LOCATION COWARTS AL+FL GA NC SCEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Cowarts fine sandy loam--on a convex 6 percent side slope in a cultivated field (Colors are for moist soil).
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine dark concretions; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
BE--8 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--12 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few faint clay films on faces of peds; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--19 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint clay films on faces of peds; about 3 percent, by volume, nodules of plinthite; many coarse prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) and red (2.5YR 4/8) masses of iron accumulation that are relict and contemporary redoximorphic features; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 36 inches.)
C--25 to 60 inches; about 34 percent red (10R 5/6), about 33 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and about 33 percent light gray (10YR 7/2) sandy clay loam in a variegated pattern with pockets and strata of coarser and finer textured material; massive; very firm; the areas of red and yellowish brown are iron accumulations that are relict and contemporary redoximorphic features and the areas of light gray are iron depletions that are relict and contemporary redoximorphic features; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Houston County, Alabama. About 0.7 mile southeast of Ardilla, 800 feet north and 1200 feet west of the southeast corner of sec. 5, T. 2 N., R. 27 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout except where lime has been added. Percent by volume of iron concretions and/or quartz gravel, 2 mm to 7 cm in diameter, ranges from 0 to 30 percent in the A and E horizons; from 0 to 10 percent in the B horizon; and from 0 to 15 percent in the C horizon.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, loamy fine sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or the gravelly analogues of these textures.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. It has the same range in texture as the A horizon.
The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bt horizon typically has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Some pedons have hue of 5YR with this same range in value and chroma. Silt content is less than 20 percent. Relict and contemporary redoximorphic features in shades of brown, yellow, red or gray range from none to common. Percent by volume of nodular plinthite ranges from 0 to 5 percent. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam or sandy clay.
The BC horizon, where present, is less than 10 inches thick. It has hue of 10R to 10YR, value of 4 to 8 and chroma of 1 to 8; or it is multicolored in shades of red, brown, yellow or gray. Relict and contemporary redoximorphic features in shades of brown, yellow, red or gray range from few to many. Texture ranges from sandy loam to sandy clay.
The C horizon, or less commonly, a Cd horizon, has the same range in hue, value and chroma as the BC horizon. It is layered and pocketed with fine and coarse materials. Relict and contemporary redoximorphic features in shades of brown, yellow, red or gray range from common to many. Some pedons have a gray clay 2C horizon below a depth of 40 inches. Texture ranges from loamy sand to clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These include the Marvin, Springhill, and Vaucluse series in the same family and the Apison, Cahaba, Durham, Emporia, Euharlee, Granville, Hartsells, Kempsville, Linker, Nauvoo, Pirum, Smithdale, Spadra, Stringtown, and Suffolk series in related families. Marvin, Springhill, and Vaucluse soils have a solum thickness of more than 40 inches. In addition, Springhill soils have hue of 5YR or redder in the Bt horizon. None of the soils in related families recognize a kandic horizon. Apison, Hartsells, Nauvoo, Linker and Pirum soils are underlain by bedrock at depths of less than 60 inches. Cahaba, Emporia, Euharlee, Kempsville, Smithdale, Spadra, and Stringtown soils have a solum thickness of more than 40 inches. Durham and Granville soils have saprolite within 40 to 60 inches of the surface. Suffolk soils have moderately rapid to rapid permeability in the C horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cowarts soils are on side slopes and ridge tops on uplands of the Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 1 to 25 percent. They formed in thick beds of stratified, loamy marine sediments. The average annual air temperature ranges from 63 to 68 degrees F. and the average annual precipitation ranges from 48 to 60 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Marvyn and Springhill series on smoother, less dissected positions and the Ardilla, Carnegie, Dothan, Fuquay, Gilead, Luverne, Orangeburg, Tifton and Uchee series. Ardilla soils are on less sloping positions and have fragic properties. Carnegie and Orangeburg soils are on smoother landscape positions and have sola which are more than 40 inches thick. Dothan and Tifton soils, also on smoother, less dissected positions have more than 5 percent nodules of plinthite within 60 inches of the surface. Fuquay and Uchee are on similar positions as Cowarts soils and have a sandy epipedon 20 to 40 inches thick. Gilead and Luverne soils are generally on lower slopes and have a clayey particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained and moderately well drained. Medium to rapid runoff. Moderate permeability in the solum and moderately slow or slow in the substratum. Layers of finer textured materials in the substratum perch water during wet seasons for periods of about two to four weeks.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Cowarts soils are used for woodland. Many areas have been cleared and are used for the production of cotton, corn, peanuts, vegetable crops and pasture. Common trees include longleaf pine, loblolly pine, shortleaf pine, slash pine, southern red oak, sweetgum, hickory and flowering dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Coastal Plain of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houston County, Alabama; 1965.
REMARKS: The 1/89 revision changed the classification from Typic Hapludult to Typic Kanhapludult as a result of the low activity clay amendment to Soil Taxonomy. Chroma of 1 and 2 in the BC and C horizons are believed to be related to parent material and are not thought to be indicative of wetness.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 12 inches (Ap and BE horizons). Argillic and kandic horizons - the zone from approximately 12 to 25 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
SIR- AL0071, AL0129