LOCATION HALSO ALEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Vertic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Halso silt loam on a convex 5 percent slope under loblolly pine at an elevation of about 345 feet.
(Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam, weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
BA--3 to 5 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay loam; common coarse distinct brown (10YR 5/3) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bt1--5 to 13 inches; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; friable; sticky and plastic; common fine, and medium roots; thick continuous distinct clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--13 to 25 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; common medium distinct light yellowish brown (2.5YR 6/4) and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) mottles; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; friable; sticky and plastic; few fine and medium roots; thick continuous distinct clay films on faces of peds; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--25 to 33 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/6), yellowish red (5YR 4/6), light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4), and light olive gray (5Y 6/2) clay; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; sticky and plastic; few fine roots; thick continuous distinct clay films on faces of peds; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 19 to 40 inches thick.)
C--33 to 48 inches; 80 percent by volume of mottled strong brown (7.5YR 6/8), red (2.5YR 4/6), and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clayey shale; strong platy structure, less than 3 cm thick; 20 percent of volume of light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) clay loam; weak fine granular structure; sticky and plastic; few fine roots; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cr--48 to 60 inches; mottled strong brown (7.5YR 6/8), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and red (2.5YR 4/6) clayey shale; strong platy structure, less than 4 cm thick; extremely acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Butler County, Alabama; about 2 miles west of Bolling, 525 feet west and 600 feet south of the NE corner of sec. 22, T. 9 N., R. 13 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 25 to 50 inches and depth to soft shale bedrock ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid. The calcium magnesium ratio is less than 1.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is clay loam, silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. Eroded pedons have hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8.
The BA horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10R to 5YR, value 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles of chroma 2 or less are within the upper 8 to 15 inches of the Bt horizon. The lower part of the Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8 with common to many mottles in shades of gray, red, yellow, or brown; or it is mottled in shades of red, gray, brown, or yellow.
The Bt horizon is clay or silty clay with 20 to 45 percent silt and 45 to 70 percent clay. Most pedons have a thin (1 to 5 inches thick) layer of clay loam or silty clay loam in the upper part.
The BC or CB horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 6, mottles in shades of red, yellow, or brown; or it is mottled in varying shades of gray, red, yellow, and brown. It is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam.
The C horizon, where present, has the same colors as the BC or CB horizon. The soil material is massive or has granular or platy structure and has a texture range of sandy clay loam to clay with a clay content of 25 or 50 percent. The C horizon has 40 to 90 percent by volume of clayey shale.
The Cr horizon constitutes a paralithic contact and is weathered shale.
COMPETING SERIES: The Conecuh series is the other known series in this family. Competing series in similar families are the Arundel, Beatrice, Luverne, Sacul, and Sweatman series. Conecuh and Beatrice soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of more than 60 inches. Arundel soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Beatric soils have vertic properties. Luverne, Sacul, and Sweatman soils have mixed clay mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Halso soils are on convex gently sloping to moderately steep uplands and hill slopes of the Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 1 to 25 percent. The soil formed in clayey shaly marine sediments. The climate is warm and humid with an average annual temperature of 65 degrees F and average annual precipitation of 50 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Arundel, Conecuh, Sacul, and Laverne soils on similar landforms and the competing Beatrice soils on similar less sloping landforms, these are the well drained Blanton, Lucy, Orangeburg, Poarch, and Troup soils on higher landforms and the poorly drained Bibb and Mantachie soils on flood plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Halso soils are used for woodland. Forest are mainly pine with some mixed hardwoods. Small areas are used for pasture, hay, and cultivated crops.
DISTIBUTION AND EXTENT: Uplands and hill slopes of the Coastal Plain of Alabama and possibly in other southern states. Known areas are in the Hatchetigbee, Nanafalia, Tuscahoma, and Tuscaloosa geological formations. The acreage is believed to be of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monroe County, Alabama; 1984.
REMARKS: The Halso series was formerly included in the Boswell and Susquehanna series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 5 to 33 inches (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons)
Cr- the zone below a depth of approximately 48 inches; it constitutes a paralithic contact.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Complete characterization data are available on 4 pedons.