LOCATION CARUTHERSVILLE MO
Established Series
Rev. RLT-LJG
10/2018
CARUTHERSVILLE SERIES
The Caruthersville series consists of deep, moderately well drained, moderately permeable soils formed in loamy alluvium on flood plains or natural levees. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 50 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, thermic Typic Udifluvents
TYPICAL PEDON: Caruthersville very fine sandy loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.
Ap--0 to 11 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very fine sandy loam, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common worm casts; common fine roots; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 14 inches thick)
C1--11 to 17 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very fine sandy loam; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; very weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; common worm casts and fine pores; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
C2--17 to 24 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very fine sandy loam; few fine faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; massive, with fine bedding planes; very friable; few fine roots; common fine pores and worm casts; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
C3--24 to 49 inches; thinly stratified brown (10YR 4/3) and dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very fine sandy loam; few fine faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) and grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; massive with thin platy bedding planes; very friable; few fine roots and pores; a thin lens (less than 1 inch thick) of fine sand at 46 inches; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.
C4--49 to 53 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sand; single grained; loose; slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the C horizons is 35 to 60 inches.)
Cg1--53 to 60 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) and dark gray (5Y 4/1) very fine sandy loam; common fine distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; massive; stratified with thin platy bedding planes; very friable; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Cg2--60 to 80 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; few fine distinct gray (N 5/) mottles; stratified with thin platy bedding planes; friable; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Pemiscot County, Missouri; about 2 miles south and 1 1/4 miles east of Caruthersville; 85 feet west of the St. Francis Levee and 50 feet south of the gravel road on the north boundary of the section; 2020 feet east and 50 feet south of the northwest corner, sec. 2, T. 17 N., R. 13 E. Latitude 36 degrees, 8 minutes, 50.3 seconds N., longitude 89 degrees, 37 minutes, 20.1 seconds W., NAD83
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: These soils are calcareous with slight to strong effervescence in all horizons below a depth of 10 inches and in many pedons, they are calcareous to the surface. The upper 10 inches is neutral to mildly alkaline and below it is mildly alkaline.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y; value of 3 to 5, 6 or more dry; and chroma of 2. It is very fine sandy loam or silt loam.
The C1 horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3, 4, or 5 and chroma of 2. The lower part of the C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Few fine, faint mottles with hue of 10YR or 2.5Y and chroma of 2 often occur above 20 inches but are not considered to be caused by prolonged periods of saturation. Mottles a below depth of 20 inches range from few to common and faint to distinct and typically have hue of 10YR to 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 1 to 4. Textures are very fine sandy loam or silt loam.
Stratification in the C and Cg horizons below a depth of 40 inches becomes more variable and strongly expressed with depth. Colors with hue of 5Y or neutral are common. These horizons are mainly very fine sandy loam and silt loam with thin strata of loamy very fine sand, very fine sand, and fine sand.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Severn series is the only other member of this family. Other competing series are the
Adler,
Collins,
Convent, and
Robinsonville series. Severn soils have redder hue and lack mottles or matrix colors with chroma of 2 or less. Adler, Collins, Convent, and Robinsonville soils lack free carbonates in one or more subhorizons between a depth of 10 and 20 inches. In addition, Collins soils are acid, Convent soils are wetter, and Robinsonville soils are coarse-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Caruthersville soils are on level to undulating natural levees or flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in loamy alluvium. Mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 65 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 55 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing
Robinsonville, these include the
Bowdre,
Commerce,
Crevasse,
Mhoon, and
Hayti soils. Bowdre, Commerce, Mhoon, and Hayti soils have more than 18 percent clay in the 10- to 40-inch control section and occur on lower parts of the flood plains. Crevasse soils have a sandy control section and are along stream channels and along levee breaks.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is slow or medium. Permeability is moderate. Internal drainage is medium. They are rarely or frequently flooded. There is a seasonal high water table when associated drainage channels are full during late winter and spring. Seasonal high water tables are associated with peak flows of the Mississippi River.
USE AND VEGETATION: Protected areas are cropped, mainly to soybeans, corn, cotton, and winter wheat. Unprotected areas generally remain in mixed hardwood forest, consisting mostly of cottonwood, willow, and pecan.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Lower Mississippi River Delta--Missouri. The soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AUBURN, ALABAMA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pemiscot County, Missouri, 1974.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included with the Robinsonville series or treated as undifferentiated alluvial soils. Under normal conditions, the water table is at a depth of 4 to more than 6 feet. Because water table depths do occur at depths of 2 to 3 feet for short periods of time when peak flow occurs on the Mississippi River, high water table will be designated as 2 to 3 feet. This results in the proper ratings for the conditions that occur in this soil. Since the high water table occurs at a time when the soil temperature is below biological zero (5 degrees C), the Caruthersville series is considered to be Typic instead of Aquic. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this series are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 10 inches; udic moisture regime.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.