LOCATION FREEST MS+ALEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, active, thermic Aquic Paleudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Freest fine sandy loam, on 0 to 2 percent slope, in forest.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 2 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many medium roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
E--2 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; few medium pebbles of quartz; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bt1--6 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam, few medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; few fine and medium pebbles of quartz; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Bt2--15 to 42 inches; mottled pale brown (10YR 6/3), yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), and gray (10YR 6/1) clay loam; strong coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium angular blocky; firm, plastic; thin continuous clay films of pale brown on faces of peds; few uncoated sand grains on faces of prisms; few medium pebbles of quartz; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--42 to 52 inches; mottled gray (10YR 6/1), yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), and red (2.5YR 4/6) clay loam; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium angular blocky; very firm, plastic; thin continuous clay films on faces of peds; few slickensides that do not intersect; few pebbles of quartz; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt4--52 to 80 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), gray (10YR 6/1), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak fine and medium angular blocky; very firm, plastic; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; few slickensides that do not intersect; few pebbles of quartz; common medium and coarse black coatings on faces of peds; slightly acid. (Combined thickness of the lower Bt subhorizons is 52 to more than 60 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Jasper County, Mississippi; 8.5 miles northwest of Montrose, and 75 feet southeast into forest. NW1/4NE1/4 sec. 3, T. 4 N., R. 10 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 60 to over 100 inches. Mottles with chroma of 2 or less are within a depth of 18 to 30 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 to 3. The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 3, or value of 6 and chroma of 3. The texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam. It is very strongly or strongly acid, except where limed.
The E or BE horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture and reaction are similar to the Ap horizon.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6 or hue of 2.5Y, value of 6, and chroma of 4 with mottles in shades of brown, yellow, or gray, or it is mottled in these colors. It is loamy or sandy clay loam.
The lower part of the Bt horizon is commonly mottled in shades of brown, gray, and red. In some pedons the Bt3 and Bt4 horizons have a matrix color in hue of 10YR, value of 6, and chroma of 1 or 2 with few to many mottles in shades of brown, yellow, or red. Texture is dominantly clay loam, but some pedons have silty clay or clay Bt3 and Bt4 horizons. The particle-size control section, upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon, is 18 to 35 percent clay. The upper part of the Bt subhorizon ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid, and the lower part ranges from very strongly acid to neutral. Some pedons have a few calcium carbonate concretions in the lower part of the Bt horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Fetzer, Hamden, Katy, and Wetsaw series in the same family. Closely related soils are the Falkner, Freestone, Muskogee, Stigler, Tippah, and Vian series. Fetzer soils have a loamy fine sand or loamy sand A horizon. Hamden soils have a perched water table between a depth of 0.5 and 1.5 feet of the surface and are in areas with lower mean annual precipitation. Katy soils have a perched water table between a depth of 0 to 2.5 feet and an A horizon that is 18 to 30 inches thick. Wetsaw soils have gravelly or very gravelly lower Bt horizon. Falkner, Muskogee, Tippah, and Vian soils have less than 15 percent fine to coarse sand in the upper 20 inches to the Bt horizon. Freestone soils have a Bt horizon that contains 10 to 15 percent of AE material. Stigler soils have 35 to 50 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Freest soils are on nearly level to moderately sloping uplands and stream terraces of the Southern Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. The soils formed in loamy and clayey marine or fluvial sediments. The climate is warm and humid. The mean annual temperature is 62 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is 52 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adaton, Kipling, Louin, Prentiss, Stough, and Vaiden series. Poorly drained Adaton soils, which are on broad, nearly level uplands and stream terraces, are predominantly gray in the Bt horizon. Somewhat poorly drained Kipling soils, which are on similar positions as the Freest soils in uplands, have 35 to 60 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon. Somewhat poorly drained Louin soils, which are on nearly level uplands and stream terraces, have cyclic pedons and have 40 to 60 percent clay
in the 10- to 40-inch control section. Moderately well drained Prentiss soils, which are in similar to slightly lower positions, have a fragipan. Somewhat poorly drained Stough soils, which generally are on slightly lower positions on terraces, have 8 to 18 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon. Somewhat poorly drained Vaiden soils, which are in similar positions are the Freest soils, have more than 60 percent clay in the 10- to 40-inch control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; slow to medium runoff; slow permeability. The water table is at a depth of 1.5 to 2.5 feet for short periods during wet seasons in winter and early spring.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland of pine and hardwoods. Cleared areas are used for growing cotton, corn, soybeans, and pasture grasses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama and Mississippi. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jasper County, Mississippi; 1974.
REMARKS: Freest soils would formerly have been classified in the Red-Yellow Podzolic great soil group. These soils have been included in the Freestone series.