LOCATION BROWNDELL TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, smectitic, thermic, shallow Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Browndell loam--forest.(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 10 cm (0 to 4 in); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; weak fine subangular blocky and granular structure; friable, soft; many fine roots; few cobbles and stones; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 23 cm [2 to 9 in] thick)
Bt1--10 to 28 cm (4 to 11 in); grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very firm, extremely hard, very plastic and sticky; few apparent clay films; common fine roots; few fine faint pale brown masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (13 to 33 cm [5 to 13 in] thick)
B/C--28 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in); grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay and weakly consolidated volcanic tuff; common fine faint light brownish gray mottles; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) stains on faces of peds; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very firm, slightly hard, very plastic and sticky; tuffaceous material is friable when moist; few roots; few clay films; common fine faint light brownish gray iron depletions; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) coatings on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 cm [0 to 4 in] thick)
Cr--38 to 76 cm (15 to 30 in); pale olive (5Y 6/3) weakly consolidated tuffaceous sandstone; faces of angular fracture coated with light olive gray (5Y 6/2); few medium dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) streaks; massive; hard, hardness less than 3 on Mohs scale; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Newton County, Texas; from intersection of Farm Road 692 and Farm Road 255, near Toledo Bend Dam, 1.2 miles southwest on Farm Road 255; 200 feet south of road in forest. Haddens USGS quad; Latitude, 31 degrees, 9 minutes, 21.6 seconds N; Longitude, 93 degrees, 35 minutes, 20.3 seconds W. NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil Moisture: An udic soil moisture regime. The soil moisture control section is not dry in any part for more than 90 days in normal years.
Mean annual soil temperature: 19 to 21 degrees C (67 to 70 degrees F)
Depth to argillic horizon: 5 to 23 cm (2 to 9 in)
Thickness of solum: 36 to 50 cm (14 to 20 in)
Surface fragments: Cobbles and stones that are 3 to 15 or more inches in diameter are on the surface of most pedons and cover up to 15 percent of the surface area.
A horizon
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 or 4, where moist value is less than 3.5, the layer is thinner than 5 inches
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: loam or fine sandy loam
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid (4.5 to 6.5)
Rock fragments: Gravel size fragments of siltstone or sandstone range from none to 10 percent by volume
E horizon where present
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 1 or 2
Texture: loam or fine sandy loam
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid (4.5 to 6.5)
Combined thickness of the A and the E horizon, when present, is 3 to 10 inches
The boundary between the A or E and the Bt horizon is clear or abrupt, and is smooth or wavy.
An abrupt textural change from the epipedon to the argillic horizon is diagnostic for the series.
Bt horizon
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Redox concentrations: where present - amount few or common, size fine to medium, contrast distinct, boundary clear, shades of brown
Redox depletions: where present - amount few or common, size fine to medium, contrast faint or distinct, boundary clear, shades of olive or gray wh
Other features: the grayish matrix colors are presumed to be inherited from the parent material.
Texture: clay, silty clay, clay loam
Clay content: 40 and 60 percent, but range below 40 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent by volume
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid (4.5 to 6.0)
BtC horizon where present
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 6
Chroma: 2 or 3
Redox concentrations: where present - amount few or common, size fine to medium, contrast distinct, boundary clear, shades of brown
Redox depletions: where present - amount few or common, size fine to medium, contrast faint or distinct, boundary clear, shades of olive or gray wh
Other features: the grayish matrix colors are presumed to be inherited from the parent material.
Texture: clay, silty clay, clay loam
Clay content: 40 and 60 percent, but range below 40 percent
Rock fragments: 0 to 15 percent by volume
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid (4.5 to 6.0)
Cr horizon
Color: shades of brown, olive, olive brown, or gray weakly consolidated tuffaceous sandstone and mudstone that is bentonitic but contains volcanic ash, volcanic glass, and other pyroclastic materials
Reaction: extremely acid to slightly acid (3.6 to 6.5)
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. The
Arriola,
Corrigan,
Kitterll, and
Shalba series are in closely related families.
Arriola and Corrigan soils: have a solum more than 50 cm (20 in) thick.
Kitterll soils: do not have an argillic horizon, are shallower than 36 cm (14 in), and are in a loamy family.
Shalba soils: formed under a dryer climate and receive less than 76 cm (30 in) of summer rainfall.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Parent material: Acid tuffaceous siltstone and sandstone of the Catahoula Formation
Landscape: Coastal Plain
Landform: Interfluve
Slope: 2 to 15 percent
Mean annual air temperature range: 19 to 21 degrees C (66 to 70 degrees F)
Mean annual rainfall range: 1118 to 1422 mm (44 to 56 in). Warm season rainfall is 762 to 889mm (30 to 35 in)
Frost-free period: 235 to 250 days
Elevation: 76 to 145 m (250 to 475 ft)
Thornthwaite P-E index: Greater than 72
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the cclosely related
Corrigan and
Kitterll series and the
Boykin,
Kisatchie,
Letney,
Rayburn, and
Tahoula series.
Boykin and Letney soils: are on similar positions, have a thicker solum, and have a sandy epipedon more than 50 cm (20 in) thick.
Corrigan and Tahoula soils: are on similar sideslope positions.
Tahoula soils: are clayey throughout and have a thicker solum.
Kisatchie and Rayburn soils: are on slightly higher convex positions and have a thicker solum.
Kitterll soils: are on similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; very high rate of runoff; very slow permeability. The soil above the paralithic contact is saturated with water for periods up to 1 month, generally during the cool season in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used for woodland and grazing of livestock. Vegetation is pinehill bluestem, paspalum, Virginia wildrye, brownseed paspalum, longleaf pine, shortleaf pine, and loblolly pine with a few hardwood trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Coastal Plain (MLRA 133B) of East Texas and possibly Louisiana. The series is of minor extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Newton County, Texas; 1980.
REMARKS: The base saturation is probably above 60 percent based on data from a similar soil. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the type locstion pedon include:
Ochric epipedon -------- 0 to 4 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon ------- 4 to 11 inches (Bt horizon)
Abrupt textural change - 4 inches (top of Bt horizon)
Paralithic contact ----- 15 inches (top of Cr horizon)
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