LOCATION CAPTINA                 AR+AL GA KY MD MO OH OK PA TN VA WV

Established Series
Rev. LBW/RLT
11/2021

CAPTINA SERIES


The Captina series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils on nearly level to moderately sloping uplands and old stream terraces of the Ozark Highlands. They formed in a thin mantle of silty material and the underlying colluvium and residuum weathered from limestone, cherty limestone and dolomite, or siltstone. Slopes range from 1 to 15 percent. Mean annual temperature is 56 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 45 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, siliceous, active, mesic Typic Fragiudults

TYPICAL PEDON: Captina silt loam, 2 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; many medium and fine roots; common fine dark iron-manganese concretions; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to l0 inches thick)

BE--9 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; many fine pores; common fine dark iron-manganese concretions; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)

Bt--14 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; common fine pores; few fine distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)

2Btxl--25 to 39 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very firm; 70 percent brittle; few fine roots in vertical gray seams; many medium and coarse vesicular pores containing dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay; many patchy thin clay films on faces of prisms; many coarse distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) iron depletions; few coarse prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary.

2Btx2--39 to 51 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate coarse subangular blocky; very firm; 60 percent brittle; few fine roots in gray seams; many medium vesicular pores containing dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay; many patchy thick clay films on faces of prisms; many coarse distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions; few medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; common medium dark manganese masses and concretions; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary.

2Btx3--51 to 58 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium blocky; very firm; brittle; many medium vesicular pores containing dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay flows; many fine prominent clay films on faces of peds; many coarse prominent gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions; 25 percent by volume chert gravel 2 mm to 20 mm in diameter; extremely acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizon is 6 to 50 inches)

3Bt1--58 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly clay; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; firm; many coarse prominent clay films on faces of peds; many coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; 80 percent by volume bedded chert gravel 2 mm to l5 cm in diameter; extremely acid; clear irregular boundary. (0 to l6 inches thick)

3Bt2--72 to 80 inches; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) very cherty clay; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; continuous thick clay films on faces of peds; 55 percent by volume weathered chert fragments 2 mm to 76 mm in diameter; extremely acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Benton County, Arkansas; 2.5 miles north of Cave Springs on Highway ll2, l.2 miles west and 0.3 mile north on county road in SWl/4NEl/4NEl/4 sec. 26, T. 9 N., R. 3l W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to consolidated bedrock is over 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from l6 to 38 inches. Chert fragment content ranges from 0 to 5 percent by volume above the fragipan.

The Ap horizon has hue of l0YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. In uncultivated areas the A horizon is 2 to 5 inches thick and has hue of l0YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid. It may be neutral where limed.

The E horizon, where present, has hue of l0YR, value of 5, and chroma of 3, or value of 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid.

The BE horizon has hue of l0YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid.

The Bt horizon has hue of l0YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. In some pedons, it has mottles in shades of gray, brown or red in the lower part. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.

The 2Btx horizon has hue of l0YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8, or with hue of 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6, and mottled in shades of gray and red, or it is a mottled horizon in shades of gray, brown, and red. Texture of the fine-earth is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam. The 2Btx horizon has 0 to 70 percent chert fragments with the most fragments typically being in the lower part. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.

The 3Bt horizon below the fragipan is variable in short distances. Hue ranges from l0R to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma 4 to 8, or it is a mottled horizon in shades of red, gray, and brown. Texture of the fine-earth is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay loam, or clay. Chert content is extremely variable over short distances ranging from as low as 30 percent to as much as 90 percent in discontinuous beds. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Captina soils are on nearly level to moderately sloping uplands and old stream terraces on the Ozark Highlands and other areas. They formed in a thin mantle of silty material and the underlying colluvium and residuum weathered from limestone, cherty limestone and dolomite, and siltstone bedrock. Slopes range from l to l5 percent, but typically are less than 8 percent. The average annual temperature ranges from 54 to 57 degrees F,, and average annual precipitation ranges from 42 to 46 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Agnos, Clarksville, Doniphan, Gassville, Gepp, Nixa, and Noark series. Agnos, Doniphan, and Gassville soils are on adjacent side slopes, have a clayey textural family, and do not have a fragipan. Clarksville and Noark soils are on side slopes, have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section, and do not have a fragipan. Gepp soils are on side slopes, have a very-fine textural family, and do not have a fragipan. Nixa soils are on ridgetops and have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is medium to high. Permeability is slow. The saturated hydraulic conducitivy is moderately high above the fragipan and moderately low in the fragipan.

USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for pasture and hay, but also cultivated for the production of corn, vegetable crops, small grain, apples, and grapes. Native vegetation was hardwood forests with small openings of tall grass prairies.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ozark Highlands of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and similar areas in Alabama,Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The series is of large extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Belmont County, Ohio; l927.

REMARKS: These soils could be classified as Oxyaquic Fragiudults, but there is currently no such classification in Soil Taxonony. Mineralogy data from the NSSL supports the classification.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to 9 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 14 to 25 inches (Bt horizon)
Fragipan - the zone from 25 to 58 inches (2Btx horizons)


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.