LOCATION WARDELL MO+AR
Established Series
Rev. RLT-LJG
02/2013
WARDELL SERIES
The Wardell series consists of very deep, poorly drained, slowly permeable soils formed in loamy alluvium on old flood plains and old natural levees. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is about 50 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic Mollic Epiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Wardell loam - cultivated at an elevation of 260 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine pebbles; common fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
BA--8 to 16 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine pores; common medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) and reddish brown (5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Btg1--16 to 25 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common, fine, distinct clay films in pores and on faces of some peds; few cracks filled with dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and dark red (2.5YR 3/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 14 inches thick)
Btg2--25 to 37 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; firm; few, fine, distinct clay films; many fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 24 inches thick)
2Cg1--37 to 55 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) clay; massive; firm; many fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and reddish brown (5YR 4/4) masses or iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 22 inches thick)
2Cg2--55 to 60 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) sandy clay; few fine prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; massive; very friable; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 30 inches thick)
3C--60 to 72 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) sand and coarse sand with many small clay balls; single grained; loose; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Pemiscot County, Missouri; about 5 miles west and 1 mile north of Wardell, 1,310 feet east and 1,360 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 19, T. 20 N., R. 11 E; Latitude 36 degrees, 21 minutes, 39.5 seconds N., longitude 89 degrees, 54 minutes, 55.4 seconds W., NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum commonly is 30 to 42 inches and ranges from 22 to 58 inches.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1, 2, or 3. It is loam or sandy clay loam and less commonly sandy loam or silt loam. Reaction is medium acid, slightly acid, or neutral.
The B horizon has either hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 6 or 7, and chroma of 1 or 2 or hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, or loam, with silt loam and silty clay loam being less common. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The C horizons have hue of 10YR, 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 through 7 and chroma of 1 or 2, and have brown colors in deep sandy strata. The C horizon is stratified and the strata vary in thickness and sequence within short horizontal distances. Textures of the strata range from clayey to sandy. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wardell soils typically occur on level to nearly level areas of old flood plains and old natural levees. Slope gradients range from 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed in loamy alluvium probably of old Mississippi River origin and may be partially reworked by tributary streams. Mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 64 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 55 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Amagon,
Forestdale,
Gideon,
Tuckerman,
Alligator,
Askew,
Beulah,
Bosket,
Dubbs,
Dundee, and
Sharkey soils. Alligator, Gideon, and Sharkey soils occur on similar landscapes or in depressions and old channels. Alligator and Sharkey soils have clayey textures throughout and Gideon soils lack argillic horizons. Askew, Beulah, Bosket, Dubbs, and Dundee soils occur on higher or more sloping areas of natural levees or terraces. Askew, Dubbs, and Dundee soils have fine-silty argillic horizons. Beulah soils have coarse-loamy control sections. Bosket soils have less than 18 percent clay in their argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Surface runoff is medium. Permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cropped to cotton, soybeans, and corn. Native vegetation was forest consisting of tupelo gum, swamp maple, oaks, hickories, sweet gum, sycamore, and cottonwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Mississippi River Delta area (MLRA 131) of Missouri and Arkansas. These soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: AUBURN, ALABAMA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pemiscot County, Missouri, 1974.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Forestdale series. Commonly, there is a rainfall deficit during the peak evapo-transpiration period in midsummer and moisture excess during winter and spring months.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.