LOCATION ALCOVY GAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, thermic Oxyaquic Kanhapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Alcovy loamy sand--idle.
Ap--0 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
E--7 to 11 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--11 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--16 to 23 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; few medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 8 to 25 inches)
Btx1--23 to 32 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; many medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) and many medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate fine platy structure; firm and compact with dense and brittle brown platy material in 10 percent of volume; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Btx2--32 to 37 inches; mottled strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), yellowish red (5YR 5/8), red (2.5YR 4/8) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy clay; strong fine platy structure; very firm, dense and brittle, red and brown platy areas are 50 percent by volume, and firm in other 50 percent; 2 percent plinthite nodules; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btx3--37 to 45 inches; mottled strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), yellowish red (5YR 5/8), red (2.5YR 4/8), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy clay; strong fine platy structure; very firm, dense and brittle, red and brown platy areas are 50 percent by volume, and firm in other 50 percent; 2 percent plinthite nodules; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizon is 12 to 30 inches)
Cd1--45 to 64 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/8), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; massive; very firm and dense in place; few bodies of coarse sandy loam and sandy clay; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Cd2--64 to 80 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/8), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy clay; massive; very firm and dense in place; few bodies of coarse sandy loam; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Newton County, Georgia; 2.0 miles north of Oxford, Georgia on Georgia Highway 81 to Stone Road; 0.5 mile east to Georgia Highway 142; south 350 feet on Georgia Highway 142; south 150 feet on dirt road; 100 feet west of road in idle field.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Depth to the horizons with brittle properties is 20 to 36 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout except where the surface has been limed. Some pedons may contain few to common flakes of mica throughout the solum.
The A horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loamy sand or sandy loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 or 6. It is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, sandy loam, or coarse sandy loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. Mottles in shades of red, brown and yellow are none to many.
The Btx horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5, and chroma of 6 or 8. Mottles in shades of red, brown and yellow are common or many or some horizons are mottled in the same colors. Gray mottles occur in the lower Btx horizon. Texture is sandy clay loam, sandy clay, or clay loam. Brittleness is 10 to 55 percent, but is at least 40 percent in some part of the Btx horizon. Plinthite is 0 to 4 percent.
The BC horizon, where present, has color same as the Btx horizons or is mottled in shades of red, brown, yellow and gray. Texture is sandy clay loam or sandy clay.
The C or Cd horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 8 or it may be mottled in the same colors. Texture is sandy loam, sandy clay loam, sandy clay, clay loam or rarely clay with lenses of contrasting texture in most pedons. This horizon in some pedons may be very firm and
dense in place, suggesting semiconsolidation during deposition.
A 2C or 2Cd horizon, where present, has colors same as the C or Cd horizons and is saprolite from highly weathered acid crystalline rock that crushes to sandy loam, sandy clay loam or clay loam. Mica flakes are few to many.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Cowarts,
Marvyn,
Springhill and
Vaucluse series in the same family and the
Altavista,
Appling,
Colfax,
Durham,
Helena and
Wedowee series in closely related families. Cowarts, Marvyn, Springhill and Vaucluse soils all are derived from coastal plain marine sediments. In addition
Cowarts, Durham, Marvyn and Springhill soils do not have brittle features in their solum and Vaucluse soils have Bt horizons that range to 2.5YR hue. Altavista soils have mixed mineralogy and occur on stream terraces. Appling, Helena and Wedowee soils are in a clayey family. In addition Appling and Wedowee soils are well drained. Colfax soils are somewhat poorly drained.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Alcovy soils are on nearly level to gently sloping Piedmont uplands. Slopes range from 2 to 10 percent. Elevation ranges from 650 to 1,000 feet. The soil formed in old valley fill material and in the underlying residuum from crystalline rock on uplands of the Piedmont province. The mean annual temperature is about 60 to 67 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation is about 45 to 53 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Appling, Durham, Helena and Wedowee series there are the Ashlar, Cecil, Madison and Pacolet series. Ashlar soils are in a coarse-loamy family. Cecil, Madison and Pacolet soils have a red Bt horizon and are in a clayey family. In addition, Madison soils contain more mica.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Slow runoff. Permeability is moderately rapid in the surface and subsurface layers and slow in the Btx horizons, resulting in a perched water table during the wet seasons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of these soils have been cleared and used for growing cotton, small grain, corn, hay, and pasture. Most of the acreage has reverted to forests, chiefly loblolly pine. The original forest type is oak-pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont area of Georgia and possibly Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina. This series is of small extent; less than 2000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Newton County, Georgia; 1992.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to approximately 11 inches (Ap and E horizons).
Argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 11 to 45 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Btx1, Btx2 and Btx3 horizons).
Kandic horizon - the zone from approximately 11 to 45 inches with low activity clay in most of the horizon ( Bt1, Bt2, Btx1, Btx2, and Btx3 horizons).
The Btx horizons with 40 to 60 percent brittleness would key out as a member of the Fragic Kanhapludults if that subgroup were available. The small extent does not warrant a subgroup proposal.
Lab data generated by the University of Georgia Soil Characterization Laboratory, pedon S88GA217-005 is the basis for determination of clay activity.
Revised 3/97:RLV
ADDITIONAL DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
GA0096 ALCOVY 2- 10 60- 67 220-240 45- 53 650-1000
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
GA0096 NONE 2.0-3.0 PERCHED JAN-MAR 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
GA0096 0-11 SL LS 0- 5 85- 90 2-15 3- 10
GA0096 0-11 COSL LCOS 0- 5 75- 90 2-10 2- 5
GA0096 11-23 SL SCL CL 0- 5 80- 95 15-35 3- 6
GA0096 23-45 SCL SC CL 0- 5 90-100 25-50 4- 8
GA0096 45-80 SL SCL SC 0- 5 85-100 15-40 3- 6
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
GA0096 0-11 4.5- 5.5 .5-2. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW
GA0096 0-11 4.5- 5.5 .5-2. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW
GA0096 11-23 4.5- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
GA0096 23-45 4.5- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.06- 0.2 LOW
GA0096 45-80 4.5- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.2- 0.6 LOW
MLRA=136