LOCATION BEASON TN+AL

Established Series
Rev. JCJ/JLN
04/2011

BEASON SERIES

The Beason series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils on low stream terraces. These soils formed in fine and moderately fine textured alluvium. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Aquic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Beason silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 7 inches, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fine dark brown (10YR 3/3) and black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese concretions; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)

Bt1--7 to 18 inches, brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few fine faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common fine dark brown (10YR 3/3) and black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese concretions; few fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; ; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--18 to 28 inches, 34 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), 33 percent brown (10YR 5/3), and 33 percent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine distinct brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; many dark brown (10YR 3/3) and black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese concretions; few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt3--28 to 46 inches, 34 percent brown (10YR 5/3), 33 percent grayish brown (10YR 5/2), and 33 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay; weak medium and fine angular and subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds and in pore linings; many fine dark brown (10YR 3/3) and black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese concretions and nodules; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt4--46 to 63 inches, 34 percent grayish brown (10YR 5/2), 33 percent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), and 33 percent light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silty clay; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine dark brown (10YR 3/3) and black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese concretions, nodules, and black stains; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 16 inches thick) (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon 30-60 inches or more)

C--63 to 80 inches, dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; massive; friable; common fine dark brown (10YR 3/3) and black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese concretions and black stains; common coarse distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and common fine distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; common fine mica flakes; very strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Hardin County, Tennessee; three miles northwest of Savannah on Coffee Landing Road and 100 yards west of this road.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 35 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to very strongly acid in all horizons except the surface layer where limed. Fragments are less than 5 percent in all horizons. Transition horizons have colors and texture similar to adjacent horizons.

The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.

The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.

The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6 and chroma of 3 to 8 with redox features of chroma 2 or less and common to many iron and manganese concretions within the upper 10 inches of the Bt horizon. Most pedons are an evenly mottled pattern without a dominant color. The lower part of the Bt horizon or Btg horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 8 and chroma of 1 to 8 with few to many redox features in shades of brown and gray, with common to many iron and manganese concretions, nodules, and stains. Texture of the Bt or Btg horizon is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay but includes silt loam in the upper part. Clay content of the upper 20 inches of the B horizon ranges from 35 to about 45 percent and silt content is greater than 30 percent.

Many pedons have a transitional horizon between the B horizon and C horizon.

The C horizon or Cg horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 1 to 6 or is neutral. Most pedons are an evenly mottled pattern in shades of gray, brown, or yellow without a dominant color. Texture is commonly clay loam or silty clay loam but the range includes loam and silt loam. Add depth to bedrock greater than 60 inches.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beason soils are on low stream terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in fine or moderately fine textured alluvium. Average annual temperature is about 60.5 degrees F. and average annual precipitation is about 56.9 inches near the type location.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Wolftever series in slightly higher positions on low stream terraces, Etowah soils on the higher terraces, and Egam, Arrington, and Staser soils on the adjacent flood plains. Etowah soils are fine-loamy and are well drained. Egam, Arrington, and Staser soils have a mollic epipedon.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; slow to negligible runoff; moderately slow to slow permeability. Flooding is rare to occasional on most areas of the unit.

USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used mostly for crops or pasture. The main crops are soybeans and corn. The original vegetation was mixed hardwoods; mainly oak, hickory, maple, beech, gum, and poplar.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Highland Rim, Coastal Plain region, the Ridge and Valley of Tennessee, and possibly northern Alabama. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hardin County, Tennessee; 1961.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon- 0 to 7 inches (Ap horizon)

Argillic horizon- 7 to 63 inches (Bt1 to Bt4 horizons)

Aquic conditions- 7 to 63 inches

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.