LOCATION LEESBURG AL+AR GA TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Leesburg gravelly sandy loam--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 2 inches in diameter; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--6 to 16 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) gravelly loam; weak fine granular and weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 2 inches in diameter; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--16 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) gravelly clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; 30 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 3 inches in diameter; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--24 to 65 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), very pale brown (10YR 7/3), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments up to 2 to 3 inches in diameter; thin patchy clay films on faces of some peds; very strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is more than 60 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Cherokee County, Alabama; 1.1 mile north-northeast
of Centre airport and 0.75 mile southeast of Alabama Highway 9, in the NE1/4SE1/4SW1/4 sec. 7, T. 10 S., R. 10 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness exceeds 60 inches.
Depth to rock is more than 6 feet. Where the soil has not been limed, reaction in each horizon ranges from strongly acid to very strongly acid. Content of coarse fragments, mostly rounded and
some angular sandstone pebbles, cobbles or stones in each horizon ranges from 10 to about 30 percent by volume.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of
2 through 4. The A horizon is gravelly loam, gravelly sandy loam, gravelly silt loam; or their cobbly or stony analogues. Some
pedons have an E or BE horizon 3 to 6 inches thick that has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 or 4.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value
of 5 or 6, and chroma of 6 or 8, and the lower part of the Bt
horizon is usually mottled in shades of yellow, brown, and red.
The Bt horizon is gravelly loam, gravelly clay loam, gravelly
silty clay loam, or gravelly sandy clay loam. The weighted
average clay content of the upper 20 inches of the B horizon
ranges from 20 to 30 percent and silt content is more than 35 percent.
In some pedons, at depths of more than 40 inches, the lower Bt horizon is forming in residuum from sandstone or shale. Texture
is clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, clay, or their gravelly analogues. Some pedons have a hue of 5YR below 40
inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are
Addielou,
Allen,
Avilla,
Bama,
Etowah,
Holston,
Minvale,
Nella,
Norfolk,
Orangeburg,
Pikeville,
Ruston, and
Smithdale series in the same family. Addielou soils
have A horizons thicker than 20 inches. Allen, Avilla, Bama,
Etowah, Minvale, Nella, Orangeburg, Pikeville, Ruston, and
Smithdale soils have all or some part of the Bt horizon in hues of 5YR or redder. Holston and Norfolk soils have less than 10
percent coarse fragments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Leesburg soils are on gently sloping to very steep side slopes, toe slopes, or terraces. Slopes range from 2
to 45 percent. The soil formed in loamy alluvium or colluvium underlain by sandstone, shale, or limestone. Near the type
location, mean annual rainfall is 55 inches and mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Allen, Nella, and Holston series, and Conasauga and Enders series. Conasauga and Enders soils have more than 35 percent clay in the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium and permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage has been cleared. Corn, cotton, soybeans, and pasture are the main crops grown on the cultivated areas. Much of the more sloping areas are now in
pasture or have reverted to woodland, chiefly pine. The native vegetation was mixed hardwood and pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Valley and Highland Rim areas in
Tennessee, northern Alabama, and northwestern Georgia, and Valleys and Ridges and Boston Mountains areas of Arkansas. The series is
of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Johnson County, Arkansas; 1973.