LOCATION CONECUH ALEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Vertic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Conecuh sandy loam--on a convex 3 percent slope under loblolly pine at an elevation of about 530 feet. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; few fine distinct light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) mottles; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 11 inches thick.)
Bt1--5 to 9 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few fine pores; common distinct patchy clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--9 to 17 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; few fine and medium roots; few fine pores; common distinct continuous clay films on faces of peds; few fine pores; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--17 to 31 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; common medium prominent olive gray (5Y 5/2) and pale olive (5Y 6/3) mottles; strong fine angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; many prominent continuous clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt4--31 to 39 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/6), yellowish red (5YR 5/8), gray (10YR 6/1), and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; many prominent discontinuous clay films on faces of most peds; few fine flakes of mica; about 1 percent by volume of channers of shale; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 18 to 50.)
BC--39 to 50 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay; many medium prominent red (10YR 4/6) and few medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) mottles; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; few distinct discontinuous clay films on faces of most peds; common fine flakes of mica; about 10 percent by volume of channers of shale; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 27 inches thick.)
C--50 to 63 inches; 70 percent by volume of gray clayey shale; shale fragments are 0.5 inch to 2 inches long; very firm; 30 percent by volume of mottled brown, gray, and red clay loam; moderate medium platy structure; firm; common fine roots; few clay films on vertical faces of peds; many fine flakes of mica; extremely acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Bullock County, Alabama; site is 75 feet south of Alabama Power Company transmission pole Number 28 in the NW1/4 NW1/4 NW1/4, sec. 5, T. 9 N., R. 8 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid. The calcium magnesium ratio is less than 1.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand. Eroded pedons have hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Some pedons have a thin E horizon with hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles of chroma 2 or less are within the upper 8 to 17 inches of the Bt horizon. The lower part of the Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8 with common to many mottles in shades of gray, red, yellow, or brown; or it is mottled in shades of red, gray, brown, and yellow. The Bt horizon is clay or silty clay with 25 to 45 percent silt and 45 to 70 percent clay. Most pedons have a thin (1 to 5 inches thick) layer of clay loam or silty clay loam in the upper part.
The BC or CB horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 6, with mottles in shades of red, yellow, or brown; or it is mottled in varying shades of gray, red, yellow, and brown. It is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, clay loam, or sandy clay loam.
The C horizon has the same colors as the BC or CB horizon. It is massive or has platy structure. Texture ranges from sandy loam to clay with a crushed clay content of 25 to 50 percent. In some pedons, the C horizon is clayey shale.
COMPETING SERIES: The Halso series is the only other known series in this family. Competing series in similar families are the Arundel, Beatrice, Luverne, Sacul, and Sweatman series. Arundel soils are underlain by siltstone, sandstone, or shale at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Beatrice soils have vertic properties. Halso soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 40 to 60 inches. Luverne, Sacul, and Sweatman soils have mixed clay mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Conecuh soils are on convex gently sloping to steep uplands and hill slopes of the Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 1 to 35 percent. The soils formed in clayey and shaly marine sediments. The climate is warm and humid with an average annual temperature of 65 degrees F and average annual precipitation of 50 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Arundel, Halso, Sacul, and Luverne soils on similar positions and the competing Beatrice soils on less sloping positions, these are the well drained Blanton, Lucy, Orangeburg, Poarch, and Troup soils on higher positions and the poorly drained Bibb and Mantachie soils on floodplains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; very slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Conecuh soils are used for woodland. Forests are mainly pine with some mixed hardwoods. Small areas are used for pasture, hay, and cultivated crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Uplands and hill slopes of the Coastal Plain of Alabama and possibly in other southern states. Known areas are in the Hatchetigbee, Nanafalia, Tuscahoma, and Tuscaloosa geological formations. The acreage is believed to be of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Conecuh County, Alabama; 1985.
REMARKS: The Conecuh series was formerly included in the Boswell and Susquehanna series and, in more recent legends, the Beatrice series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 5 inches (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - the zone from a depth of 5 inches to a depth of 39 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, and Bt4 horizons).
Aquic feature - the zone from a depth of 17 inches to a depth of 63 inches, presence of mottles with chroma of 2 or less (Bt3, Bt4, BC and C horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Complete characterization data are available on 4 pedons; partial characterization data are available on 5 additional pedons; Engineering Test Data are available on 2 additional pedons. These soils were first recognized as pedon Number 1 in "A Lithosequence in Coastal Plain Sediments in Alabama" by R. A. Hoyum and B. F. Hajek, Soil Science Society of American Journal, Volume 43, No. 1, January - February, 1979.