LOCATION LUCY                    AL+AR FL GA LA MS NC SC TN VA

Established Series
Rev. DMH; PGM; APT; GRB
12/2014

LUCY SERIES


The Lucy series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on uplands. They formed in sandy and loamy marine and fluvial sediments of the Southern Coastal Plain Major Land Resource Area (MLRA 133A). Near the type location, the average annual precipitation is about 53 inches and the average annual air temperature is about 65 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Arenic Kandiudults

TYPICAL PEDON: Lucy loamy sand, on a 2 percent convex slope in a cultivated field (Colors are for moist soil).

Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)

E--8 to 24 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (12 to 35 inches thick)

Bt1--24 to 35 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--35 to 70 inches; red (2.5YR 4/8) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid. (The Bt horizon extends to a depth of 60 inches or more.)

TYPE LOCATION: Houston County, Alabama. Approximately 4.0 miles east of the town of Cottonwood, about 0.2 mile west of Hickory Grove Church and 50 feet north of road. 2,590 feet south and 2,000 feet east of the northwest corner of Sec. 16, T. 1 N., R. 28 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is more than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the A and E horizons except where lime has been added, and from extremely acid to strongly acid in the subsoil. Thickness of the A horizon plus the E horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is sand, coarse sand, fine sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand.

The E horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture is sand, coarse sand, fine sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand.

The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. Texture is loamy sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam.

The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. Some pedons have an upper Bt horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR but less than 10 inches thick Clay content ranges from 10 to 30 percent. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy clay loam.

The lower part of the Bt horizon has the same hues and values as the upper part. Clay content ranges from 20 to 45 percent. Texture is sandy clay loam, clay loam, and below a depth of about 50 inches, sandy clay. Mottles in shades of brown and yellow range from none to common. Content of nodular plinthite is less than 5 percent by volume within 60 inches of the surface. Content of rounded quartz gravel plus ironstone nodules is less than 10 percent by volume.

COMPETING SERIES: These include the Wagram series in the same family and the Autryville, Bonneau, Boykin, Briley, Letney, Lovett, Lowndes, Rosalie, and Trep series in similar families. Autryville and Lowndes soils are bisequal. Bonneau, Lovett, Rosalie, and Trep soils have mottles of chroma 2 or less within 60 inches of the surface and have dominant hue of 7.5YR or yellower in the Bt horizon. Boykin and Briley soils have sandy epipedons with less than 15 percent sand that is medium or coarser. In addition, Boykin and Briley soils are dry in the moisture control section for more than 75 days in most years. Letney and Wagram soils have Bt horizons dominated by hue of 7.5YR or yellower.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lucy soils are on ridge tops and side slopes on uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain. Slopes are dominantly 2 to 15 percent, but range from 0 to 45 percent. They formed in unconsolidated, sandy and loamy marine and fluvial sediments of the Pliocene, Miocene, Oligocene, and Eocene series of the Tertiary system. The climate is humid subtropical. The average annual air temperature ranges from 63 to 68 degrees F., and the average annual precipitation ranges from 48 to 60 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bama, Dothan, Eustis, Fuquay, Orangeburg, Ruston, Saffell, Smithdale, and Troup series. Bama, Orangeburg, and Ruston soils are generally on slightly lower positions than Lucy soils and do not have a sandy epipedon as thick as 20 inches. Dothan and Fuquay soils are on smoother, less sloping positions and have more than 5 percent plinthite within 60 inches of the surface. In addition, Dothan soils have a sandy epipedon less than 20 inches thick. Eustis soils are on similar positions as Lucy soils and have a sandy Bt horizon. Saffell, Smithdale, Springhill, and Troup soils are in similar positions as Lucy soils. Saffell, Smithdale, and Springhill soils do not have a thick sandy epipedon. Troup soils have a sandy epipedon thicker than 40 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is dependent upon slope and vegetation and ranges from slow to rapid. Permeability is rapid in the sandy epipedon and moderate in the subsoil.

USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly level to gently sloping areas are used for growing peanuts, corn, cotton, and soybeans. Sloping areas are used for hay and pasture. Steeper areas are used for woodland.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of large known extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houston County, Alabama, 1965.

REMARKS: The 1/89 revision changed the classification from Paleudult to Kandiudult in recognition of the low activity clay amendment.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:

Ochric epipedon (and arenic feature) - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 24 inches (A and E horizons).

Kandic horizon - the zone from approximately 24 inches to 70 inches. (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).

Argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 24 inches to 70 inches. (Bt2 and Bt2 horizons).

Lucy soils are in MLRA 133A.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data is available on the National Soil Survey website at: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/querypage.aspx

Laboratory data was provided by Auburn University, Soil Characterization Laboratory, Auburn AL, The University of Florida, Department of Soil and Water Science, Gainesville, FL; and the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.