LOCATION BELLPASS LA
Established Series
Rev. JLD-CLN
03/2019
BELLPASS SERIES
The Bellpass series consists of very deep, very poorly drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in moderately thick herbaceous organic materials overlying fluid clayey sediments in saline coastal marshes. Slopes range from 0 to 0.2 percent. These soils are flooded very frequently by saltwater during high tides.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, euic, hyperthermic Terric Haplosaprists
TYPICAL PEDON: Bellpass muck--on broad saltwater marsh. (Colors are for wet soils.)
Oa1--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) muck, same pressed and rubbed; about 15 percent fiber, about 5 percent rubbed; massive; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed and leaves hand empty; many live roots; dominantly herbaceous fiber; about 50 percent mineral material; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Oa2--6 to 10 inches; black (10YR 2/1) muck, same pressed and rubbed; about 10 percent fiber, about 5 percent rubbed; massive; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed leaving hand empty; few live roots; dominantly herbaceous fiber; about 70 percent mineral material; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Oa3--10 to 26 inches; black (10YR 2/1) muck, same pressed and rubbed; about 10 percent fiber, less than 1 percent rubbed; massive; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed leaving hand empty; dominantly herbaceous fiber; about 50 percent mineral material; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (combined thickness of the Oa horizons range from 16 to 51 inches)
Ag--26 to 32 inches; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) mucky clay; massive; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed leaving hand empty; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Cg1--32 to 58 inches; dark greenish gray (5BG 4/1) clay; massive; very fluid, flows easily between fingers when squeezed leaving hand empty; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 30 inches thick)
Cg2--58 to 74 inches; dark greenish gray (5BG 4/1) clay; massive; moderately fluid, flows slowly between fingers when squeezed leaving a small residue; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Lafourche Parish, Louisiana; 3.25 miles southeast of the town of Golden Meadow; 1,600 feet east of Bayou Lafourche on south side of large canal; lat. 29 degrees 20 minutes 2 seconds N. and long. 90 degrees 14 minutes 11 seconds W., WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the organic soil material ranges from 16 to 51 inches. The organic material is dominantly from herbaceous plants. Reaction of the organic layers ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline and reaction of the mineral layers ranges from slightly acid to moderately alkaline. In drained pedons the reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral throughout. The organic layers are dominantly sapric material but some pedons have layers, particularly surface layers, that are hemic or fibric materials, but their accumulative thickness is less than one-half the total thickness of the organic horizons. Salinity is high or very high and the conductivity of the saturation extract ranges from 8 to more than 16 dS/m in the upper 40 inches.
The O layers have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 or less. Mineral content averages 40 to 70 percent.
The Ag horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 or less. Texture is mucky clay or clay.
The Cg horizons have hue of 10YR to 5G or neutral, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or less. Texture is clay or silty clay. The n-value ranges from 0.7 to more than 1.0.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Allemands,
Bessie, and
Clovelly in the same family and the
Belhaven,
Carlin,
Dare,
Dorovan,
Kenner,
Lafitte,
Maurepas,
Ponzer,
Pungo, and
Tomoka series. Allemands soils have salinity content of less than 4 dS/m in the control section. Bessie soils have EC, or salinity, of more than 16 dS/m in the upper part. Clovelly soils have salinity less than 8 dS/m. Belhaven, Dare, Dorovan, Ponzer, Pungo, and Tomoka soils are more acid. Carlin, Kenner, Lafitte, and Maurepas soils have more than 51 inches of organic materials.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bellpass soils are on low Gulf coastal saline marshes at elevations of 1 foot or less. They flood very frequently and frequently with salt water during high tides. Slopes range from 0 to 0.2 percent. Near the type location the average annual rainfall is about 67 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 70 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Clovelly and
Lafitte soils and also the
Scatlake soils. Scatlake soils are at slightly higher elevations and are saline mineral soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Bellpass soils are very poorly drained. Runoff is negligble or ponded. Permeability is very slow. Water is 0.5 foot below the soil surface to 1 foot above during most of the year. During storms, tidal floodwater is up to 4 feet deep or more.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for wildlife habitat and recreation. This soil has many small areas of open water. The vegetation at the type location is smooth cordgrass and small amounts of seashore saltgrass. Other plant species include marshhay cordgrass, needlegrass rush, bushy sea-oxeye, saltwort, and saltmarsh aster.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Gulf Coast Marshes (MLRA 151) of Louisiana and possibly Mississippi and Texas. The extent is large.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AUBURN, ALABAMA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, May 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Sapric soil materials--0 to 26 inches (Oa horizons).
Ecological Site: Saline Organic Marsh.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Louisiana State University data (S94LA-109-012) from Terrebonne Parish.
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.