LOCATION LORING TN+AR KY LA MO MS
Established Series
DEL; Rev.JDS
02/2013
LORING SERIES
The Loring series consists of moderately well drained soils with a fragipan. These soils formed in loess on level to strongly sloping uplands and stream terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, thermic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Loring silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--7 to 14 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--14 to 28 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam, strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) crushed; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons ranges from 12 to 32 inches.)
Btx1--28 to 32 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; common medium faint strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) iron accumulations, and distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions; coarse prisms 4 to 7 inches across separated by 1/4 to 2 inch wide tapering wedges of gray (10YR 6/1) or light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; prisms part into weak medium subangular blocky structure; prisms are dense and brittle and comprise about 60 percent of the cross section; few faint clay films on faces of peds within prisms; few fine roots in wedges; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btx2--32 to 40 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions, and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations; coarse prisms 4 to 7 inches across separated by 1/2- to 1-inch wide tapering wedges of gray (10YR 6/1) or light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; prisms part into weak medium subangular blocky structure; prisms are dense and brittle and comprise about 70 percent of the cross section; few faint clay films on faces of peds within prisms; few fine roots in wedges; few dark brown concretions; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Btx3--40 to 50 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions, and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations; very coarse prisms 3 to 6 inches across separated by 1/4- to 1-inch wide tapering wedges of gray (10YR 6/1) or light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; prisms part into weak medium subangular blocky structure; prisms are dense and brittle and comprise about 60 percent of the cross section; few faint clay films on faces of peds within prisms; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizons ranges from 20 to 60 inches or more.)
C--50 to 65 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silt loam; few medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions and faint strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron accumulations; massive; friable; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Shelby County, Tennessee; 400 yards north of Pleasant Ridge Road, 100 feet east of west property line of Bolton School.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 45 to more than 80 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 14 to 35 inches. Depth to a discontinuity to loamy coastal plains sediments (2Btx horizon) is more than 48 inches. The soil has a single clay maximum in the Bt horizon. Sand content throughout the solum is usually less than 10 percent but may range up to 15 percent. The A and B horizons range from moderately acid through very strongly acid. The C horizon ranges from slightly acid through very strongly acid.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is silt loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. A few yellowish brown skeletons and mottles in shades of brown are in some pedons. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. The lower part of the Bt horizon may have gray iron depletions.
The Btx horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Iron accumulations are in various shades of yellow or brown, and iron depletions are in shades of gray, or it is variegated in shades of gray, brown, or yellow. It is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The C horizon, and BC horizon, where present, has colors similar to the lower part of the Btx horizon. Texture is silt loam.
A 2Btx horizon is present in some pedons below a depth of 48 inches. It has colors similar to the Btx horizon. Texture is sandy loam or loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Byram,
Dulac,
Gigger, and
Providence series in the same family and the
Grenada,
Grantsburg,
Hosmer, and
Memphis series. Byram soils have clayey IIC horizons. Grenada soils have glossic properties. Dulac soils have clayey IIC horizons. Grantsburg and Hosmer soils have mesic soil temperature regimes. Memphis soils do not have a fragipan. Providence and Gigger soils have more than 15 percent sand in lower part of the solum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Loring soils are on nearly level to strongly sloping uplands and terraces. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. The soils formed in loess which is more than 4 feet thick. At the type location average annual temperature is 62 degrees F, and average annual precipitation is 49.5 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing
Memphis and
Grenada series. Other associated series are the poorly drained
Henry and
Calhoun soils on terraces and in upland depression. The moderately well drained
Collins, somewhat poorly drained
Falaya, and poorly drained
Waverly soils are on the adjacent bottom lands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; moderate permeability above the fragipan and moderately slow permeability in the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all areas are cleared. The main uses are for growing cotton, small grains, soybeans, hay, and pasture. Wooded areas are in oaks, hickory, elm, maple, tulip poplar, and locust.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AUBURN, ALABAMA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Forked Deer River Watershed Area, Tennessee, 1938.
REMARKS: Revised series in 2003 to clarify the nature of the materials below the loess cap in pedons where the loess cap is less than 80 inches thick. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 7 inches (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon - the zone from about 7 inches to 28 inches (Bt1, Bt2 horizons).
Argillic horizon and fragipan - the zone from about 28 inches to 50 inches (Btx1, Btx2, Btx3 horizons).
Classification only was changed in 7/94. Competing series and other items will be updated later.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.