LOCATION HARLESTON MS+AL AR LAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Aquic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Harleston loam--pasture.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; very dark gray ?(10YR 3/1) loam; weak
medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick)
E--5 to 9 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) loam; weak
fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many wormcasts containing very dark gray material; very strongly acid; clear
smooth boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; weak
fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; patchy clay films; few soft brown bodies; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 15
inches thick)
Bt2--20 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; many
medium and coarse distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/8), and common
medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles; weak
medium subangular blocky structure; friable; sand grains coated
and bridged with clay; patchy clay films; few pockets of uncoated sand grains; few medium to coarse red bodies; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bt3--26 to 33 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) loam; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), pale brown (10YR 6/3), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium
subangular blocky structure; friable; sand grains coated and
bridged with clay; few pockets of sandy loam; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt4--33 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; many
medium and coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly brittle; few soft strong brown to yellowish red bodies; sand grains coated and bridged with clay; patchy clay films; few polygonal cracks filled with light
brownish gray sandy loam extending downward; very strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary.
Bt5--60 to 72 inches; coarsely mottled red (2.5YR 4/6), gray
(10YR 6/1), yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), and strong brown (7.5YR
5/6) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky
structure; friable; slightly brittle; patchy clay films; sand
grains coated and bridged with clay; very strongly acid.
(Combined thickness of the lower part of the Bt subhorizons is 45
to 60 inches or more.)
TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Mississippi; 2.0 miles southeast
of Hurley and 200 yards east of blacktop road into pasture. NW1/4NW1/4 sec. 10, T. 5 S., R. 5. W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness exceeds 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid, except
those surface layers that have been limed. Content of gravel
ranges from none to as much as 10 percent of the volume in all horizons.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma
of 1 to 3. It is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loamy
fine sand.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2
to 4, or it has hue or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to
4. It is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loamy fine sand.
The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of
5, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is fine sandy loam or loam.
The Bt1 and Bt2 horizons have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or
6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles with chroma of 2 or less range
from few to many in the Bt2 horizon. Texture is sandy loam or
loam. The upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon has from 8 to 18
percent clay and from 20 to 50 percent silt.
The lower part of the Bt horizon has matrix colors similar to Bt1
and Bt2 horizons, except with few to many mottles having chroma
of 2 or less throughout, or it is mottled in shades of gray,
brown, or red. It is sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam. Some pedons have 1 to 5 percent plinthite. Some pedons have few to
many fine to medium iron concretions.
COMPETING SERIES: These are
Dallardsville and
Foreston series in
the same family and the closely related
Basin,
Benndale,
Escambia,
Goldsboro,
McLaurin,
Poarch,
Quitman and
Stough series. Dallardsville soils have tongues of albic material in the B
horizon. Foreston soils have a Bt horizon with less than 20
percent silt and a Bt horizon that commonly decreases in clay in
the lower part and has skeletons. Basin and Stough soils are
brittle and compact in about 40 percent of the volume of the
lower part of the Bt horizon. Benndale, McLaurin, and Poarch
soils are similar to Harleston soils in texture of the B
horizons, but do not have mottles of chroma 2 or less within 30 inches of the soil surface. In addition, Poarch soils have more
than 5 percent plinthite. Escambia soils have more than 5
percent plinthite between a depth of 20 and 42 inches of the
surface. Goldsboro and Quitman soils have a fine loamy
particle-size class.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Harleston soils are on nearly level to
strongly sloping terraces and uplands of the Southern Coastal
Plain upland. Slope gradients range from 0 to 12 percent. The
soil formed in marine or stream deposits, consisting of thick
beds of sandy loams. At the type location the climate is warm
and humid. The mean annual temperature is 65 degrees F., and
mean annual rainfall is 62 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Basin,
Benndale,
Escambia,
McLaurin, and
Poarch series and
Eustis,
Saucier,
Smithton, and
Susquehanna series. Somewhat poorly
drained Basin and Escambia soils mainly are on positions that are slightly lower. Well drained Benndale and McLaurin soils mainly
are on positions that are slightly higher and on upper slopes. Moderately well drained Poarch soils are in similar positions as
the Harleston soils. Somewhat excessively drained Eustis soils, which are on nearby upper slopes of ridges, are sandy throughout. Moderately well drained Saucier soils, which are in similar
positions as the Harleston soils, have 20 to 35 percent clay in
the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon and have 5 to 25 percent plinthite at a depth between 20 and 45 inches. Poorly drained Smithton soils, which are on flood plains and in depressions in uplands, have a predominantly gray color throughout. Somewhat
poorly drained Susquehanna soils, which are on adjacent side
slopes, have 35 to 60 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the
Bt horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; slow to
medium runoff and moderate permeability. Some of the low terrace areas overflow occasionally for very brief duration during
periods of high rainfall.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in forest of
loblolly, shortleaf, and slash pines. The understory is
gallberry, wax myrtle, and native grass species plants, including pinehill bluestem, common carpetgrass, and longleaf uniola.
Cleared areas are used for pasture, hay, corn, and soybeans.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Coastal Plain in
Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: George County, Mississippi; 1970.
REMARKS: Harleston soils were formerly included in the Goldsboro series.