LOCATION LOCUST AL+GA OKEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic Glossic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Locust silt loam--idle.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)
A--0 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak fine
granular structure; friable; many fine roots; few wormcasts; few pebbles of quartzite; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4
to 10 inches thick)
B2t--8 to 24 inches; olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) crushed and uncrushed, light clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky
structure; friable; common fine roots; very thin patchy clay films
on faces of peds; few soft strong brown bodies; common pebbles of quartzite; old root channels filled with material from Ap horizon; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (12 to 26 inches thick)
B2t&A2x--24 to 28 inches; olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) light clay loam; many medium faint light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4), common medium distinct gray (5Y 6/1) mottles; weak coarse platy parting
to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly compact and brittle in place; common thin patchy clay films on
faces of peds; few fine roots; few vesicular pores lined with
clay; very strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (1 to 6
inches thick)
Bx1--28 to 39 inches; distinctly mottled light olive gray (5Y 6/2), light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4), olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6),
and gray (6Y 6/1) clay loam; weak coarse polyhedrons parting to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, compact
and brittle; many thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; common vesicles lined with clay; few black concretions; grayer areas are polygonal cracks surrounding the more yellow and brown prisms;
roots concentrated in gray cracks; few small pebbles; strongly
acid; gradual irregular boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bx2--39 to 51 inches; distinctly mottled light yellowish
brown (2.5Y 6/4), olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6), and gray (5Y 6/1),
loam; weak coarse polyhedrons parting to moderate medium blocky structure; hard, firm, very compact and brittle; many thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; common vesicles lined with clay; few black concretions; few small pebbles; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bx3--51 to 64 inches; coarsely mottled light olive gray (5Y 6/2), light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4), and brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) gravelly sandy loam; moderate medium blocky structure; firm, compact in place, brittle; few thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; many fine black concretions; few fragments of sandstone and shale; common pebbles of quartzite and chert; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
C--64 to 70 inches; coarsely mottled light yellowish brown
(10YR 6/4) and brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) cherty sandy loam;
massive; many fragments and pebbles of sandstone, shale, chert,
and quartzite; extremely difficult to dig with hand tools; few
black concretions; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Talladega County, Alabama; 7 miles west of
Talladega and one mile south of Jonesview School, and 100 feet
north of gravel road in the SW1/4SE1/4sec. 28, T. 12 S., R. 4 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is more than 4 feet. Depth to bedrock is more than 5 feet. Depth to the fragipan
ranges from 16 to 30 inches. Sandstone, shale, quartzite, and
chert pebbles or fragments are present in some pedons, but the content is less than 15 percent of individual horizons within the solum. Small soft brown and black bodies range from few to many throughout the pedon. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to very strongly acid except for the A horizon where limed.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 4. Texture is loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam with gravelly phases recognized.
The B2t horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. Texture is loam, sandy clay loam, silt
loam, or light clay loam. The B2t horizon has more than 20
percent silt and from 18 to 35 percent clay. Clay films are not consistently visible on either vertical or horizontal ped faces.
The Bx horizons are distinctly or prominently mottled with shades
of gray, yellow, brown, or red. Some pedons have matrix colors in hues of 10YR or yellower. Texture is clay loam, loam, or sandy
loam. Clay content ranges from 18 to 35 percent. The upper 6
inches of the fragipan contains a discontinuous A horizon
comprised mostly of clean, light gray, or gray sand grains.
The C horizon is mottled in shades of gray, brown, yellow, and
red. It is cherty clay loam, cherty sandy loam, or cherty loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.
Similar soils are the
Cane,
Dickson,
Sango,
Vaucluse, and
Wynnville series. Cane and Vaucluse soils have siliceous
mineralogy and have argillic horizons with clay films on vertical
and horizontal faces of peds above the fragipans. Dickson and Wynnville soils have siliceous mineralogy. In addition, Dickson soils have control sections above the fragipans with less than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine sand.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Locust soils are on level to sloping uplands
in the Appalachian Mountains and Limestone Valleys. Slope ranges from 0 to 10 percent. The regolith is local colluvium and
alluvium derived from sandstone, shale, quartzite, and chert.
Near the type location the average daily temperature for January
is 47 degrees F.; the average daily temperature for July is 80 degrees F.; mean annual temperature is 63 degrees F. and the
average annual precipitation is about 51 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing
Cane series, and the
Allen,
Anniston,
Holston, and
Wickham series.
Allen, Anniston, and Wickham soils have redder Bt horizons and
lack fragipans. Holston soils lack a fragipan.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; medium
runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used for cotton, corn, soybeans, small grains, pasture, and hay crops.
Some areas are idle or have been reforested with pine. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and pine
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alabama, Arkansas, and possibly Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of moderate
extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Etowah County, Alabama; 1908.