LOCATION CATAULA            SC +GA
Established Series
Rev. RLV:ECH:DTA
08/2008

CATAULA SERIES


The Cataula series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils formed in material weathered from metamorphic and igneous rocks of the Piedmont. They contain a layer that is dense and partially brittle. Permeability is slow. Slopes range from 2 to 25 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Oxyaquic Kanhapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Cataula sandy loam--pasture.(Colors are for moist soil.)

Ap--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 1 percent angular quartz gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)

BE--5 to 7 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; 1 percent fine angular quartz gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)

Bt1--7 to 21 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine and few medium roots; few distinct clay films on faces of most peds and in large pores; common fine and medium and few coarse pores; 1 percent fine angular quartz gravel; few fine holes; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt2--21 to 27 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of most peds; few fine pores; 1 percent fine angular quartz gravel; few fine holes; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 6 to 30 inches)

Btx1--27 to 38 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) and yellowish red (5YR 5/6) sandy clay loam in horizontal layers 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches thick separated by brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) clay loam layers about 1/2 inch thick; brownish yellow material also extends vertically through the red layers at 6 to 12 inch intervals; moderate very thick platy structure; the red and yellowish red material is dense and brittle; the brownish yellow material is firm; many prominent clay films on horizontal faces of peds and common distinct clay films on vertical faces of peds; common fine roots along the top of this horizon and a few extend along vertical faces of peds for 2 or 3 inches; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)

Btx2--38 to 55 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) sandy clay loam in horizontal layers 1/2 to 2 inches thick separated by strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay loam horizontal layers and broken by vertical streaks of light gray (N 7/) clay; weak thick platy and medium subangular blocky structure; the red and yellowish red material is dense and brittle; the strong brown and gray material is very firm; few distinct clay films on horizontal faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (6 to 20 inches or more thick)

BC--55 to 75 inches; coarsely mottled red (2.5YR 4/6), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), and light gray (N 7/) clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; compact; few vertical seams filled with gray clay; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Greenville County, South Carolina; 1.15 miles southeast of First Baptist Church in Mauldin on Old Laurens Road; 2.7 miles southwest on Log Shoals Road; 0.45 mile east on McCall Road; 20 feet south of McCall and about 200 feet north of a small pond.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the dense, partially brittle layer ranges from 15 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 5 feet. The solum ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches thick. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to about 7 percent by volume. These consist of angular fragments of quartz often occurring as quartz stringers. The A horizon is very strongly acid to slightly acid, and all of the other horizons are very strongly acid to moderately acid.

The A horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand. Where eroded, the Ap horizon ranges to hue of 5YR and is sandy clay loam or clay loam.

The EB horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand.

The BE or BA horizon has hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam.

The Bt horizon commonly has hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. The lower part of the Bt horizon of some pedons has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3, or mottles of red or yellowish red. The Bt horizon is clay loam, sandy clay, or clay and is nonbrittle.

The Btx or upper part of the BC horizon is horizontally layered. The red layers have hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 6 or 8. They are brittle, dense, and thought to be weakly cemented with iron oxides and are sandy clay loam or clay loam. Brittle material occupies about 20 to 60 percent of the horizon. The brown layers have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 8. Some pedons contain mottles or streaks of gray. The mottles are nonbrittle but are firm or very firm and are sandy clay loam or clay loam. In some pedons, texture ranges to clay or sandy clay. The lower part of the BC horizon, in most pedons, is mottled with reddish, brownish, grayish, and yellowish colors. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, sandy loam, or loam.

The BC or CB horizon (where present) has hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or sandy clay.

The C horizon, where present, commonly is variegated in shades of yellow, red, and brown. It is sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam and consists of highly weathered saprolite that crushes easily.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Hard Labor series in the same family and the Whistlestop series in a closely related family. Hard Labor soils dominantly have hue of 7.5YR or yellower and do not have the dense, brittle, cemented layer. Whistlestop soils have mixed mineralogy and are on stream terraces.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cataula soils are on stream divides and upper slopes of the Piedmont with slopes ranging from 2 to 25 percent. They formed in clayey and loamy materials weathered from metamorphic and igneous rocks. The annual precipitation ranges from 37 to 60 inches, the mean annual air temperature ranges from 57 to 70 degrees F., and the frost free season ranges from 190 to 225 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Hard Labor series, these are the Appling, Cecil, Davidson, Helena, Lloyd and Pacolet series. These soils do not have a horizon that is dense and brittle.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; medium to rapid runoff; slow permeability. A transitory water table is perched at a depth of 2 to 4 feet in December to March.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas had been cleared and used for growing cotton, corn, small grain, and pasture, but now about 75 percent of the total acreage is in shortleaf and loblolly pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont of South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Elmore County, Alabama; 1944.

REMARKS: The March 1982 revision changed the classification from Typic
Fragiudults to Typic Hapludults. The November 1998 revision changes the
classification to Oxyaquic Kanhapludults.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from the surface of the soil to 5 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 7 to 55 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Btx1 and Btx2
horizons)
Kandic horizon--the zone of the argillic horizon from 7 to 40 inches

MLRA = 136
REVISED = RHB 10/2002

ADDITIONAL DATA:

TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
SC0013 CATAULA 2-25 57-70 190-225 37-60 250-850

SOI-5  FloodL FloodH  Watertable  Kind     Months    Bedrock  Hardness
SC0013 NONE           2.0-4.0     PERCHED  DEC-APR   >60      -

SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- SC0013 0-7 LS 0-3 90-100 2-10 2-5 SC0013 0-7 SL FSL 0-3 90-100 5-15 4-7 SC0013 0-7 SCL CL 0-2 90-100 20-35 5-8 SC0013 7-27 C CL SC 0-0 90-100 35-70 8-12 SC0013 27-55 SCL SC CL 0-0 90-100 30-50 5-10 SC0013 55-75 SCL CL L 0-1 90-100 20-35 4-10

SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll SC0013 0-7 5.1-6.5 0.5-1.0 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW SC0013 0-7 5.1-6.5 0.5-1.0 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW SC0013 0-7 5.1-6.5 0.5-1.0 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0013 7-27 4.5-6.0 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.2-0.6 LOW SC0013 27-55 4.5-6.0 0.0-0.5 0- 0 0.06-0.2 LOW SC0013 55-75 4.5-6.0 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.2-0.6 LOW


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.