LOCATION GWINNETT GA+AL NC SC VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Rhodic Kanhapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Gwinnett sandy loam - on a 4 percent convex east facing slope in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) sandy loam, weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; many fine pores; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 12 inches; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--12 to 23 inches; dark red (10R 3/6) clay; moderate and strong fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--23 to 29 inches; dark red (10R 3/6) clay; strong fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; common fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt4--29 to 35 inches; dark red (10R 3/6) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 16 to 35 inches)
C--35 to 50 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) and dark red (10R 3/6) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) mottles; massive; firm; many fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cr--50 to 53 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) highly weathered hornblende gneiss; many fine flakes of mica; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Newton County, Georgia; 5 miles east of Covington, Georgia on Interstate Highway 20 to Georgia Highway 11; north on Alcovy Trestle Road to River Cove Road; 0.75 mile west; 100 feet east of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 60 inches. Depth to soft bedrock ranges from 40 to 60 inches and depth to hard bedrock ranges from 5 to more than 10 feet. The soil in all horizons ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid except where the surface has been limed. Small dark accumulations and concretions range from 0 to 5 percent in the solum. Rock fragments, mainly pebbles and some cobbles, are 0 to 20 percent in the A horizon, and 0 to 15 percent in the B horizon and C horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 10R through 7.5YR, value of 3, and chroma of 2 through 6. It is sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam or their gravelly analogues.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 10R, value of 3, and chroma of 3 through 6. The lower part has none to common mottles in shades of brown and yellow. Texture of the Bt is clay, sandy clay, clay loam, or sandy clay loam. The clay content of the control section is 35 to 60 percent. Mica content ranges from none to common.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR or 10R, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is loam, clay loam or sandy clay loam.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 10R through 7.5YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam.
The Cr horizon is highly weathered basic crystalline soft bedrock. Seams and cracks are commonly coated with red or dark red sandy clay loam, clay loam or clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Lloyd series of the same family and the Alcoa, Anniston, Cumberland, Davidson, Decatur, Greenville, Hanceville, Musella, Nacogdoches, and Tellico series of closely related families. Lloyd soils are more than 60 inches to soft bedrock and have sola more than 40 inches thick. Alcoa, Anniston, Cumberland, Davidson, Decatur, Greenville, Hanceville, and Nacogdoches soils have sola thickness of more than 50 inches. In addition, Alcoa soils have oxidic mineralogy and Cumberland soils have base saturation of more than 35 percent. Musella soils have sola less than 20 inches thick. Tellico soils have oxidic mineralogy and have developed in residuum of sandstone and shale.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gwinnett soils are on very gently sloping to very steep ridges of the Piedmont Plateau. Elevations range from 700 to 1200 feet. Slopes commonly are 6 to 30 percent, but range from 2 to 60 percent. The soil formed in saprolite weathered from intermingled dark-colored rocks such as gneiss and schist containing mafic minerals. The average annual air temperature is about 59 to 63 degrees F., and average annual precipitation is about 45 to 53 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Davidson, Lloyd, and Musella series and the Appling, Cecil, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Pacolet, and Wilkes series. Appling and Cecil soils have sola more than 40 inches thick. Iredell and Mecklenburg soils have more than 35 percent base saturation and browner colors. Pacolet soils have color values of more than 3 in the Bt horizons. Wilkes soils have sola less than 20 inches thick. Appling, Cecil, Davidson, Iredell and Mecklenburg soils occur on slopes up to 25 percent and Musella and Pacolet soils can occur on slopes up to 80 percent.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of the soil was cleared and used for growing cultivated crops, hay, and pasture. Most of the acreage has reverted to forests, chiefly of loblolly and shortleaf pine. The original forest cover type is oak-pine and Virginia pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont areas of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Gwinnett County, Georgia; 1969.
REMARKS: Classification of the series was changed from Typic Rhodudults to Rhodic Kanhapludults with the 1/93 revision of the series as agreed to at the meeting of the SNTC and the State Soil Scientists in October, 1987. Type location was changed to Newton County, Georgia, with this revision. 2006 revision extends solum thickness to 60 inches and allows value 3 or 4 in BC range in characteristics. Eliminates Rubin as competing series.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to approximately 8 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 8 to 35 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 and Bt4 horizons)
Kandic horizon - the zone from approximately 8 to 35 inches with low activity clay in most of the zone (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 and Bt4 horizons)
MLRA = 136
Revised = 11/97 RLV: 05/06 RHB
ADDITIONAL DATA: See S88GA-217-001 for data on another pedon that verifies presence of a kandic horizon in the Gwinnett soils.
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ABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
GA0024 GWINNETT 2- 60 59- 63 195-215 45- 53 700-1200
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
GA0024 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 40-60 SOFT
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
GA0024 0- 8 SL L 0- 3 85-100 15-25 3- 5
GA0024 0- 8 SCL CL 0- 3 85-100 20-40 5- 10
GA0024 0- 8 GR-SL GR-SCL 2- 6 50- 75 15-25 3- 5
GA0024 8-35 C SC CL 0- 4 90-100 35-60 4- 8
GA0024 35-50 SCL CL L 0- 6 85-100 24-40 3- 6
GA0024 50-53 WB - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
GA0024 0- 8 5.1- 6.5 1.-3. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
GA0024 0- 8 5.1- 6.5 1.-3. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
GA0024 0- 8 5.1- 6.5 1.-3. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
GA0024 8-35 5.1- 6.5 - 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
GA0024 35-50 5.1- 6.5 - 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
GA0024 50-53 - - - 0.00-0.06