LOCATION ALAMUCHEE AL
Established Series
Rev.JCT-MCH
03/2019
ALAMUCHEE SERIES
The Alamuchee Series consists of deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on floodplains and stream terraces in the Southern Coastal Plain. They formed in loamy alluvial deposits. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual temperature is 65 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 50 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, active, thermic Fluventic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Alamuchee sandy loam - on a 1 percent slope in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
Bwl--5 to 13 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--13 to 34 inches; mottled dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and (10YR 4/6) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bw3--34 to 52 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; few very fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 37 to 60 inches)
C--52 to 65 inches; stratified yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam and sandy loam; massive; very friable; common very fine flakes of mica; common areas of very pale brown (10YR 7/3) silt flows; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Sumter County, Alabama; 2 miles southwest of Whitfield; 2000 feet south and 550 feet east of the northwest corner of sec. 18, T. 16 N., R. 1 W.; lat. 32 degrees 21 minutes 39.92 seconds N. 88 degrees 7 minutes 34.03 minutes W., WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum is 40 to more than 60 inches. The soil contains less than 5 percent coarse fragments throughout and is very strongly acid to strongly acid throughout the solum, except for surface layers that have been limed.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 4. Where value and chroma is 3 or less, thickness of the A horizon is less than 7 inches. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Some pedons have a buried A horizon with the same hue, value, chroma, and texture as the A horizon. This horizon, where present is as much as 12 inches thick and is at a depth of 12 to 36 inches below the surface.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. Some pedon have mottles of brown, yellow or gray below a depth of 30 inches. Texture is dominately loam or sandy clay loam; but some pedons have a thin layer of clay loam or silty clay loam. Clay content of the control section ranges from 20 to 35 percent and silt content ranges from 20 to 40 percent. Some pedons have a buried Bt horizon below a depth of about 25 inches. Where present, this horizon has the same hue, value, chroma, and texture as the Bw horizon.
The BC horizon, where present, has the same hue, value, chroma, and texture as the Bw horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6 with mottles in shades of red, brown, or gray; or it is mottled in varying shades of red, brown, and gray. Texture is sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam and commonly is stratified with these textures.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Ennis and
Pruitton series. Ennis soils have more than 15 percent chert fragments throughout and Pruitton soils have more than 15 percent chert fragments in the C horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Alamuchee soils are on floodplains and stream terraces of the Southern Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Near the type location the mean annual temperature is 65 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation is 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are
Iuka,
Jena,
Kirkville,
Mooreville, and
Ochlockonee soils. Iuka soils have a coarse-loamy control section, formed in more recent deposits, and are on slightly lower elevations. Jena soils are on similar landforms but have a coarse-loamy control section. Kirkville soils have a coarse-loamy control section and are on slightly lower elevations. Mooreville soils are moderately well drained and are on slightly lower elevations. Ochlockonee soils have a coarse-loamy control section, formed in more recent deposits, and are on similar landforms.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate. A high water table is within 3 to 5 feet of the surface during winter and early in spring.
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost all areas of Alamuchee soils are wooded. Dominate overstory vegetation includes sweetgum, yellow-poplar, American sycamore, hickory, water oak, red maple, Eastern hophorn bean, and ironwood. Dominate understory vegetation includes Virginia creeper, panicum, trillium, greenbrier, poison ivy, muscadine grape, japanese honeysuckle, wood violets, buckeye, American beautyberry, dogwood, and trumpet creeper. Some areas are used for pasture or they are cultivated to grain sorghum or soybeans.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Floodplains and stream terraces of the Coastal Plain in Alabama and possibly Mississippi. The area is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES PROPOSED: Sumter County, Alabama, 1984.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 5 inches.
Cambic horizon - the zone from approximately 5 to 52 inches (Bwl, Bw2, and Bw3 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data for typifying pedon from Auburn University; Sample Numbers - S83AL-119-6 and S83AL-119-2.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.