LOCATION NAUVOO             AL+AR GA
Established Series
Rev. JHB:GWH:JDM
11/2007

NAUVOO SERIES


The Nauvoo series consists of deep and very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in loamy residuum weathered from sandstone or interbedded sandstone and shale. These soils are on broad plateaus, mountainsides, hilltops, and benches. Slopes range up to 35 percent, but are dominantly 2 to 10 percent.

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

TYPICAL PEDON: Nauvoo fine sandy loam, on a complex 7 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Ap--0 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, very friable; many fine and medium roots; 10 to 15 percent coarse fragments less than 1 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)

BE--7 to 11 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; common fine and medium roots; common fine and medium pores; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent coarse fragments less than 1 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 13 inches thick)

Bt--11 to 30 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; few fine and medium roots; common fine and medium pores; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent coarse fragments less than 1 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 33 inches thick)

BC--30 to 42 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent coarse fragments less than 1 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 14 inches thick)

Cr--42 to 60 inches; very strongly acid; sandstone bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Marion County, Alabama; two miles north on State Highway 5 from Bear Creek, Alabama to the Marion-Franklin County line; 0.25 mile east on farm to market road; 0.25 mile east on field road and 860 feet south in field. NE1/4NW1/4 sec. 3 T. 9 S.,R. 11 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 50 inches and depth to weathered bedrock is 40 to 80 inches. Coarse fragments of sandstone, shale, or quartz range from 0 to 5 percent in surface layer; 0 to 10 percent in the upper part of the subsoil; and 0 to 15 percent in the lower part. Reaction ranges from moderately to very strongly acid, except for surface layers that have been limed.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons have A horizons less than 6 inches thick with value of 3 and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam. Coarse fragments range from 0 to 5 percent.

The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam.

The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam. In some pedons, the lower part has lithochromic mottles in shades of yellow, brown, or red.

The BC horizon is similar in color, except that it may be mottled without dominant value or chroma. Texture is fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam.

The Cr horizon consists of level bedded, weathered sandstone or interbedded sandstone and shale in shades of red, yellow, or gray. It ranges from very weakly cemented and easily crushed to moderately cemented, massive, and coherent. It is rippable by heavy equipment and can be cut in most places with hand tools. Some pedons have C horizons, from 2 to 10 inches thick, overlying the paralithic contact.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Apison, Biffle, Cahaba, Durham, Euharlee, Granville, Linker, Murfreesboro (T), Pikecity (T), Pirum, Sipsey, Stringtown, and Suffolk series in the same family and the Hartsells and Spadra soils in closely related families. Apison, Biffle, and Sipsey soils have a paralithic contact within 40 inches of the soil surface. Cahaba, Murfreesboro, and Pikecity (T), and Suffolk soils formed in loamy, sandy, or gravelly alluvium on Coastal Plain terraces. Durham soils formed in loamy residuum weathered from acid crystalline rock on broad ridges of the Piedmont region. Euharlee soils formed in upland materials weathered from cherty limestone, and interbedded siltstone, sandstone, and shale of the Southern Appalachian ridge and valley region and they have moderately slow permeability. Granville soils formed in residuum weathered from Triassic aged sandstone and shale of the Piedmont region. Stringtown soils formed in weakly consolidated loamy sediments of the late Tertiary or early Pleistocene age. Pirum soils have an irregular lower boundary over tilted and folded sandstone bedrock at depths between 22 and 55 inches. Hartsells and Linker soils have lithic contact within a depth of 40 inches. The Durham, Euharlee, Granville, Pirum and Stringtown soils allow yellowier colors in their subsoil and substratum.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nauvoo soils are on broad plateaus, hilltops, mountainsides, and benches. Slope is dominantly 2 to 10 percent but ranges to 35 percent. The soil formed in loamy residuum weathered from soft sandstone or interbedded sandstone and shale. Near the type location, average temperature is 60 degrees F., and average annual rainfall is about 53 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Hartsells and Sipsey series and the Albertville, Allen, Enders, Hector, Holston, Montevallo, Mountainburg, Nectar, and Townley series. Albertville, Enders, Nectar, and Townley soils have more than 35 percent clay in their particle size control sections. Allen and Holston soils have sola thicker than 60 inches. Hector, Montevallo, and Mountainburg soils have sola less than 20 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Nauvoo soils are well drained and have moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Much of the soil is cleared and used for growing cotton, corn, soybeans, small grains, hay, and pasture. Forests are mixed hardwoods and pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Alabama, north-central Arkansas, and northwester Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Marion County, Alabama; 1977.

REMARKS: The Nauvoo series was formerly included in the Linker series. It is being separated from the Linker series because the soil is deeper and has contact with rippable bedrock.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.