LOCATION BASILE LAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, thermic Typic Glossaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Basile silt loam--in a slight depression in forested stream flood plain. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 4 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine roots; few fine pores; common fine black masses of iron-manganese; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 6 inches thick)
Eg1--4 to 16 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; common fine pores; few fine brown masses of iron-manganese; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation with clear boundaries on surfaces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Eg2--16 to 22 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; moderately hard, firm; nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine pores lined with white silt; few fine brown masses of iron-manganese; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation with sharp boundaries on surfaces of peds; very strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (combined thickness of the Eg horizon is 12 to 25 inches)
Btg/Eg--22 to 32 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) silty clay loam (Bt) and light gray (10YR 7/2) silt loam (E); moderate medium subangular blocky structure; silty clay loam is very hard, firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; silt loam is hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine pores lined with clay; common distinct clay films on surfaces of peds; silt loam streaks of the overlying Eg horizon make up 40 percent of this horizon; common fine black masses of iron-manganese; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation with sharp boundaries on surfaces of peds; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Btg--32 to 50 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; moderately hard, firm, sticky and plastic; few fine pores; many prominent clay films on surfaces of peds; common fine black masses of iron-manganese; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation with clear and sharp boundaries on surfaces of peds; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (18 to 60 inches thick)
Bkg--50 to 80 inches; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; moderately hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine pores; few medium concretions of calcium carbonate; few fine brown masses of iron-manganese; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in matrix; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Evangeline Parish, Louisiana; 5.8 miles south of Pine Prairie on LA Highway 13; 1.1 miles west on parish road; 125 feet north in forest; 40 feet west of East Fork Bayou Nezpique channel; 600 feet east and 100 feet north of southwest corner of Sec. 12, T. 4 S., R. 1 W.; Latitude 30N, 42, 55; Longitude 92W, 26, 49.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is more than 80 inches. Base saturation is 80 to 100 percent at 50 inches below the top to the argillic horizon. Calcium to magnesium ratio is more than 1. Total sand content is more than 10 percent and is dominated by the very fine sand fraction. In some pedons exchangeable sodium percentage that is 15 or more occurs at depths of more than 16 inches below the upper boundary of the argillic horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Masses of iron-manganese range from 1 to 5 percent by volume. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
The Eg horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Masses of iron accumulation, in shades of brown, range from none to common. Masses of iron-manganese range from 1 to 5 percent by volume. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The Btg/Eg horizon is silty clay loam in the Bt part and silt loam in the E part. The E occurs as albic material that penetrates the Bt to a depth of 6 to 12 inches and makes up 15 to 45 percent of the horizon. The E part has the same colors as the overlying E horizon. The Btg/Eg has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Masses of iron accumulation, in shades of brown, range from few to common. Masses of iron-manganese range from few to many. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to slightly alkaline.
The Btg horizon, and Btng horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Masses of iron accumulation, in shades of brown, range from few to common. Masses of iron-manganese range from few to many. Texture is silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to moderately alkaline. Calcium carbonate concretions below a depth of 30 inches range from none to common.
Color of the Bkg horizon is the same as the Btg horizon. Texture typically is silt loam but some pedons have strata ranging from silty clay loam to clay. Masses of iron accumulation, in shades of brown, range from few to many. Masses of iron-manganese range from few to many. Calcium carbonate concretions range from few to common. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Fountain series and the similar Caddo, Calhoun, Frost, Gilbert, Guyton, Leton, and Wrightsville series. Frost soils have dark coatings on peds in the B horizon and do not have calcium carbonate concretions in the lower B horizons. Calhoun, Fountain, and Frost soils have less than 10 percent total sand content, and Fountain soils are alkaline in the upper B horizons. Gilbert soils are on terraces and formed in mixed loess and loamy alluvium. Caddo, Guyton, and Leton soils have siliceous mineralogy. Guyton soils have calcium to magnesium ratio less than 1. Leton soils do not have calcium carbonate in the lower B horizon. Wrightsville soils have a fine particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Basile soils are on level to nearly level flood plains associated with late Pleistocene deposits. The soils formed in loamy alluvium high in weatherable minerals. Mean annual rainfall ranges from 55 to 60 inches. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 67 to 70 degrees F. Frost free days range from 235 to 350. Thornthwaite P-E index is near 70.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Acadiana, Barbary, Brule, Crowley, Iota, Kaplan, Kinder, and Vidrine series. Acadiana, Crowley, Kaplan, and Iota soils have more clay content in the particle-size control section and occur on higher, slightly convex uplands. Barbary soils are very poorly drained, are lower in the landscape in swamps, and have n-value more than 0.7. Brule soils are slightly higher in flood plains and are Ultisols. Kinder soils are higher on the landscape and have siliceous mineralogy. Vidrine soils are on low mounds and are better drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is slow. The water table is within 1.5 feet of the surface from December to May in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used mainly as woodland. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood. Cleared areas are used for pasture. A few areas are used for truck crops, soybeans, or rice.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwest Louisiana along major bayous (MLRA 150A; LRR T). The series is extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Evangeline Parish, Louisiana; 1970.
REMARKS: These soils were previously mapped as local alluvial land and wet alluvial land.
Diganostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--0 to 22 inches (A and Eg horizons)
Albic horizon--4 to 22 inches (Eg horizons)
Argillic horizon--22 to 50 inches (Bt\E and Btg horizons)
Glossic horizon--more than 15 percent by volume albic material in the upper argillic horizon (Bt/E horizon).
Aquic moisture regime--saturated and reduced for some period in most years.
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL data from Acadia Parish, LA (S93LA-001-17).
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Ninth Edition, 2003.