LOCATION CANE AL+AREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Cane loam--pasture.(Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; weak fine granular and weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; 15 percent by volume of chert fragments and quartzite pebbles; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--5 to 10 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) loam; many medium faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent by volume of chert fragments; brown mottles (25 percent by volume) are from the Ap horizon, mixed by plowing; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--10 to 25 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; 5 percent by volume of chert fragments and quartzite pebbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.(Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 30 inches.)
Bx1--25 to 37 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) sandy clay loam; common medium distinct very pale brown (10YR 7/4) mottles; weak coarse prismatic parting to moderate coarse platy and moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; compact and brittle; many fine pores; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; very pale brown mottles are friable, are less than 3 mm in horizontal dimensions, and fill voids around yellowish red prisms; 5 percent by volume of chert fragments and quartzite pebbles; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bx2--37 to 62 inches; red (2.5YR 4/8) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent light gray (10YR 7/1) mottles; weak coarse prismatic parting to moderate coarse platy and moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; compact and brittle; many fine pores; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; light gray mottles are friable, are less than 3 mm in horizontal dimensions, and fill voids around red prisms; 5 percent by volume of chert fragments and quartzite pebbles; strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the Bx horizon is 18 to more than 40 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: St. Clair County, Alabama, 2,100 feet east and 25 feet north of SW corner of NE1/4SE1/4, sec. 17, T. 15 S., R. 3 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock and solum thickness is more than 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan is 20 to 35 inches. Reaction is medium to very strongly acid throughout except where limed. Some part of the solum contains more than 5 percent by
volume of chert fragments and/or quartzite pebbles.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 through 6,
and chroma of 3 through 6. Some pedons have A1 horizons, less
than 7 inches thick, with hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 through
5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the A horizon is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or their gravelly analogues.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and
chroma of 4 through 8. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay
loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam with 18 to 35 percent clay,
more than 20 percent silt, and less than 45 percent sand coarser
than very fine sand. Content of chert fragments and/or quartzite pebbles is 0 to 15 percent by volume.
The Bx horizon has hue of 10YR through 2.5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 5 through 8 with common to many friable to very friable mottles in shades of gray, brown, yellow, and gray or it is
mottled with these colors. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam. Content of chert fragments and/or quartzite pebbles ranges from 0 to 15 percent by volume.
Some pedons have a B3 horizon within 60 inches of the surface and
a C horizon below a depth of about 60 inches. Hue, value, chroma, and texture ranges are similar to the Bx horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Ora,
Savannah,
Vaucluse, and
Wax series in the same family and the
Locust and
Tasso series in
related families. Ora and Vaucluse soils do not have more than 5 percent chert fragments or quartzite pebbles. In addition,
Vaucluse soils have more than 45 percent sand coarser than very
fine sand. Savannah and Wax soils have Bt horizons in hue of
7.5YR or yellower. Locust soils do not have Bt horizons above the fragipan. Tasso soils have horizons with properties of a fragipan
in less than 60 percent of their volume.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cane soils are on uplands of the Appalachian Plateau, Sand Mountain, Arkansas Valley and Ridges, and Limestone Valley. Slopes range from 2 to 12 percent. They formed in colluvium, old alluvium, or valley fill from interbedded
sandstone, shale, or cherty limestone. The climate is warm and humid. Near the type location the average daily temperature for January is 47 degrees F., the average daily temperature for July
is 80 degrees F., the mean annual temperature is 63 degrees F.,
and the mean annual precipitation is about 51 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing
Locust,
Tasso, and
Wax series, these are the
Allen,
Decatur,
Dewey,
Leesburg,
Minvale, and
Nella series. These soils do not
have fragipans. In addition, Decatur and Dewey soils have more
than 35 percent clay.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is medium, and permeability is moderate above the fragipan and slow
in the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of the soil is in pasture or cropped to cotton, corn, soybeans, and truck crops. Principal vegetation on uncleared areas is mixed pine and hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee.
The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Calhoun County, Alabama; 1959.