LOCATION RITA LA
Established Series
Rev. WLC-SDM-CLN
05/2018
RITA SERIES
The Rita series consists of very deep, poorly drained, very slowly permeable soils in fresh water coastal marshes that have been protected from flooding by a system of levees and pumps. These soils formed in a thin layer of herbaceous organic material overlying semi-fluid clayey sediments that dried and consolidated in the upper part as the result of artificial drainage. Most of the organic material has oxidized since drainage. Slopes range from 0 to 0.5 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, smectitic, nonacid, hyperthermic Vertic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Rita muck--on drained fresh water marsh.
(Colors are for moist soil.)
Oa--0 to 4 inches; black (10YR 2/1) muck; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bg1--4 to 18 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm and plastic; common fine roots concentrated between peds; few fine tubular pores; common distinct streaks of strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) 2 to 3 mm wide along root channels and as coatings on peds; few vertical cracks up to 5 mm in diameter filled with black muck; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
Bg2--18 to 26 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) clay; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; sticky and plastic; few fine tubular pores; many medium and coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) iron concentrations and few coarse distinct dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) iron concentrations on surfaces of peds; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
Bg3--26 to 30 inches; greenish gray (5BG 5/1) clay; weak coarse platy structure; firm; few fine tubular pores; few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) iron concentrations along root channels and on surfaces of peds; polygonal network of cracks 1/2 inch wide that are water bearing below a depth of 26 inches; surfaces of the cracks are strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and have pits or craters 2 to 4 mm wide (solution cavities), neutral; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cg--30 to 43 inches; dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) silty clay loam; massive; flows with moderate difficulty between fingers when squeezed leaving small residue; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)
2Cg--43 to 68 inches; dark greenish gray (5GY 4/1) loamy very fine sand; massive; slightly effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, 2.75 miles southwest of Bayou Lafourche at Raceland; 300 feet south of old U.S. Highway 90; 400 feet east of McMahon Canal T. 16 S., R. 18. E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to a loamy or sandy 2Cg horizon ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Depth to layers with n-value more than 0.7 ranges from 18 to 36 inches. The reaction of the A or Oa horizon ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid, the B horizon ranges from extremely acid to neutral, and the C horizon is neutral to moderately alkaline.
The Oa or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is muck, mucky clay, or clay.
The Bg horizons have hue of 10YR, 5Y, 5BG, 5GY, or 5G, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1, or is neutral. Texture is clay or silty clay. Some part of the Bg horizon has vertical cracks that do not close when the soil is wet.
The Cg horizon has the same color range as the Bg. Texture is clay, silty clay, or silty clay loam.
The 2Cg horizon has hue of 10YR, 5Y, 5BG, 5GY, or 5G, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 or 2, or is neutral. Texture is silt loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loamy very fine sand.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Fausse and
Harahan series.
Barbary,
Gentilly, and
Scatlake series are in similar families. Harahan soils have fragments of wood in the lower layers and are not underlain with loamy layers. Barbary, Gentilly, and Scatlake soils have higher n-values in the 8 to 20 inch part of the control section. Fausse soils have n-values less than 0.7 below 36 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rita soils are on drained fresh water marshes at elevations below sea level. These soils are protected from flooding by a system of levees and pumps, however during extreme tropical storms these soils flood. Slope is less than 0.1 percent. Near the type location the average annual rainfall is about 65 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 67 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Fausse series and the
Allemands,
Kenner and
Schriever series. Allemands and Kenner soils are organic soils. Schriever soils have n-value less than 0.7 in all layers and also have vertic properties.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Rita soils are poorly drained; runoff is negligible; permeability is very slow. The water table is generally maintained at 24 to 36 inches below the soil surface and is controlled by a system of levees, ditches, and pumps.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for improved pasture and urban land. White clover and common bermudagrass grow in pastures. Idle areas have goldenrod and ragweed.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Along Gulf Coastal marshes (MLRA 151) of Louisiana. This soil is of moderate extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AUBURN, ALABAMA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, May 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Sapric soil materials-0 to 4 inches (Oa horizon)
Cambic horizon-4 to 30 inches (Bg horizons)
n-value-more than 0.7 at a depth of 30 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: none
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.