LOCATION MAYTAG AL+MSEstablished Series
TYPICAL PEDON: Maytag silty clay on a convex 2 percent slope in a pasture at an elevation of about 330 feet. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 3 inches; olive (5Y 4/3) silty clay; strong fine granular structure; firm; plastic, slightly sticky; common fine and medium roots; mildly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick.)
AB--3 to 7 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) silty clay; many coarse faint olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; plastic, slightly sticky; few fine and medium.roots; moderately alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick.)
Bk1--7 to 17 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) silty. clay; faint olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) coatings on faces of peds; strong coarse angular blocks which part to weak medium subangular blocky structure; very. firm; plastic, slightly sticky; 15 percent soft accumulations of calcium carbonate; few hard nodules of calcium carbonate; common pressure faces and slickensides; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
Bk2--17 to 31 inches; olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) clay; faint pale olive (5Y 6/3) coatings on faces of peds; strong coarse angular blocks which part to strong medium subangular blocky structure; very firm; plastic, slightly sticky; few medium and fine roots; common pressure faces; common intersecting slickensides; 20 percent soft accumulations of calcium carbonate; few hard nodules of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
Bk3--31 to 53 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) clay; common medium distinct light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) and few medium distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/8) mottles; strong coarse angular blocks which part to strong fine subangular blocky and weak medium platy structure; very firm; plastic, sticky; few medium roots; common pressure faces; common intersecting slickensides; 25 percent soft accumulations of calcium carbonate; few hard nodules of calcium carbonate; mildly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bk horizon is 40 to 60 inches.)
BCk--53 to 65 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/3) clay; common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and few medium distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/8) mottles; weak coarse angular blocks which part to weak thin platy structure; firm; plastic, slightly sticky; few medium roots; common intersecting slickensides; 25 percent soft accumulations of calcium carbonate; few hard nodules of calcium carbonate; moderately alkaline. (0 to 20 inches thick.)
TYPE LOCATION: Bullock County, Alabama; 0.25 miles north of Sedgefield Plantation headquarters; 2,200 feet north and 550 feet east of the southwest corner of Sec. 17, T. 14 N., R. 22 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS.. Solum thickness ranges from 45 to more than 60 inches. Depth to soft chalk or marl is more than 60 inches. Intersecting slickensides are at a depth of 10 to 40 inches. Content of calcium carbonate nodules and soft accumulations ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the A horizon; 5 to 25 percent in the upper part of the solum; and more than 20 percent in the lower part of the solum and substratum.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 1OYR to 5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Reaction is slightly acid to moderately alkaline.
The AB horizon, present in most pedons, or BA horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is clay or silty clay. Reaction ranges from neutral to moderately alkaline.
The upper part of the Bk horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. The lower part has these colors, commonly with mottles in shades of yellow, brown, olive, or gray; or is mottled in shades of yellow, brown, olive, or gray. The Bk horizon is silty clay, clay, or silty clay loam. Reaction is neutral to moderately alkaline.
The BCk horizon, present in most pedons, or the CBk or C horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 to 6; or it is mottled in shades of yellow, brown, olive, or gray. Texture is silty clay, clay, or silty clay loam. Reaction is mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other known series in this family. The Louin, Morse, Naclina, Okolona, Raylake, Sumter, Tahoula, and Vamont series are in similar families. The Louin, Naclina, Raylake, and Vamont series have distinct or prominent mottles within 10 inches of the soil surface in more than half of each pedon. Additionally, the Louin and Raylake series are acid in the upper part of the subsoil. The Morse soils have hue redder than 10YR and mixed mineralogy. Okolona soils have a moist color value of less than 3.5 throughout the upper 12 inches in more than half of each pedon. Sumter soils have a fine-silty control section and carbonatic mineralogy. Tahoula soils have a very-fine control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Maytag soils are on gently sloping to strongly sloping uplands of the Blackland Prairie. Slopes range from 1 to 12 percent. Maytag soils are formed in residuum weathered from marl or chalk. The climate is warm and humid. Near the type location, the average annual temperature is 65 degrees F. and the average annual precipitation is 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Binnsville, Demopolis, Kipling, Oktibbeha, Vaiden, and Watsonia soils, and the competing Sumter soils. The Binnsville, Demopolis, and Watsonia soils have sola less than 20 inches thick. Kipling and Oktibbeha soils have argillic horizons in hue of 5YR or redder. Vaiden soils have a very-fine control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and under cultivation. Improved pasture, soybeans, and grain sorghum are the principal crops. A few small areas are in native woodland, mainly hackberry, and eastern red cedar. Understory vegetation is dom1nantly native forbs and grasses such as broomsedge bluestem and panicums.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Blackland Prairie of Alabama and possibly Mississippi and Louisiana. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
SERIES PROPOSED: Bullock County, Alabama, 1986. The series name is coined.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly mapped with the Sumter series. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 3 inches (Ap horizon).
Entic Chromuderts features - do not have distinct or prominent mottles within 20 inches of the soil surface (Ap, AB, Bk1, Bk2 horizons). Do not have moist color value less than 3.5 throughout the upper 12 inches in more than half of each pedon (Ap, AB, Bk1 horizons). Slickensides that are close enough to intersect (Bk2, Bk3, BCk horizons).