LOCATION KIRKVILLE MS+AL AREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, active, thermic Fluvaquentic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Kirkville loam--nearly level in pasture.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; few fine faint grayish brown mottles; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
A--5 to 9 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) loam; common fine faint grayish brown mottles; weak medium granular structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine black spots and accretions; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bw1--9 to 14 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) loam; few medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; common fine pores; few worm casts; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--14 to 29 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and common fine distinct yellowish red mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine pores; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw subhorizons is 14 to 56 inches)
Bg1--29 to 43 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) sandy loam; many coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; few fine soft red accretions; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)
Bg2--43 to 61 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) sandy loam; many medium and coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine soft red accretions; few fine pores; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 28 inches thick)
Cg--61 to 72 inches; mottled gray (10YR 6/1), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), and yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy loam; structureless; very friable; few fine soft brown accretions; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Itawamba County, Mississippi; 9.0 miles east of Saltillo, Mississippi; 550 feet south and 50 feet east of the northwest corner of NE1/4SW1/4 sec. 14, T. 8 S., R. 7 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to more than 60 inches. The 10- to 40-inch particle-size control section has 10 to 18 percent clay. Reaction of the soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, except for surface layers that have been limed.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4; or hue of 2.5Y, value of 4, and chroma of 2; or hue of 7.5YR, value of 5, and chroma of 4. It is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6; or hue of 2.5Y, value of 5, and chroma of 4. Mottles having chroma of 2 or less care within a depth of 24 inches and commonly begin at 12 to 16 inches and increase with depth. In some pedons the horizon is mottled throughout in shades of brown and gray. It is loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. In some pedons the upper part of the Bw is silt loam.
The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, with value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or less. It is loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Soft accretions of material and concretions, if present, are few to many.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or less with few to many mottles in shades of gray or brown, or the horizon is mottled in shades of brown and gray. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. Soils in closely related families are the Bankhead, Beulah, Iuka, Jena, Mantachie, Mooreville and Ochlockonee series. Bankhead soils do not have mottles with chroma of 2 or less within the upper 24 inches. Beulah soils have mixed mineralogy and do not have mottles with chroma of 2 or less in the upper 24 inches. Mantachie and Mooreville soils have more than 18 percent clay in the 10- to 40-inch control section; also, Mantachie soils have a gray matrix within 20 inches of the surface. Iuka and Ochlockonee soils are structureless and have thin bedding planes in the upper 20 inches of the soil and Ochlockonee soil do not have mottles with chroma of 2 or less within 24 inches. Jena soils do not have mottles with chroma of 2 or less within 24 inches of the surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kirkville soils are on nearly level flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. The soil formed in loamy alluvium. The climate is warm and humid. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is 63 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 53 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the moderately well drained Iuka, well drained Jena and Ochlockonee, and the somewhat poorly drained Mantachie soils of the competing series and the Cascilla and Nugent series. All of these are on the nearly linear surfaces of flood plains. Cascilla soils, which are well drained, have 18 to 24 percent clay in the B horizon. Nugent soils, which are excessively drained, are structureless, have thin bedding planes in the upper 20 inches, and are sandier in the 10- to 40-inch control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; runoff is slow; permeability is moderate. This soil is flooded for brief to long duration one or two times a year from January through April unless protected, the seasonal high water table is at a depth of 18 to 30 inches from January through April.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of the Kirkville soils are used for crops pasture. Common crops are cotton, corn, soybeans, and oats. Native vegetation is bottomland hardwoods. Common trees are cherrybark oak, sweetgum, water oak, eastern cottonwood, yellow poplar, and intermingled loblolly pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi; 1972.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 9 inches (Ap, A horizons)
Cambic horizon - the zone from approximately 9 inches to 61 inches (Bw1, Bw2, Bg1, Bg2 horizons)
Fluvaquentic features - mottles with chroma of 2 or less within 20 inches of the soil surface (Bw2 horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data for the typical pedon are from the Soil Survey Laboratory, Beltsville, MD. (MS65418-65425). Physical data for one pedon published in Soil Survey of Tishmingo County, Mississippi (issued October 1983, p. 91)