LOCATION BRANDON KY+AR IL MO MS TN
Established Series
Rev. JCJ/JLN
10/2018
BRANDON SERIES
The Brandon series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in a silty mantle, presumably loess, that is 20 to 40 inches thick over very gravelly or gravelly marine and riverine deposited materials. Slopes range from 2 to 50 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Brandon silt loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 1 inch; dark gray (10YR 4/1) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 2 inches thick)
E--1 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
BE--9 to 13 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam, weak fine subangular and weak fine granular structure; friable; few fine roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bt--13 to 30 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint clay films and silt coatings on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 34 inches thick)
2C--30 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly fine sandy loam; massive; friable to slightly brittle in pockets; 70 percent rounded quartzite and chert gravel; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Calloway County, Kentucky; 10.2 miles northeast of Murray on Kentucky Highway 94; then 0.25 mile east on Kentucky Highway 1346; then 0.45 mile south on gravel road, at a point 0.33 mile south of Liberty Church, 20 yards east of the road. Latitude: 36/41/39N; Longitude: 88/9/09W
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to more than 48 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 5 percent in the solum and from 30 to 80 percent in the 2 Bt and 2C horizons. Reaction ranges from strongly to very strongly acid, except where limed.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is silt loam and the range allows silty clay loam in severely eroded pedons.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is silt loam or rarely silt.
The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 or 6. Texture is silt loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Some pedons have mottles and redox depletions in shades of brown or gray below a depth of 24 inches of the top of the argillic horizon.
The 2C horizon is variable in color, texture, and structure. Colors are commonly in shades of red, brown, or yellow. Some pedons have redox depletions and variegated parent material colors and/or silt coatings in shades of gray or brown. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or fine sandy loam. Some pedons have a 2Bt horizon with colors and textures similar to the 2C horizon. Many pedons have sandy or clayey strata within this horizon with gravelly, very gravelly, or extremely gravelly modifiers. Many pedons have thin seams of ironstone or sandstone in the 2C horizon. This horizon can vary from 20 to 40 percent brittleness to strongly cemented in some strata and pockets.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Choccolocco,
Hallison, and
Nixonton series. Choccolocco soils have few to common rounded quartz gravel throughout and are on nearly level stream terraces and flood plains. Hallison soils formed in Triassic basin siltstone, mudstone, and fine-grained sandstone and have a paralithic contact between 40 to 60 inches. Nixonton soils formed in loamy and silty marine sediments on the lower Coastal Plain and lack gravelly and very gravelly layers in the lower subsoil.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gently sloping to steep upland ridges and hillsides. Slopes range from 2 to 50 percent. These soils formed in a silty mantle, presumably loess, 20 to 40 inches thick, overlying very gravelly or gravelly water deposited materials. Near the type location, the average annual air temperature is 58 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation is 54 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Memphis,
Grenada,
Loring,
Lax,
Lexington,
Sengtown,
Minvale,
Feliciana, and
Saffell series. Memphis and Feliciana soils formed in more than 48 inches of loess. Grenada, Loring, and Lax soils have fragipans and are moderately well drained. Lexington soils have a solum more than 60 inches thick and have loamy sand or sand horizons at depths less than 48 inches. Sengtown soils are fine and formed in limestone residuum. Minvale soils are fine-loamy and formed in colluvium on footslopes. Saffell soils have loamy-skeletal textural control sections.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff ranges from low to high. Permeability is moderate in the silty upper part and is extremely variable in the gravelly substratum and can range from moderately rapid to slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in hardwood forest. The dominant woodland species are oak, hickory, black gum, elm, persimmon, dogwood, and sassafras. A few areas are in pasture and hay, corn, tobacco, and truck crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Western Kentucky and Tennessee, Mississippi, eastern Arkansas, and southern Illinois. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AUBURN, ALABAMA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Calloway County, Kentucky; 1937.
REMARKS: The Brandon series was classified as Red-Yellow Podzolic soils in the 1938 classification system.The MLRA soil survey regional responsibility was changed from was Lexington, Kentucky (MO18) to Little Rock Arkansas (MO16) on 1/19/2011. The justification for this change is the concept of Brandon is thin loess over Tertiary gravelly deposits and is not typical of the highland rim. In addition, the type location is currently located in MO16 and the majority of it is mapped in MLRA 134.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 9 inches (A & E)
Argillic horizon: 13 to 30 inches (Bt)
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.