pedon
number 03TN-051-2, and Auburn University, pedon number 01AL-089-3.