LOCATION MABEN MS+TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, thermic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Maben fine sandy loam on a 5 to 8 percent slope under mixed hardwoods and pines. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 5 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; common fine, medium, and coarse fragments of ironstone; few fine flakes of mica; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--5 to 16 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay; strong fine and medium subangular and angular blocky structure; firm; plastic; sticky; common fine and medium roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few fine and medium fragments of ironstone; few fine flakes of mica; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--16 to 23 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/8) clay loam; strong fine and medium subangular and angular blocky structure; firm; plastic; sticky; common fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine, soft gray (2.5Y 5/1) fragments of shale or laminar clay; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 16 to 34 inches.)
B/C--23 to 41 inches; 60 percent red (2.5YR 4/6) loam (B); weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; 40 percent grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) fragments of shale or laminar clay (C); weak thin and medium platy rock structure; common fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)
C--41 to 60 inches; thinly stratified layers of grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) soft shale or laminar clay and brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) fine sandy loam; massive; firm; strata are 2 to 40 mm thick; few fine roots on faces of peds; common fine flakes of mica; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Oktibbeha County, Mississippi; 0.2 mile east of Choctaw County line on U. S. Highway 82; 30 feet north into woods. NW1/4NW1/4 sec. 7, T. 19 N., R. 12 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 48 inches. The content of ironstone or sandstone fragments ranges from none to common throughout the profile. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the A and Ap horizons and from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the E, B, and C horizons.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The E horizon, if present, has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sandy loam or sandy loam.
The EB or BE horizon, present in some pedons, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam. The clay content in the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon ranges from 35 to 55 percent. Fragments of soft shale or laminar clay range from none to many, generally increasing with depth. Redoximorphic accumulations in shades of brown and red range from none to common.
The B part of the B/C horizon has the same range in color as the Bt horizon. Texture is clay, silty clay, clay loam, silty clay loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or fine sandy loam. The C part is soft, weathered shale or laminar clay that has grayish colors. Redoximorphic accumulations in shades of brown and red range from none to common.
The BC horizon, present in some pedons, has the same range in color as the Bt horizon; or it does not have a dominant matrix color and is multicolored in shades of red, brown, gray, and yellow. It is clay, silty clay, clay loam, silty clay loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or fine sandy loam. Fragments of soft shale or laminar clay range from few to many. Redoximorphic features in shades of brown, red, and gray range from none to common.
The C horizon consists of stratified, sandy to clayey sediments and soft shale or laminar clay that has a high content of mica. The texture of individual strata ranges from fine sand to clay, and the thickness of individual strata ranges from a few millimeters to several centimeters. Colors are variable, but the sandy and loamy strata commonly have hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 5 to 8. The shale and clayey strata are generally grayish in color. Some pedons have a Cd horizon that is restrictive to plant roots. Thin lenses of ironstone occur in many pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Brantley, Enon, Hampshire, Mecklenburg, and Sugartown series. Brantley soils have a solum thickness of 40 to 60 inches and do not have strata of shale in the C horizon. Enon and Mecklenburg soils, on Piedmont uplands, have saprolite of mafic igneous or metamorphic rock within 60 inches of the surface. Hampshire soils have a paralithic contact of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and limestone within a depth of 40 to 60 inches. The moderately well drained Sugartown soils have hue of 7.5YR or yellower in the subsoil and have a seasonal high water table within a depth of 3 to 5 feet during winter and spring.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Maben soils formed in Tertiary-age sediments that consist mainly of thinly laminated and thinly bedded fine sand, loam, clay, and clayey shale or laminar clay, mainly along the contact between the Wilcox Formation and the Porters Creek Formation. These soils mainly are in hilly areas along the boundary between the physiographic provinces of the Upper Coastal Plain and the Interior Flatwoods. These gently sloping to very steep soils have slopes ranging from 2 to 60 percent. Mass-wasting or downslope movement of large masses of earthy material is common in areas with slopes steeper than 20 percent. The mean annual temperature is 68 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is 51 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boswell, Providence, Ruston, Smithdale, and Wilcox series. The moderately well drained Boswell soils commonly are on higher positions and do not have a significant decrease in clay content within 60 inches of the soil surface. Providence soils are on summits of ridges and on side slopes. They are fine-silty and have a fragipan. Ruston soils, on summits of ridges, and Smithdale soils, on side slopes, are fine-loamy. The somewhat poorly drained Wilcox soils are on smoother slopes at lower elevations and have a paralithic contact within 40 to 60 inches of the soil surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; the rate of runoff is medium on slopes of 5 percent or less; rapid on slopes of 5 to 20 percent, and very rapid on slopes greater than 20 percent; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Maben soils are used for woodland. Vegetation of wooded areas is mixed hardwood and pine. Cleared areas are used for growing corn, cotton, hay, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mississippi and Texas. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Oktibbeha County, Mississippi; 1971.
REMARKS: Rev. 01/2003, PGM
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 5 inches (A horizon)
argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 5 to 23 inches (Bt1, Bt2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data for five pedons were obtained from the Soil Genesis and Morphology Laboratory of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, Mississippi.