LOCATION METH LA+TXEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Meth fine sandy loam, on a convex 3 percent slopes, in pine and mixed hardwood woodland. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; many fine pores; many fragments of ironstone up to 1 cm long; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
E--7 to 12 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fine pores and wormcasts; many fragments of ironstone up to 1 cm long; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--12 to 24 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine and medium roots; few fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bt2--24 to 32 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) sandy clay; common medium and coarse yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles on exteriors of peds; strong medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; many fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bt3--32 to 46 inches; red (10R 4/8) sandy clay loam; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to strong medium and coarse subangular blocky; firm and slightly brittle; pale brown coatings on vertical faces of peds; few fine and medium roots; common fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; pockets of yellowish brown sandy loam; few shiny flakes of mica; many sand grains are black; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
BC--46 to 62 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; pockets and streaks of light brownish gray fine sand; few pockets of red sandy loam; many sand grains are black; strongly acid. (5 to 40 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Caddo Parish, Louisiana; about 1 mile west of junction of State Highway LA 169 and W. F. Davidson Road; 0.2 mile northeast of pipeline. NW1/4SE1/4, sec. 27, T. 16 N., R. 16 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 60 to 80 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid in the A and E horizons and from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the B horizons.
The A1 or Ap horizon, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. Ironstone fragments range from 0 to 20 percent of the volume.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or sandy loam with ironstone fragments ranging from 0 to 20 percent of the volume.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR to 10R, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles in shades of brown or yellow range from none to common. The upper part is sandy clay loam, clay loam, sandy clay, or clay. The lower part is sandy clay loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam with ped coatings and streaks or pockets of yellowish or grayish sand or fine sandy loam.
The BC horizon has hue of 10YR to 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8, or it is mottled in shades of red, yellow, or gray. It is sandy loam, sandy clay, sandy clay loam, or fine sandy loam with streaks or pockets of less clayey material.
A C or Cd horizon is present below a depth of 60 inches in some pedons. It has dominant colors in shades of brown or gray with lithochromic mottles and/or strata of these colors and with or without yellowish colors. The material is unconsolidated to weakly consolidated and slakes in water. Texture ranges from fine sandy loam to silty clay loam. The reaction is highly variable and ranges from extremely acid to neutral.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Canton Bend, Cowton, Gundy, Magnet, Skyuka, Spray, Sugartown, and Zuber series in the same family, and the Brantley, Capshaw, Enon, Hampshire, Maben, Mecklenburg, and Zion series in closely related families. Brantley, Capshaw, Enon, Hampshire and Mecklenburg soils have a solum less than 60 inches thick. In addition Brantley, Hampshire, and Mecklenburg soils have a CEC:clay ratio more than o.40 in the control section, Capshaw soils have a seasonally saturated layer within a depth of 40 inches, and Hampshire soils have bedrock within a depth of 60 inches. Skyuka soils formed in old alluvium washed from upland soils dominantly underlain by dark colored high grade metamorphic rocks. Canton Bend soils have more than 30 percent silt in the control section. Cowtown soils have a solum 20 to 40 inches thick over paralithic shale. Gundy soils have a paralithic contact to Carolina slate rock at 40 to 60 inches deep. Maben soils have a solum lass than 48 inches thick over weathered shale. Magnet soils have a solum that is less than 50 inches thick over syenitic saprolite and other igneous rocks. Spray soils have a solum that is less than 30 inches thick over partially weathered shale. Sugartown and Zuber soils have matrix hue yellower than 5YR in the solum, and do not have a 20 percent clay decrease within a depth of 60 inches. Zion soils have hard mafic bedrock at 20 to 40 inches deep.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Meth soils are on erosional surfaces of gently sloping to rolling coastal plain uplands. Slope gradients are dominantly 0 to 12 percent but range up to 20 percent. The soil formed in clayey and loamy Tertiary age sediments. The climate is warm and humid. Near the type location, the annual precipitation is about 50 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 65 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bowie, Eastwood, Falkner, Ruston, and Smithdale series. Eastwood soils are on slightly lower sideslopes. They have a solum less than 60 inches thick over waekly consolidated geologic materials. Bowie and Ruston soils are on slightly higher convex ridges and they have a fine-loamy control section. Falkner soils are on ridgetops and they have a fine-silty control section. Smithdale soils are on steeper sideslopes and have a fine-loamy control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Meth soils are well drained. Rate of runoff is medium on slopes less than 5 percent, and high on slopes up to 20 percent; permeability is moderately slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Meth soils are used mainly for woodland; vegetation is typically shortleaf and loblolly pines, red oak, sweetgum, and other hardwood trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern coastal plain of Northwestern Louisiana and eastern Texas and possibly Arkansas and Oklahoma. The known extent is small.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Little Rock, Arkansas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Red River Parish, Louisiana; 1973.
REMARKS: The Meth series was updated in 2002 to specify that it must have a clay tuck within a depth of 60 inches and cannot have geologic C materials within a depth of 60 inches. Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include:
Ochric epipedon.............0 to 12 inches (Ap and E horozons)
Argillic horizon.....12 to 46 inches (Bt horizons)
Clay buldge......12 to 32 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data from typifying pedon S75LA-17-11 from Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station.
Record: LA0001