LOCATION CHICKASAW TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Vertic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Chickasaw loam on a 15 percent slightly convex sideslope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
E--2 to 5 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bt--5 to 7 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btss1--7 to 16 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately plastic and moderately sticky; few distinct reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btss2--16 to 20 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay; few fine distinct red (2.5YR 4/6) mottles and few fine prominent pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay and iron depletions on faces of peds; strong fine angular blocky structure; firm, moderately plastic and moderately sticky; common slickensides and pressure faces; few distinct reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
2Btss3--20 to 30 inches; light reddish brown (5YR 6/3) clay; few fine distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; weak coarse angular blocky structure; firm, very plastic and very sticky; common non-intersecting slickensides and pressure faces; few distinct reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; few easily deformable channers of brown (10YR 5/3) claystone becoming more common with depth; extremely acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt ranges from 20 to 50 inches.)
2C--30 to 45 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) clay; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; weak coarse blocky structure parting to weak fine platy; firm, very plastic and very sticky; common slickensides and pressure faces; many easily deformable channers of brown (10YR 5/3) claystone; extremely acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the B/C or C horizons range from 10 to 30 inches.)
2Cr--45 to 60 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) weakly cemented highly fractured claystone; coarse platy, parting along thick horizontal bedding planes; very firm; acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Chester County, Tennessee; 2.7 miles northeast of Highway 100 on Hearn Chapel Road; 0.5 miles southwest on gravel road; and 800 feet northwest in a woods.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the Cr horizon ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Reaction is strongly acid to extremely acid. The discontinuity contains significantly more clay and less sand than the overlying horizons, but this is not a requirement for the series.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. The Ap horizon has hue of 5YR to.10YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 or 6. Texture is clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The Bt and Btss horizons have hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. They are clay loam, silty clay or clay.
The B/C horizon or C horizon, have colors and textures similar to the Bt and Cr horizons. Some pedons have a few low chroma mottles in these horizons that are derived from the parent material. Some pedons may have claystone channers sufficiently dense to constitute coarse fragments.
The Cr horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is horizontally bedded , highly fractured siltstone or claystone. In some pedons, it is interbedded with thin lenses of weakly cemented sandstone. Fractures are both vertical and horizontal.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Colbert, Eastwood, Etoile, Kipling, Lorman, Oula, Rayburn, Wilcox, and Woodtell in the same family. Colbert, Lorman, Rayburn, Eastwood, and Woodtell series are moderately well drained. In addition the Colbert series formed in limestone bedrock. The Etoile series formed in clayey marls. Wilcox, Kipling, and Etoile are somewhat poorly drained. The Oula series is very deep and formed in grayish acidic clays.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils are on sloping to steep upland ridgetops, sideslopes and footslopes. They formed in deposits consisting of horizontally bedded, weakly cemented siltstone, claystone, and sandstone. Slopes range from 5 to 45 percent and are generally convex. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F and the mean annual precipitation is about 5l inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Dulac, Luverne, Savannah, Silerton, and Smithdale series. Dulac and Silerton soils have a thin mantle of loess. Also, the Dulac soils have a fragipan. Luverne soils formed in stratified loamy and clayey coastal plain deposits. Savannah soils formed in loamy alluvium and have a fragipan. Smithdale soils formed in loamy Coastal Plain deposits.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium to rapid runoff, very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are wooded. Forests are generally mixed hardwoods including white oak, southern red oak, black oak, and yellow-poplar. Some are planted to shortleaf pine or loblolly pine. A few areas are cultivated. Most cultivated areas are severely eroded. Native vegetation includes white oak, southern red oak, black oak, yellow-poplar, shortleaf pine, sweetgum, hickory, sugar maple, and hackberry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: At present, the series is known to occur only in the Coastal Plain area of West Tennessee. It is of minor extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES PROPOSED: Chester County, Tennessee; 198l. Source of the name is the native American tribes who once lived in the area. Also, Chickasaw State Park and Forest are located in the area where this series occurs.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to about 5 inches (after mixing).
Argillic horizon - the zone from about 5 inches to about 30 inches (Btl, Bt2, Bt3, and 2Bt4).
Paralithic contact - weakly cemented level-bedded claystone at 45 inches.
Vertic features - common slickensides and pressure faces in 2Btss2, 2Btss3, and 2C. COLE is .08 to .12