LOCATION LETNEY TX+LAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Arenic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Letney loamy sand on smooth 10 percent slope in forest. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy sand; common stains of brown (10YR 5/3); single grained; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium and coarse roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
E--7 to 34 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand; single grained; loose, nonsticky and nonplastic; few medium and coarse roots; 5 to 10 percent siliceous gravel; few krotovinas; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (11 to 32 inches thick)
Bt1--34 to 62 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; common medium faint reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) and few medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very hard, friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few medium and coarse roots; 5 to 10 percent siliceous gravel; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; very strongly acid; diffuse smooth boundary. (20 to 45 inches thick)
Bt2--62 to 75 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) sandy clay loam; few medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; many small white and purple shale fragments and masses of clay; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Newton County, Texas; from the intersection of Farm Road 692 and Texas Highway 63 at Burkeville, Texas, 10.2 miles north along Farm Road 692; 1.8 miles northwest on forest road; 0.6 mile northeast on forest trail; 150 feet north in forest.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 60 to more than 80 inches thick. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through medium acid. Clay content of the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon ranges from 18 to 32 percent with a silt content 5 to 10 percent. Base saturation ranges from 15 to 30 percent. Coarse and very coarse sand comprises 10 to 25 percent of the sand fraction. The combined A and E horizon range in thickness from 20 to 40 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. When values are less than 3.5, the thickness of the horizon is less than 7 inches.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 or 4. Some pedons contain up to 10 percent siliceous gravel.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR and 10YR, value of 5 and 6, and chroma of 4 through 6. Mottles are in shades of yellowish red, brown, and gray. Mottles with chroma 2 or less are 60 inches of more below the surface. The texture of the Bt commonly is sandy clay loam, but ranges to sandy loam in some places. In some pedons, the Bt horizon contains up to 5 percent plinthite by volume, and some pedons contain up to 10 percent by volume siliceous gravel.
The lower part of the Bt horizon and the BC horizon, when present, have hue of 7.5YR and 10YR, value of 5 and 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. Some pedons have many small white and purple shale fragments and masses of clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Autryville, Bonneau, Boykin, Briley, Lowndes, Lucy, Rosalie, Trip, and Wagram soils in the same family and the similar Doucette, Larue, Lilbert, Tehran, and Tenaha series. Autryville and Lowndes soils have bisequel profiles. Bonneau soils have gray mottles between 30 and 60 inches of the surface and have a water table nearer the surface during the spring. Boykin, Briley, and Lucy soils have hue of 5YR and redder in the upper Bt horizon and contain more fine sand. Rosalie and Trip soils have common or many gray mottles in the lower B horizon, and in addition Rosalie soils have sand and silt coated peds in the lower Bt horizon and Trip soils have clay increasing with depth. Wagram soils have clays with lower cation exchange activity in the argillic and contain less coarse and very coarse sand. Doucette and Lilbert soils contain more than 5 percent plinthite. Larue soils have base saturation greater than 35 percent. Tehran soils have sandy A and E horizons more than 40 inches thick. Tenaha soils have sola 20 to 40 inches thick over weathered sandstone.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Letney soils are on broad ridgetops and upper parts of side slopes on uplands. Slope ranges from 1 to 20 percent. They formed in marine-deposited sandy and loamy sediments of the coastal plains. Mean annual rainfall ranges from 46 to 54 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 65 to 70 degrees F., and the Thornthwaite annual P-E indices exceed 64.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Doucette and Tehran series and the Corrigan, Melhomes, Newco, and Rayburn series. Corrigan and Rayburn soils occur as ridges and steep side slopes above drainageways and have fine textured control sections. Doucette soils occur on the ridgetops. Melhomes soils occur in the drainageways and have an aquic moisture regime. Newco soils occur as heads of drainageways and sloping to moderately steep side slopes, and have clayey control sections. Tehran soils occur as broad ridgetops and the foot slopes of steep side slopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Letney soils are well drained. Runoff is slow and permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for timber or pasture. Loblolly, longleaf, and shortleaf pine are predominant. Understory is mostly longleaf uniola, broomsedge bluestem, beaked panicum, and a few bluejack oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern Texas and Louisiana. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Newton County, Texas; 1980.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Wagram series.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Base saturation at type location was 28 percent at 72 inches. Data by Hach Field Kit.