LOCATION TALLAPOOSA AL+GA NC SC VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic, shallow Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Tallapoosa loam--forested.
(Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 4 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; few gravel-sized fragments of quartz and schist; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 7 inches thick)
Bt--4 to 10 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silty clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few gravel-sized fragments of schist; thin discontinuous clay films on faces of some peds and on fragments of schist; common flakes of mica; irregular seams averaging about 2 1/2 inches in thickness extend to depths of 60 inches into underlying horizons; these seams are roughly oriented to the dip in beds of saprolite; very strongly acid; gradual broken boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
C--10 to 19 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) saprolite; 20 percent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) loam in seams; weak platy structure; friable; few roots; discontinuous thin clay coatings on saprolite; many medium flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual broken boundary. (0 to 18 inches thick)
Cr--19 to 60 inches; mottled reddish yellow (5YR 6/6), yellowish red (5YR 4/8), and brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) weathered schist; many flakes of mica; few seams of yellowish red loam parallel dip of saprolite; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Chilton County, Alabama; 3 miles east of Providence Church on Higgins Ferry Road, 1/4 mile east of transmission line on south side of road, SE1/4NW1/4SE1/4 sec. 29 T. 2 N., R. 16 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 3 to 20 inches. Depth to a paralithic contact (Cr) is 10 to 20 inches and depth to hard bedrock (R) is more than 6 feet. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the solum. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is sand, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. The texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Clay content is 18 to 30 percent. The Bt horizon is continuous. Seams of the Bt horizon extend into the underlying horizons to depths as great as 6 feet and tend to parallel the fracture planes of the bedrock. Thickness of seams range from 1/2 to 7 inches.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8, or is mottled in shades of brown, yellow, and red. Saprolite comprises from 65 to 85 percent of the horizon.
The Cr horizon is primarily weathered micaceous schist or phyllite but admixtures of gneiss occur. It is rippable with heavy machinery and can be cut with hand tools with difficulty in most places.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tallapoosa soils are on narrow ridges and dissected sideslopes of the Piedmont Plateau. Slopes range from 5 to 80 percent. The climate is warm and humid. The mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F. near the type location, and the average annual precipitation is about 55 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Badin, Fruithurst, Grover, Louisa, Madison, Pacolet and Tatum series. All of these soils, with the exception of Louisa, are more than 20 inches to a paralithic contact. Louisa soils are Dystrochrepts.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is in forest of mixed hardwood and pine. A small percentage is cleared and used for growing corn, small grain, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont Plateau of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and possibly Virginia. The series is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Talladega County, Alabama; 1969.
REMARKS: Tallapoosa soils have been included in the Madison and Louisa series. This revision changes mineralogy from micaceous to mixed based on regional observations in Alabama and Georgia. Also, the 8th edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy removed shallow families from the Inceptic (formerly Ochreptic) subgroups.
Rev: RLV 3/12/99
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation AL0021 TALLAPOOSA 5- 80 58- 65 190-220 48- 56 800-1800 AL0090 TALLAPOOSA 5- 80 58- 65 190-220 48- 56 800-1800SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness AL0021 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 10-20 SOFT AL0090 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 10-20 SOFT
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- AL0021 0- 4 L SIL 0- 10 85- 95 7-25 - AL0021 0- 4 FSL SL 0- 10 85- 95 4-20 - AL0021 4-10 SICL CL L 0- 10 85-100 18-30 - AL0021 10-19 L 0- 15 75- 85 8-25 - AL0021 19-60 WB - - - - AL0090 0- 4 GR-L GR-SIL 0- 10 65- 75 7-25 - AL0090 0- 4 GR-FSL GR-SL 0- 10 65- 75 4-20 - AL0090 4-10 GR-L GR-SICL GR-CL 0- 10 65- 85 18-30 - AL0090 10-19 GR-L 0- 15 60- 80 8-25 - AL0090 19-60 WB - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll AL0021 0- 4 4.5- 5.0 .5-1. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0021 0- 4 4.5- 5.0 .5-1. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0021 4-10 4.5- 5.0 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0021 10-19 4.5- 5.0 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0021 19-60 - - - 0.00-0.06 AL0090 0- 4 4.5- 5.0 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0090 0- 4 4.5- 5.0 .5-1. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0090 4-10 4.5- 5.0 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0090 10-19 4.5- 5.0 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW AL0090 19-60 - - - 0.00-0.06
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone frm the surface of the soil to a depth of 4 inches (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - the zone frm about 4 inches to 10 inches (Bt horizon).