LOCATION GUNTER TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Grossarenic Plinthic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Gunter fine sand - forest.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)
A1-- 0-5 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sand; single grained; loose, very friable; many fine and medium roots; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
A21-- 5-31 inches, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) fine sand; few medium distinct brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; single
grained; loose; many fine and medium roots; few nodules of
ironstone and pebbles of chert up to 1/2 inch in diameter;
strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (20 to 40 inches thick)
A22-- 31-46 inches, very pale brown (10YR 7/4) fine sand; common coarse distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) mottles that are slightly harder than the surrounding material; single grained; slightly brittle, loose; common fine and medium roots; few nodules of ironstone and pebbles of chert up to 1/2 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
B1-- 46-57 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy loam; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) mottles of loam material that are slightly brittle; massive; friable; common fine
and medium roots; few nodules of ironstone and pebbles of chert up
to 1/2 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; gradual wavy
boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
B2t-- 57-75 inches, reticulately mottled red (10R 4/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; few prominent light
gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; weak blocky structure; hard and brittle;
few fine roots mainly in the light gray areas; common fine pores; thin patchy clay films; 40 percent plinthite which is the red material surrounded by yellowish brown material; few 10 to 15 mm. strongly cemented nodules of ironstone; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Montgomery County, Texas; from the intersection of
U. S. Highway 75 and Farm Road 1097 in Willis, Texas; 4.6 miles northeast on Farm Road 1097; then east on county road 3.35 miles
and south of the road 100 feet in forest.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 60 to 100 inches. Depth to the horizon containing plinthite ranges from 45
to 60 inches. Nodules of ironstone, 2 to 20 mm. in diameter,
range from 0 to 5 percent by volume throughout the solum.
The A horizons are loamy sand, loamy fine sand, or fine sand.
They range from slightly acid to very strongly acid. The A1
horizon is very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2), dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2), grayish brown (10YR 5/2), light brownish gray (10YR
6/2), brown (10YR 5/3), or dark brown (10YR 4/3, 3/3).
The A21 and A22 horizons are very pale brown (10YR 7/3, 7/4), pale brown (10YR 6/3), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), or yellowish brown (10YR 5/6, 5/8), with few to common mottles of strong brown, brown, yellowish red, and red. The mottles are slightly more
loamy material than the surrounding soil material.
The B1 horizon is light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), brownish
yellow (10YR 5/6, 5/8), mottled yellowish red, reddish yellow,
red, or brown. The mottled areas contain more clay than the surrounding material. This horizon is loamy fine sand, sandy
loam, or fine sandy loam.
The B2t horizon is reticulately mottled red, gray, and brown. It ranges from sandy clay loam to sandy loam containing 18 to 35
percent clay and less than 20 percent silt. The reaction ranges
from medium acid through very strongly acid. Plinthite comprises from 35 to 50 percent of the horizon and is brittle when moist and extremely hard when dry. Some pedons contain thin B21t horizons
that are strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, 5/8), yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, 5/6, 5/8), or brownish yellow (10YR 6/6, 6/8), with few to many
dark red, red, reddish brown, or yellowish red mottles.
COMPETING SERIES: These include the
Bonifay,
Boy,
Conroe,
Darco,
Fuquay,
Lakeland,
Pickton, and
Tenaha series. Bonifay soils have 5 to 25 percent brittle plinthite in
the B2t horizon. Boy and Pickton soils have more than 35 percent base saturation in the Bt horizon. Conroe, Fuquay, and Tenaha
soils have sandy A horizons 20 to 40 inches thick and in addition, Conroe has more than 35 percent clay in the control section.
Darco soils have redder, less mottled, Bt horizons and contain
less than 5 percent plinthite. Lakeland soils lack B2t horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gunter soils are on gently sloping upland ridges in the Southern Coastal Plain. Slope gradients are mostly 1 to 4
percent, but range from 0 to 8 percent. The soil formed in unconsolidated acid sandy clay loams and sands. The climate is
humid with an average annual rainfall ranging from 40 to 60
inches. The mean annual temperature of 66 degrees to 70 degrees
F; and the Thornthwaite annual P-E indices exceed 64.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Boy,
Conroe, and
Lakeland series, and the
Wicksburg series. Wicksburg soils
have more than 35 percent clay in the Bt horizon, do not have plinthite in any horizons, and have sandy epipedons 20 to 40
inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained.
Permeability is rapid above the layer containing plinthite and moderately slow in the Bt horizon. In wet seasons there is a
perched water table above the Bt horizon for periods of 1 to 4
weeks.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forest. Small areas have
been cleared for pasture. Native vegetation includes a thin stand
of shortleaf, longleaf, and a few loblolly pines with some
sweetgum, hickory, and red oak. The understory is a sparse stand
of scrub post oak and blackjack oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Coastal Plains from Texas to Alabama. The series is of minor extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Montgomery County, Texas; 1972.
REMARKS: The Gunter series would have been classified as a Red-Yellow Podzolic great soil group intergrading to Regosols.