LOCATION LEEPER MS+AL AR TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, nonacid, thermic Vertic Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Leeper silty clay loam--cultivated.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap1--0 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable, plastic; few fine roots; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Ap2--4 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay; moderate fine and medium blocky and subangular blocky structure; firm; very plastic; few fine roots; some mixing of Ap horizon material in cracks; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bw--8 to 34 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay; common fine faint very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) and (10YR 5/1) gray mottles; moderate fine and medium angular blocky and subangular blocky structure; firm, very plastic, very sticky; few fine roots; stress surfaces on faces of some peds; some Ap horizon material in root channels and cracks; common fine brown and black concretions; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (16 to 40 inches thick)
Cg--34 to 50 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) clay; many fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; massive; firm, very plastic, very sticky; few fine roots; stress surfaces on surfaces of some aggregates; few slickensides that do not intersect; some mixing of A horizon material in cracks and root channels; common fine brown and black concretions; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Lee County, Mississippi; 2.0 miles east of Shannon, and 270 feet south of Connewah Canal; SW1/4SW1/4 sec. 15, T. 11 S., R. 6 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum ranges from 20 to more than 60 inches thick. The soil ranges from medium acid to moderately alkaline.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 to 3, or it has hue of 2.5Y, value of 4, and chroma of 2, or it is neutral with value of 4, and chroma of 0. Some pedons have a thin A horizon, less than 6 inches thick, with hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay, or clay loam. Some pedons near stream channels have an overwash of coarser textured materials that is less than 10 inches thick.
The B horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2, with few to many mottles in shades of brown or gray. In some pedons the upper part of the B horizon is mottled in shades of brown and gray, and the lower part has a matrix in hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture of the B horizon is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam.
The Cg horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 or 2, or it is mottled in shades of gray, yellow, or brown. Texture is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Brown and black concretions are few to many in the B and C horizons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Gladewater and the Kobel series in the same family. Closely related series in similar families of Vertic Haplaquepts are the Houlka, Sharkey, and Tuscumbia soils, and close competitors in families of other subgroups are the Belden, Catalpa, Marietta, and Una soils. Gladewater and Kobel soils are poorly drained and have a grayish matrix below the A horizon. The Houlka soils have an acid reaction class. Sharkey soils have a very-fine particle-size class and are poorly drained with a grayish matrix below the A horizon. Tuscumbia soils have mixed mineralogy and are poorly drained with a grayish matrix below the A horizon. Belden soils have a fine-silty particle-size class, mixed mineralogy, and are Aeric Fluvaquents. Catalpa soils have a mollic epipedon between 10 and 24 inches in thickness and are Fluvaquentic Hapludolls. Marietta soils have a fine-loamy particle-size class, siliceous mineralogy, and are Fluvaquentic Eutrochrepts. Una soils have an acid recreation class, mixed mineralogy, and are poorly drained with a grayish matrix below the A horizon, and are Typic Haplaquepts.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Leeper soils are on flood plains of streams that drain areas in the Blackland Prairie Major Land Resource Area. These are nearly level, to very gently sloping soils that formed in clayey alluvium. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The climate is warm and humid. Mean annual precipitation is about 52 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 63 degrees Fahrenheit near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Belden, Houlka, Marietta, Tuscumbia, and Una soils. These soils are associated across the nearly linear surfaces of flood plains. Somewhat poorly drained Belden soils are in similar positions as the Leeper soils and poorly drained Tuscumbia and Una soils mainly are in depressions and backwater sloughs. Moderately well drained Catalpa and Marietta soils have slightly convex slopes with better surface drainage.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; slow runoff; very slow permeability. The soils are flooded occasionally to frequently for brief periods unless protected.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of these soils have been cleared and are used for growing cotton, corn, and soybeans. A moderate acreage is used for pasture and hay. Forests are mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES ESTABLISHED: State University Experiment Farm, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi; 1950.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 8 inches (Ap1, Ap2 horizons).
Cambic horizon - the zone from approximately 8 to 34 inches (Bw horizon).
Vertic features - stress surfaces on surfaces of aggregates (Bw, Cg horizons) and slickensides that do not intersect (Cg horizon).