LOCATION BOSWELL                 MS+AL AR LA

Established Series
Rev. HLN: WMK: RBH, GRB/REV. DTA
03/2026

BOSWELL SERIES

MLRA(s): 133C, 133B, 135A
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Southeast
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Moderately well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low
Shrink-swell Potential: High
Landscape: Coastal plain uplands
Landform: Flats, depressions, sloughs, and drainageways
Parent Material: Thick deposits of acid marine clays.
Slope: 1 to 17 percent
Elevation (type location): 145 meters (475 feet)
Frost Free Period (type location): 215 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 15 degrees C (59 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1168 millimeters (46 inches)

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Vertic Paleudalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Boswell fine sandy loam, in a forest (Colors are for moist soils).

A--0 to 5 centimeters (0 to 2 inches), dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 20 centimeters (1 to 8 inches) thick)

E--5 to 13 centimeters (2 to 5 inches), yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 13 centimeters (0 to 5 inches) thick)

Bt1--13 to 30 centimeters (5 to 12 inches), red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; strong fine and medium angular and subangular blocky structure; firm; plastic and sticky; few medium roots; some cracks and root channels filled with brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) material; few pressure faces on surfaces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--30 to 46 centimeters (12 to 18 inches), red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; plastic and sticky; few fine roots; some cracks and root channels filled with strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) material; common pressure faces on surfaces of peds; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the upper part of the Bt horizon ranges from 25 to 89 centimeters (10 to 35 inches)

Bt3--46 to 58 centimeters (18 to 23 inches), 34 percent red (2.5YR 4/6), 33 percent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and 33 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; very plastic and sticky; few fine roots; some cracks and root channels filled with strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) material; common pressure faces on surfaces of peds; the areas of red and yellowish brown are iron accumulations and the areas of light brownish gray are iron depletions; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt4--58 to 102 centimeters (23 to 40 inches), 50 percent red (2.5YR 4/6) and 50 percent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; very plastic and sticky; few slickensides that do not intersect; shiny faces on peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt5--102 to 132 centimeters (40 to 52 inches), 55 percent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and 45 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; very plastic and sticky; few medium slickensides having polished and grooved surfaces that do not intersect; the areas of light brownish gray are iron depletions and the areas of strong brown are iron accumulations; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt6--132 to 178 centimeters (52 to 70 inches), gray (10YR 6/1) clay; strong medium angular blocky structure; firm; very plastic and sticky; few medium slickensides having polished and grooved surfaces that do not intersect; few shale fragments; the gray matrix is derived from shale parent material and is not associated with wetness; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and red (2.5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) areas of iron depletions; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Jasper County, Mississippi. Approximately 0.5 mile northeast of Catholic Monastery on State Highway 18. About 120 feet north in a wooded area. NE1/4, SE1/4, Sec. 36, T. 3 N., R. 11 E. USGS Paulding, Mississippi topographic quadrangle.

Latitude--32.0744
Longitude-- -89.0911
Datum--WGS84

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: More than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to seasonal high water table: 46 centimeters (18 inches) (perched) for 3 to 5 months (November to March)
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, except where the surface has been limed.

RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, chroma of 1 to 6. In severely eroded pedons, the Ap horizon has mixed colors from the upper part of the Bt horizon.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam or loam. In severely eroded pedons, texture includes silty clay loam or clay loam.

E horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, chroma of 3 or 4
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam or loam. In severely eroded pedons, texture includes silty clay loam or clay loam.

BE or EB horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 6, chroma of 3 to 5
Texture--loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or sandy clay

Upper Bt horizons:
Color--hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 4 to 6
Texture--silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay. A few pedons have a thin horizon of sandy clay loam that is generally less than 10 centimeters (4 inches) in thickness.
Redoximorphic features--shades of brown, yellow, red and gray range from none to many.

Lower Bt horizons:
Color--no dominant color and are multicolored in shades of red, gray, brown or yellow. In most pedons the basal Bt subhorizon has a gray matrix not related to wetness and having redox features in shades of red, brown, yellow and gray.
Texture--is silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay.

Btss horizon (if it occurs):
Color--no dominant color and are multicolored in shades of red, gray, brown or yellow
Texture--clay loam or clay.

COMPETING SERIES:
Gore soils--are on terrace positions in the Western Coastal Plain (MLRA 133B)
Susquehanna soils--are somewhat poorly drained and are on slightly lower positions

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Boswell soils are on uplands of the Gulf Coastal Plain Major Land Resource Area (133C). They formed in acid clayey marine or fluviatile sediments. Slopes range from 1 to 17 percent. The climate is humid subtropical. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is 66 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is 53 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Angie soils--lack the high base saturation and are not vertic
Cahaba soils--are well drained, fine-loamy, lack the high base saturation, and are on lower adjacent terraces that are subject to rare flooding
Ora soils--lack the high base saturation, are on similar to lower positions, and have a fragipan.
Ruston soils--are well drained, fine-loamy, and lack the high base saturation
Sawyer soils--are fine-silty and lack the high base saturation
Shubuta soils--are well drained and lack the high base saturation
Smithdale soils--are well drained, fine-loamy, and lack the high base saturation
Wilcox soils--are somewhat poorly drained, have a very high shrink-swell potential, and are underlain by shale

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Moderately well drained
Index Surface Runoff: High
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: Woodland and pasture
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--loblolly pine and shortleaf pine.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi
Extent: Moderate

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Choctaw County, Oklahoma; 1938.

REMARKS: The March 2026 revision changed the format. No data was changed.

Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 13 centimeters (0to 5 inches) (A and E horizons).
Argillic horizon--the zone from 13 to 178 centimeters (5 to 70 inches) (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, Bt4, Bt5 and Bt6 horizons).
Vertic features--more than 35 percent clay throughout the Bt horizon and slickensides that do not intersect in the zone from approximately 58 to 178 centimeters (23 to 70 inches (Bt4, Bt5, Bt6 horizons.
Base Saturation - More than 35 percent.
No free water has been observed in these soils but soil morphology suggests that they may be saturated within a depth of 46 to 107 centimeters (18 to 42 inches of the surface for short periods during winter and spring.

ADDITIONAL DATA: There are no known samples of Boswell in the database. Soils sampled as Boswell correlated into other series. This data can be viewed at the National Soil Survey website: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/querypage.aspx

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.