LOCATION SUSQUEHANNA MS+AL AR FL GA LA TN VA

Established Series
Rev. RED:WMK:RBH
11/2018

SUSQUEHANNA SERIES

The Susquehanna series consists of deep, somewhat poorly drained, soils that formed in marine or stream deposits of silty clay and clay. Permeability is very slow. These nearly level to steep soils are on erosional uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 1 to 17 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Vertic Paleudalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Susquehanna fine sandy loam--forest. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 3 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)

E--3 to 5 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and dark gray (10YR 4/1) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; root channels filled with A material; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)

Bt1--5 to 9 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay; few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; common fine roots; root channels filled with material from the A and E horizons; shiny, grooved faces of peds; few slickensides that do not intersect; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--9 to 28 inches; mottled light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and red (10R 4/6) clay; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; few fine roots; root channels filled with material from the A and E horizons; shiny, grooved faces of peds; few slickensides that do not intersect; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt3--28 to 51 inches; mottled light gray (2.5Y 7/2), dark red (10R 3/6), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) clay loam; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; very firm, very sticky, very plastic, few fine roots; shiny, grooved faces of peds; few slickensides that do not intersect; clay films along walls of old root channels; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the upper part of the Bt subhorizons is 40 to 60 inches thick.)

2Bt4--51 to 73 inches; mottled light gray (5Y 7/2), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; strong fine angular blocky structure; very firm; very sticky, very plastic; few clay films on faces of peds but clay is more evident along root channels; few slickensides that do not intersect; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 30 inches thick)

2Bt5--73 to 77 inches; light gray (5Y 7/2) clay; common fine prominent strong brown; (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; strong fine angular blocky structure; few clay films on faces of peds; very firm, very strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: George County, Mississippi; 4.5 miles southwest of Lucedale, on State Highway 26, 3.0 miles north on gravel road, 1.25 miles north of gravel road on first woods road north of Big Creek bridge, 50 feet north of woods road and 150 feet west of pipeline. SE1/4 sec. 27, T. 1 S., R. 7 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum is more than 60 inches in thickness and the argillic horizon is more than 50 inches thick. Base saturation ranges from 35 to 60 percent at 50 inches below the top of the argillic horizon. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, except for the surface layer in areas that have been limed. Calcium content does not drop below 2.5 me. per 100 grams of soil within 50 inches of the soil surface.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 3. The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam, or loam, and severely eroded pedons can have clay loam, silty clay loam, or clay.

The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam, or loam.

The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10R, 2.5YR, or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8, or it has hue of 7.5YR, value of 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Few to many mottles with chroma of 2 or less are in the upper 10 inches of the Bt horizon, or the upper part is mottled in shades of gray, red, brown, or yellow. The lower part of the Bt horizon and the 2Bt horizon have a gray matrix or they are mottled in shades of gray, red, brown, or yellow or it is mottled in these colors. The Bt and 2Bt horizons are silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay. The particle-size control section, upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon, has 35 to 60 percent clay. It has COLE OF 0.09 or more.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Annona, Bryarly, and Woodville series in the same family and the closely related Angie, Boswell, Iredell, Kipling, Oktibbeha, Shubuta, White Store, and Wilcox
series. Annona and Woodville soils range from medium acid to moderately alkaline in the lower part of the B horizon. Bryarly soils are mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline and are calcareous in the lower part of the B horizon and have few to common soft masses of calcium carbonate. Angie soils have a yellowish brown Bt horizon and have less than 35 percent base saturation. Boswell soils do not have gray mottles in the upper 10 inches of the Bt horizon. Irdell and Oktibbeha soils have a
Bt horizon less than 50 inches thick and do not have gray mottles in the upper 10 inches of the Bt horizon. Kipling soils have a yellowish brown Bt horizon that is less than 50 inches thick. Shubuta soils have mixed mineralogy and do not have mottles within the upper 30 inches of the solum. White Store soils have less that 35 percent base saturation. Wilcox soils have a Bt horizon that is less than 50 inches thick.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These nearly level to steep soils are in erosional upalnds of the Southern Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 1 to 17 percent. These soils formed in marine or stream deposits of silty clay and clay. The climate is warm and humid. The mean annual temperature is 68 degrees F., and average annual precipitation is 61 inches near the type location.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Angie, Boswell, Shubuta, and Wilcox soils of the competing series and the Cahaba, Cowarts, Izagora, Lucy, Rumford, Ruston, and Wicksburg soils. Moderately well drained Angie and Boswell soils, well drained Shubuta soils, and somewhat poorly drained Wilcox soils are in similar positions as the Susquehanna soils. Well drained Cahaba soils and moderately well drained Izagora soils, which are on terraces, are in a fine-loamy family. Well drained Cowarts, Ruston, and Wicksburg soils are on broader, smoother slopes. In addition, Cowarts and Ruston soils are in a fine-loamy family and Wicksburg soils have kaolinitic mineralogy. Well drained Lucy soils and somewhat excessively drained Rumford soils, which mainly are in slightly higher positions on hillslopes, are in a loamy, siliceous family.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; very slow permeability; moderate to very rapid runoff. These soils are wet during periods of high rainfall, but they do not have a free
water table.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Susquehanna soils are used for woodland. Some areas are used for pasture. Principal vegetation of wooded areas is mixed hardwood and pine forests.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Coastal Plain in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia. The series is of large extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cecil County, Maryland; 1900.

REMARKS: Laboratory data on the typifying pedon were obtained from the National Soil Survey Laboratory; Mississippi Benchmark soils, sample - 81MS-039-001.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.