LOCATION DURHAM NC+AL GA SC VA
Established Series
Rev. JWC:REH/DTA
11/2025
DURHAM SERIES
MLRA(s): 136 (thermic part)
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Southeast
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from granite and/or gneiss
Slope: 0 to 10 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 15 degrees C (59 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1092 millimeters (43 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Durham loamy sand--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches); light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loamy sand; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; 5 percent, by volume, quartz fragments; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (15 to 25 centimeters (6 to 10 inches) thick)
E--25 to 38 centimeters (10 to 15 inches); very pale brown (10YR 7/4) loamy sand; weak medium granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; 1 percent, by volume, quartz fragments; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches) thick)
Bt1--38 to 51 centimeters (15 to 20 inches); brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; few faint clay films on vertical faces of peds; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--51 to 66 centimeters (20 to 26 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--66 to 84 centimeters (26 to 33 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt4--84 to 125 centimeters (33 to 49 inches); yellowish red (5YR 5/8) sandy clay; common fine distinct red (2.5YR 5/8) mottles and few fine distinct reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; many distinct clay films on faces of pads; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt horizons is 46 to 89 centimeters (18 to 35 inches)
BC--125 to 142 centimeters (49 to 56 inches); yellowish red (5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) mottles and common medium prominent brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky and moderately plastic; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
C--142 to 178 centimeters (56 to 70 inches); mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/8), very pale brown (10YR 8/2), strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), and reddish yellow (5YR 6/8) sandy loam saprolite; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Lee County, North Carolina; 0.8 mile south of the intersection of Secondary Road 1146 and Secondary Road 1133; 0.1 mile west of the intersection of Secondary Road 1146 and a farm path; 200 feet west of farm path; in a cultivated field. USGS Sanford, North Carolina topographic quadrangle
Latitude--35.404722
Longitude-- -79.147222
Datum--WGS84
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: 102 to greater than 152 centimeters (40 to greater than 60 inches)
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 5 percent, by volume, throughout
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid or strongly acid, unless limed
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 1 to 3
Texture--loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam
E horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 6 to 8, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture--sandy loam or loamy sand
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 to 8, chroma of 4 to 8. It has few to common reddish, brownish, or yellowish mottles. Mottles in chroma of 2 or less are below the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon.
Texture--sandy clay loam or clay loam. Some pedons have lower Bt horizon of sandy clay, but the textural control section averages less than 35 percent clay.
BC horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 to 8, chroma of 4 to 8. It has few to common reddish, brownish, or yellowish mottles.
Texture--sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam
C horizon:
Color--mottled red, brown, and yellow
Texture--sandy loam or loamy sand saprolite
COMPETING SERIES:
Granville soils--have a higher exchangeable aluminum content and form in residuum weathered from Triassic rocks
Pinoka soils--have a high saturated hydraulic conductivity and formed in residuum weathered from Triassic rocks
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Ridges and hill slopes
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from acid crystalline rocks, chiefly granite and gneiss.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 14 to 18 degrees C (58 to 65 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1016 to 1524 millimeters (40 to 60 inches)
Frost Free Period: 185 to 240 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Appling soils--have more clay in the subsoil
Cecil soils--have more clay in the subsoil and have a red subsoil
Emporia soils--Have redoximorphic depletions between 91 to 137 centimeters (36 to 54 inches) and have moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity in the lower subsoil
Helena soils--are moderately well drained, have more clay in the subsoil, have a moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity, and have a high shrink-swell potential
Louisburg soils--have less clay in the subsoil and have a high saturated hydraulic conductivity
Pacolet soils--have more clay in the subsoil, have a red subsoil, and have Bt horizons less than 76 centimeters (30 inches) thick
Santuc soils--are moderately well drained
Vance soils--have more clay in the subsoil and have a mixed mineralogy
Wedowee soils--have more clay in the subsoil and have Bt horizons less than 76 centimeters (30 inches) thick
Worsham soils--are poorly drained and have more clay in the subsoil
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: cropland, pasture, and woodland.
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--corn, soybeans, tobacco, cotton, small grain, and vegetables. Where wooded--loblolly pine, short leaf pine, Virginia pine, sweetgum, white oak, red oak, post oak, hickory, and yellow-poplar. Understory species include flowering dogwood, persimmon, sourwood, red maple, eastern redbud, eastern red cedar, and common sassafras.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. Extent: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Raleigh to New Bern Area, North Carolina,
1900.
REMARKS:
Durham soils were formerly placed in the Red-Yellow Podzolic great soil group. They ranged in texture in the B horizon from moderately-fine to fine, and in drainage from well drained to moderately well drained. This revision restricts the texture of the argillic horizon to fine-loamy and the drainage class to well drained. The 2017 version moved the type location from Wake County, North Carolina to Lee County, North Carolina. With the update to the Wake County Soil Survey, Durham soils are no longer mapped in Wake County. The November 2025 revision corrected some of the formatting. No data was changed.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 38 centimeters (0 to 15 inches) (A and E horizons).
Argillic horizon--the zone from 38 to 124 centimeters (15 to 49 inches) (Bt horizons).
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
NC0070 DURHAM 0-10 58-65 185-240 40-60 350-600
NC0123 DURHAM 0-10 58-65 185-240 40-60 350-600
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
NC0070 NONE >6.0 - >60
NC0123 NONE 4.0-6.0 PERCHED DEC-MAR >60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
NC0070 0-15 LCOS LS 0-3 90-100 2-10 1-3
NC0070 0-15 SL FSL 0-3 90-100 5-20 1-4
NC0070 15-33 SCL CL 0-3 90-100 18-35 2-4
NC0070 33-49 CL SC SCL 0-3 90-100 25-45 3-5
NC0070 49-56 SCL SL 0-3 90-100 8-30 1-4
NC0070 56-70 LS SL SCL 0-3 85-100 5-20 1-3
NC0123 0-15 LCOS LS 0-3 90-100 2-10 1-3
NC0123 0-15 SL FSL 0-3 90-100 5-20 1-4
NC0123 15-33 SCL CL 0-3 90-100 18-35 2-4
NC0123 33-49 CL SC 0-3 90-100 25-45 3-5
NC0123 49-56 SCL SL 0-3 90-100 8-30 1-4
NC0123 56-70 LS SL SCL 0-3 85-100 5-20 1-3
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
NC0070 0-15 4.5-6.0 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
NC0070 0-15 4.5-6.0 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
NC0070 15-33 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
NC0070 33-49 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.2-0.6 LOW
NC0070 49-56 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
NC0070 56-70 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
NC0123 0-15 4.5-6.0 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
NC0123 0-15 4.5-6.0 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
NC0123 15-33 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
NC0123 33-49 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.2-0.6 LOW
NC0123 49-56 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
NC0123 56-70 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.