LOCATION SAVANNAH MS+AL AR LA TN VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Savannah fine sandy loam - pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; root channels and worm holes filled with material from the E horizon; few fine black concretions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
E--6 to 11 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam; weak fine and medium granular and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; some fillings of Ap material in root channels and worm holes; few fine brown and black concretions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
E/B--11 to 15 inches; mixed very pale brown (10YR 7/3) (E) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) (B) loam; weak medium granular and weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few worm holes; few fine brown and black concretions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bt1--15 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate, medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; some material from E horizon in root channels and worm holes in upper part of horizon; sand grains bridged and coated with clay; few fine brown and black concretions; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--22 to 28 inches: yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; common, fine, faint, pale brown mottles; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine voids; sand grains bridged with clay; patchy clay films on faces of peds; few fine brown concretions; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt subhorizons is 12 to 20 inches)
Btx1--28 to 35 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate, medium and coarse subangular blocky and angular blocky; hard, compact and brittle in about 70 percent of mass; few fine roots in seams between prisms; common fine voids; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; patchy clay films on faces of peds and in cracks; common fine brown concretions; narrow seams of gray (10YR 6/1) clay loam extend downward between prisms; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Btx2--35 to 44 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), and yellowish red (5YR 4/8) loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate, fine and medium subangular blocky and angular blocky; hard, firm, compact and brittle on about 70 percent of mass; few fine roots in seams between prisms; few fine voids; continuous clay films on faces of peds; seams less than one inch wide of gray (10YR 6/1) clay loam between prisms; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of upper Bx subhorizons is 14 to 24 inches.)
Btx3--44 to 56 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), gray (10YR 5/1), and yellowish red (5YR 4/8) sandy clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate, medium, and coarse subangular blocky and angular blocky; firm, compact, and brittle in about 60 percent of mass; clay films on faces of peds; seams of gray (10YR 6/1) clay loam between prisms; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Btx4--56 to 68 inches; mottled yellowish red (5YR 4/8), gray (10YR 6/1), and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate, medium and coarse subangular blocky and blocky; firm, compact and brittle in about 60 percent of mass; seams of gray (10YR 6/1) clay loam between prisms; clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Clarke County, Mississippi; 1/2 mile south of Stonewall, 400 feet west and 300 feet south of northeast corner of southwest 1/4 southwest 1/4, sec. 5, T. 3 N., R 15 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 50 to more than 80 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 16 to 38 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to strongly acid in all horizons except where limed. Some pedons have a few to common quartz pebbles on the surface or throughout, and others have few to common brown and black concretions throughout.
The Ap and E horizons have hue of 10YR, value of 4, and chroma of 2 or 3; value of 5, and chroma of 3, 4, or 6; or hue of 10YR, value of 6, and chroma of 3, and hue of 2.5Y, value of 4, chroma of 2; value of 5, chroma of 4 or 6. Colors in severely eroded pedons are either a mixture of the Ap and B horizons or are similar to the B horizon. Undisturbed pedons have 1 to 4 inch thick A horizons in hue of 10YR, value of 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or less commonly, clay loam in severely eroded pedons.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y; value of 5, and chroma of 4, 6, or 8. It is sandy clay loam, clay loam, or loam. Clay content ranges from 18 to 32 percent, and silt content ranges from 20 to 50 percent.
The Btx horizon is mottled in shades of yellow, brown, red, and gray, or has hue of 10YR, value of 5, and chroma of 4 to 8, with mottles in shades of gray. The fragipan has gray vertical seams that form a roughly polygonal pattern of prisms. The matrix of the prisms is very firm and brittle when moist, and in the major part of the fragipan it constitutes more than 60 percent of the volume. It is sandy clay loam, clay loam, loam, or sandy loam.
Some pedons have sandy clay loam, clay loam, loam, or sandy loam B't or BC horizons below the Btx horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cane, Ora, Sidon, and Wax series of the same family; and the Dickson, Locust, Paden, Prentiss, and Providence series. Cane, and Ora soils have a Bt horizon centered on yellowish red or reddish brown colors. Sidon soils have interbedded siltstone, shale, and sandstone at a depth ranging from 40 to 60 inches. Wax soils have coarse chert fragments throughout. Dickson and Paden soils have a bisequum and contain more silt throughout the solum. Locust soils have mixed mineralogy and contain chert pebbles in the underlying materials. Prentiss soils do not have a Bt horizon above the fragipan and are in a coarse-loamy family. Providence soils are in a fine-silty family, and have a base saturation of more than 35 percent at a depth of more than 30 inches below the upper boundary of the fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Savannah soils are on nearly level to gently sloping loamy marine and fluvial terraces and nearly level to moderately steep uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent; slopes of 1 to 5 percent are dominant. Average annual temperature near the type location is 66 degrees F; average annual precipitation is about 58 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing Ora, Paden, and Prentiss series, which are on similar positions of the landscape as the Savannah soils, and the Cahaba, Mashulaville, McLaurin, Myatt, Pheba, Quitman, Ruston, Smithdale, and Stough series. Cahaba soils, which are on terraces along larger streams, have a redder Bt horizon and do not have a fragipan. Mashulaville and Myatt soils, which are on broad flats and depressions of uplands and terraces, are gray. McLaurin soils, on upland ridges, have a redder Bt horizon and do not have a fragipan. Pheba soils, which are on broad, low terraces, have mottles with chroma of 2 or less in the upper part of the B horizon. Quitman soils, which are on stream terraces, have mottles with chroma of 2 or less in the upper part of the B horizon and do not have a fragipan. Ruston and Smithdale soils, which are on uplands, have a redder Bt horizon and do not have a fragipan. Stough soils, which are on nearly level and gently sloping uplands and terraces, have mottles with chroma of 2 or less in the upper part of the B horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Savannah soils are moderately well drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate in the upper part of the solum and moderately slow in the fragipan. A water table is perched above the fragipan at a depth of 1.5 to 3.0 feet below the surface during wet seasons from January to March.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly used for growing cotton, corn, soybeans, small grains, truck crops, hay, pasture, and woodland. Forested areas are chiefly shortleaf, longleaf, slash, and loblolly pines; white, post, and red oaks; hickory, and sweetgum.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and possibly Florida. The series is extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hardin County, Tennessee, 1926.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 11 inches (Ap and E horizons).
Argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 15 to 68 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Btx1, Btx2, Btx3, Btx4).
Fragipan - the zone from approximately 28 to 68 inches (Btx1, Btx2, Btx3, Btx4).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data: Characterization data for four pedons are published in SSIR No. 13, pp. 139-147, including the site of the typical pedon in Clarke County, Mississippi. Physical and chemical data for one pedon are in Soil Survey of Neshoba County, Mississippi (issued April 1981) pp. 98-99; physical analysis for one pedon are in Soil Survey of Tishomingo County, Mississippi (issued October 1983) p. 81.