LOCATION LIBUSE             LA

LIBUSE SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Fragiudalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Libuse silt loam on a 2 percent slope in pine woodland.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)

A1--0 to 5 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)

B1--5 to 9 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 10 inches thick)

B21t--9 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium
subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common
fine pores; distinct discontinuous clay films in pores and on
peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 24 inches thick)

Bx1--20 to 29 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam;
moderate coarse prismatic structure; firm and brittle; common fine pores; few fine roots between prisms; light grayish brown (10YR
6/2) silt loam in vertical veins about 2 cm wide between prisms
make up 15 percent of horizon; light brownish gray material is bounded by a thin discontinuous band of firm and brittle red material; few thin horizontal bands of light grayish brown silt
loam penetrate prisms; prisms that are 4 to 6 inches in diameter
make up about 60 percent of horizontal cross section; thin patchy clay films in pores and on faces of peds; very strongly acid;
gradual wavy boundary.

Bx2--29 to 42 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam;
moderate coarse prismatic structure; firm and brittle; light
brownish gray (10YR 6/1) silt loam in vertical veins up to 2 cm
wide surround prisms and make up about 20 percent of horizon;
prisms that average about 4 to 5 inches in diameter make up about
65 percent of horizon; few roots in polygonal network between
prisms; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds and in pores; very strongly acid (pH 5.0); gradual wavy boundary. (Combined
thickness of the Bx horizon is 15 to 45 inches)

B31--42 to 54 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; common medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure that parts into weak medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine pores, thin patchy clay films in pores and on faces
of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 20
inches thick)

B32--54 to 60 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) very fine
sandy loam; many medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; weak
coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; about 10 percent very fine sand skeletons in vertical streaks; medium acid; gradual wavy boundary.

TYPE LOCATION: Rapides Parish, Louisiana, 2.5 miles southeast of Libuse, 15 feet south of dirt road, SW1/4SW1/4 sec. 6 T. 4 N., R.
2 E.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from
about 60 to 90 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 15 to 36 inches. The effective CEC is saturated with 50 percent or more exchangeable aluminum in the control section to a depth of 30
inches or more.

The A1 or Ap horizon is dark gray (10YR 4/1), dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2), dark brown (10YR 4/3), grayish brown (10YR 5/2), very dark gray (10YR 3/1), or very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2). A horizons with color value of 3 are less than 6 inches thick and
have values of 4 or more when the upper 7 inches of the soil is mixed.

The A2 horizon, where present, is grayish brown (10YR 5/2), gray (10YR 5/1, 6/1), brown (10YR 5/3), pale brown (10YR 6/3), or light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4). The A horizon is silt loam, loam, or very fine sandy loam. It is strongly acid through slightly acid.

The B1 horizon, where present, is yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, 5/6, 5/8), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), brown (7.5YR 5/4; 10YR
5/3), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4), or strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, 5/8). It is silt loam or loam. It is very strongly acid through medium acid.

The B21t horizon above the fragipan has the same color range as
the B1 horizon. Red mottles are present in most pedons. The B2t horizon is very strongly acid to medium acid. It is silty clay
loam, loam, or silt loam.

The fragipan horizon is yellowish brown (10YR 5/6, 5/8), dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4), brown (7.5YR 5/4), or strong brown (7.5YR, 5/6, 5/8). Texture is silt loam, loam, or silty clay
loam. Discontinuous reddish streaks commonly border vertical
sides of prisms. Prisms are brittle and firm when moist and
average 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Polygonal network between
prisms is filled with grayish silt loam and silty clay loam. Fragipan horizons are very strongly acid or strongly acid.

The B3 horizon is yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, 5/6, 5/8), brownish yellow (10YR 6/6), reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6, 6/8), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, 5/8), or brown (7.5YR 5/4) with mottles in shades of gray, brown, or red. It is very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam,
or sandy clay loam, and very strongly acid through medium acid.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Byler series in the same family
and the Cart, Dulac, Erno, Grenada, Leverette, Loring, Olivier, Providence, Savannah, and Thage series. Byler soils have a clayey IIBt horizon within the series control section. Cart soils lack fragipans and have coarse loamy control sections. Dulac, Grenada, Leverette, Loring, Olivier, and Providence soils have mixed mineralogy. Erno and Savannah soils have fine-loamy control sections. Leverette soils also have coarse-silty control sections and Grenada soils have an A' horizon above the fragipan and the
clay maxima below the fragipan. Olivier and Thage soils have 1 or
2 chroma mottles in the upper 10 inches of the B horizon.
Kolin, and Wrightsville series. All of these soils lack
fragipans.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; slow to
medium runoff. The permeability is moderate in the upper part of
the B horizon and slow in the fragipan. A water table is perched above the fragipan for short durations after heavy rains.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the Libuse soils are in pasture or
pine woodland. A few acres are cultivated.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Arkansas, Louisiana, and possibly Mississippi. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Little Rock, Arkansas

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rapides Parish, Louisiana; 1972.

REMARKS: The Libuse series was formerly mapped with the
Providence series.