LOCATION TUPELO TN+AL GAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Aquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Tupelo silt loam, nearly level depression-- cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; few fine and medium prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) mottles; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; common small and medium black manganese concretions; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 15 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few faint light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron concentrations; common fine and medium black and dark brown manganese concretions; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--15 to 23 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silty clay; moderate medium subangular and angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; many medium and coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron concentrations; common fine and medium dark brown manganese concretions; common fine distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) redox iron depletions; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--23 to 32 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) silty clay; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; many fine and medium prominent dark brown (7.5YR 4/4), and common fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) iron concentrations; common small and medium dark brown manganese concretions; common fine distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) redox iron depletions; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon ranges from 15 to 35 inches)
Btg--32 to 54 inches; gray (N 6/0 ) clay; weak medium angular blocky structure; firm; many distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay films on faces of peds; many medium and coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) iron concentrations; common medium and large black manganese concretions and stains on faces of peds; few 1/4 to 1 inch rounded pebbles of chert; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
Cg--54 to 65 inches; gray (N 6/0 ) clay; massive; very firm; many medium and coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) iron concentrations; many medium and coarse black manganese concretions; few 1/4 to 1 inch pebbles of chert; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
R--65 inches; hard limestone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Rutherford County, Tennessee; 1 mile north of Christiana; 400 feet west of Christiana Cemetery; 100 feet north of road, and 50 feet east of crossfence on Jordan Webb's farm.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Depth to limestone bedrock is more than 60 inches. Iron and manganese concretions range from none to many in each horizon. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the A and Bt horizons and from strongly acid to moderately alkaline in the Btg and Cg horizons. Rock fragments make up less than 5 percent of each horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Some pedons have a thin A horizon less than 7 inches thick with hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, loam, and clay loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
Some pedons have a thin BA horizon that is transitional in color and texture to the Bt and A horizons.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Few to many iron concentrations are in shades of brown and olive. Iron depletions with chroma 2 or less are within 30 inches of the soil surface. Texture is silty clay loam, clay, or silty clay.
The Btg and Cg horizons have hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2 or is neutral. Iron concentrations and iron depletions are in shades of brown, olive and gray. Texture is silty clay or clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Grubbs and Sobol series in the same family. Grubbs soils have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5YR in the upper part of the Bt horizon. Sobol soils have shale bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Soils in closely related families are the Capshaw, Colbert, and Wolftever series. Capshaw soils do not have chroma 2 or less redox depletions in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon and are moderately well drained.. Colbert soils have montmorillonitic mineralogy and bedrock at 40 to 60 inches. Wolftever soils have base saturation of less that 35 percent.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tupelo soils are on stream terraces and on broad upland flats. Slopes commonly are from 0 to 3 percent, but range to 6 percent. The soil formed in clayey alluvium, or in a thin layer of silty alluvium and the underlying clayey residuum. Near the type location mean annual precipitation is about 45 inches and mean annual air temperature is about 60 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the similar Capshaw and Colbert series and the Dowellton and Talbott series. Dowellton soils are poorly drained and are in slightly lower depressions on low terraces. Talbott soils are well drained and are on adjacent upland side slopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Tupelo soils are somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is slow and permeability is slow. The soils are subject to occasional or frequent flooding for brief periods.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil has been cleared and used mainly for pasture and hay. A few areas are used for growing corn, soybeans, sorghum, and small grains. Forested areas are in oak, hickory, ash, sweetgum, and yellow poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Tennessee, Kentucky, north Alabama, and northwest Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Alabama; 1945.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in the pedon:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (Ap)
Argillic horizon - 8 to 54 inches (Bt and Btg horizons)
Redoximorphic features - iron depletions and iron concentrations begin at 15 inches