LOCATION LEESBURG                AL+AR GA TN

Established Series
Rev. CFM:GWH:HCD
04/2012

LEESBURG SERIES


The Leesburg series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in loamy alluvium or colluvium underlain by sandstone, shale, or limestone. These soils are on nearly level to very steep side slopes, toe slopes, or terraces.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults

TYPICAL PEDON: Leesburg gravelly sandy loam--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Ap--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 2 inches in diameter; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)

Bt1--6 to 16 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) gravelly loam; weak fine granular and weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 2 inches in diameter; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt2--16 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) gravelly clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; 30 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 3 inches in diameter; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt3--24 to 65 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), very pale brown (10YR 7/3), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 2 to 3 inches in diameter; thin patchy clay films on faces of some peds; very strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is more than 60 inches.)

TYPE LOCATION: Cherokee County, Alabama; 1.1 mile north-northeast of Centre airport and 0.75 mile southeast of Alabama Highway 9, in the NE1/4SE1/4SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 10 S., R. 10 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness exceeds 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 6 feet. Where the soil has not been limed, reaction in each horizon ranges from strongly acid to very strongly acid. Content of coarse fragments, mostly rounded and some angular sandstone pebbles, cobbles or stones ranges from 10 to about 30 percent throughout.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. The A horizon is gravelly, cobbly, or stony loam, sandy loam, or silt loam.

Some pedons have an E or BE horizon, 3 to 6 inches thick, that has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 or 4.

The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. The lower part of the Bt
horizon is commonly mottled in shades of yellow, brown, and red. Texture of the fine earth is loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, or sandy clay loam. The weighted average clay content of the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon
ranges from 20 to 30 percent and silt content is more than 35 percent.

In some pedons, at depths of more than 40 inches, the lower Bt horizon formed in residuum weathered from sandstone or shale. Texture of the fine-earth is clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, or clay. Some pedons have hue of 5YR below 40 inches.

COMPETING SERIES: These are Addielou, Allen, Avilla, Dubach, Etowah, Holston, Lytle, Nella, Octavia, Otanya, Ruston, Sailes, Silsbee, and Warnock series in the same family. Addielou soils have A horizons thicker than 20 inches. Allen, Avilla, Etowah, Holston, Nella, Ruston, and Smithdale soils have all or some part of the Bt horizon in hues of 5YR or redder. Dubach soils contain horizons influenced by plinthite. Holston and Norfolk soils have less than 10 percent coarse fragments. Lytle soils formed from loess-mantled coastal plain sediments. Octavia soils are underlain by clay. Ruston soils are bisequal, with a glossic horizon in the lower part. Sailes soils formed in Tertiary-aged formations containing glauconitic parent materials. Silsbee soils formed in loamy sediments of the Lissie Formation of early to mid Pleistocene age. Warnock soils are modertely well drained.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Leesburg soils are on gently sloping to very steep side slopes, toe slopes, or terraces. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent. The soil formed in loamy alluvium or colluvium underlain by sandstone, shale, or limestone. Near the type location, mean annual rainfall is 55 inches and mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Allen, Nella, and Holston series, and the Conasauga and Enders series. Conasauga and Enders soils have more than 35 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium and permeability is moderate.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage has been cleared. Corn, cotton, soybeans, and pasture are the main crops grown on the cultivated areas. Much of the more sloping areas are now in pasture or have reverted to woodland, chiefly pine. The native vegetation was mixed hardwood and pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Valley and Highland Rim areas in Tennessee, northern Alabama, and northwestern Georgia, and Valleys and Ridges and Boston Mountains areas of Arkansas. The series is of large extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Johnson County, Arkansas; 1973.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.