LOCATION FELICIANA LA,TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, thermic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Feliciana silt loam on a 0 to 1 percent slope in pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; few dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) root stains; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--5 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; thin discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; few black coating on surfaces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
Bt2--15 to 29 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; thick discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; few black coating on surfaces of peds; common light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silt coatings on peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
Bt3--29 to 46 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; thin discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; few black coating on surfaces of peds; common light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silt coatings on peds; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 14 inches thick)
Bt4--46 to 65 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; thin discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; common light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silt coatings on peds; moderately acid. (4 to 14 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; 1.7 miles north of Delombre, 3300 feet east of Thompson Creek, 150 feet south of LA Hwy 964, Spanish Land Grant; sec. 74, T.3S, R.2W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 48 to 80 inches. The calcium-magnesium ratio is 1 or more.
The A horizons are in hue 10YR, value 4 or 5, and chroma 1 to 4; hue 7.5YR, value 4 or 5, and chroma 4. In some pedons there is a thin A horizon in hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value 3, and chroma 2 or 3. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to medium acid, except where limed. Texture is silt or silt loam.
The E horizon where present has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is silt or silt loam.
The Bt horizons are in hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value 4 or 5, and chroma 4 through 6. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid. Clay content in the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon typically contains 25 to 30 percent clay and ranges from 20 to 35. To a depth of 40 inches or more, the soil contains less than 5 percent sand. Some pedons have up to 15 percent sand in the lower part of the Bt horizon below a depth of 40 inches. This is generally a "mixing zone" that is transitional to a discontinuity to sandier coastal plain deposits. Black coats and stains on ped faces of the Bt horizons range from few to many. Gray, pale brown, or light yellowish brown silt coatings in cracks on faces of peds may be absent in some pedons.
The BC and C horizons are in hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value 4 or 5, and chroma 4 through 6. Texture is silt loam. Some pedons have hue of 5YR, and contain up to 15 percent sand in the lower parts of BC or C horizons that are transitionsl to a discontinuity to coastal plains deposits. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid.
A 2Bt horizon is present in some pedons below a depth of 48 inches. It has hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 through 8. Texture is sandy loam, silt loam, loam, sandy clay loam or clay loam. Brownish or yellowish pockets of sand or loamy sand range from none to common.
COMPETING SERIES: Competing series are Armour, Dexter, Dossman, Goodwill, and Lexington series in the same family and the Barnsdall, Cascilla, Center, Lytle, Dubbs, Gallion, Rilla, Loring, Memphis and Siwell series in closely related families. Armour soils have silty clay loam to clay BC horizons that contain chert fragments. Barnsdall, Dubbs and Goodwill soils formed in alluvium or mixed loess and alluvium and have more than 5 percent sand within 40 inches of the surface. Gallion and Rilla soils formed in alluvium, and have redder hue and more than 5 percent sand within 40 inches of the surface. Cascilla soils formed in alluvium, and do not have an Argillic horizon. Dossman soils have hue of 5YR or redder throughout the subsoil and formed in Pre-Peoria loess. Dexter and Lexington soils have a discontinuity to loamy coastal plains sediments within a depth of 4 feet. Loring soils have a fragipan. Siwell soils have a discontinuity to clayey materials in the lower part of the solum. Center soils have aquic conditions and iron depletions of chroma of 2 or less in the upper 10 inches of the Bt horizon. Memphis soils have higher base saturation in the lower part of the solum. Lytle soils have have a discontinuity to loamy coastal plains sediments within a depth of 4 feet and have base saturation below 35 percent in the lower part of the solum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Feliciana soils are on nearly level to very steep uplands and terraces having slopes ranging from 0 to 40 percent. The soils formed in loess more than 4 feet thick. The climate is warm and humid with annual precipitation of 61.6 inches and annual temperature is 65.7 degrees F near tye type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Lexington, Loring and Memphis soils, and the Bigbee, Calhoun, Natchez, Morganfield, and Olivier soils. Bigbee and Morganfield soils are on floodplains of drainageways. Calhoun, Loring, and Olivier soils occupy broader ridgetops, depressions, and heads of drainageways. Lexington soils are on shoulder or sideslope positions and have a thinner loess cap. Memphis soils are on similar positions. Natchez soils are on steeper more dissected sideslopes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very high runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Feliciana soils are used for woodland of mixed hardwoods and pines. Cleared areas are used for soybeans, small grains, hay, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Louisiana, Mississippi, and possibly West Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Little Rock, Arkansas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: East Feliciana Parish, La. 1992. The name comes from Feliciana Parish.
REMARKS: The series was updated in 2003 and was assigned to an active activity class. Also, the nature of the mterial below the loess cap was added to the range in characteristics, and shightly redder colors and higher sand content were added for the transition zone in the lower part of the loess cap. Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized are:
Ochric epipedon .....0 to 5 inches (Ap).
Argillic horizon ...5 to 65 inches (Bt).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data on typifying pedon were obtained from the soils laboratory of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, sample S89LA37-46.