LOCATION MOWATA LAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, thermic Typic Glossaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Mowata silt loam--in a cultivated rice field. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; common oxidation stains along root channels; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Eg--5 to 14 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; common oxidation stains along root channels; strongly acid; gradual irregular boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
Btg/Eg--14 to 22 inches; about 70 percent dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam (Btg), about 30 percent tongues of grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam E material; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine and very fine roots; common distinct dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films and coatings on surfaces of peds; common medium and coarse distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
Btgl--22 to 34 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay films and coatings on surfaces of peds; many medium and coarse distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Btg2--34 to 45 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films and coatings on surfaces of peds; many medium and coarse prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Btg3--45 to 51 inches; gray (2.5Y 6/1) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few prominent dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay films and coatings on surfaces of peds; many medium and coarse prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizons ranges from 30 to 50 inches thick)
BCssg--51 to 62 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common distinct slickensides; common medium moderately cemented black and brownish iron-manganese concretions; many medium and coarse prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Ckssg--62 to 90 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) silty clay; massive; firm: common distinct slickensides; many medium moderately cemented black and brownish iron-manganese concretions; many coarse prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) and few fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; common fine and medium calcium carbonate concretions; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
TYPE LOCATION: Acadia Parish, Louisiana; 1.7 miles northwest of Crowley; 900 feet north and 75 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 19, T. 9 S., R. 1 E.; USGS Crowley West, LA. topographic quadrangle; Lat. 30 degrees, 14 minutes, 52 seconds N; Long. 92 degrees, 24 minutes, 47 seconds W; NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 60 to 80 inches or more. Glossic materials of silt loam in the Btg/Eg horizon range from 1/2 inch to 8 inches in width. Redox concentrations are in shades of black or brown. Slickensides are within 60 inches of the soil surface.
The A, or Ap horizon, has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. Where value is 3 the A or Ap horizon is less than 6 inches thick. Texture is silt loam. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral.
The Eg horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silt loam. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral. Redox concentrations, in shades of brown or black, range from none to common.
The Btg part of the Btg/Eg horizon, and the Btg and BCssg horizons have hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silty clay loam, clay loam, or silty clay. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the upper Btg horizons, and from moderately acid to moderately alkaline in the lower Btg horizons. Redoximorphic features are in shades of gray, brown, or black and range from few to many. Ped coatings or streaks of dark gray or very dark gray are on surfaces of peds in most pedons. Exchangeable sodium in the B horizon ranges from 8 to 15 percent. Calcium carbonate concretions in the BCg horizons range from none to many.
The Cg, Cssg, Ckg, or Ckssg horizons, where present, have hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 1 to 5, or is neutral. Texture is silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline. Redox concentrations are in shades of brown or black and range from few to many. Calcium carbonate concretions range from none to many.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Derly and Encrow series in the same family. Similar soils are Aris and Wrightsville series. Derly soils do not have slickensides and have exchangeable sodium less than 8 in the lower B horizons. Aris soils are not alkaline in the lower layers and have red redox concentrations in the argillic horizon. Encrow soils have a lithological discontinuity in the subsoil and Wrightsville soils have mixed mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mowata soils are on nearly level, in very slightly depressional areas, and along small drainageways on the Gulf Coast prairies. Slopes range from 0 to 1 percent. These soils formed under native prairie vegetation in loamy and clayey alluvial sediments. Mean annual temperature ranges from 67 to 70 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 57 to 62 inches. Frost free days range from 235 to 300. Elevation ranges from less than 5 feet to 80 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Crowley, Judice, Kaplan, Midland, Morey, and Vidrine series. Crowley and Kaplan soils are on slightly higher convex shaped surfaces surrounding Mowata soils, do not have a glossic horizon, and have red masses of iron accumulation in the subsoil. Judice and Midland soils are in similar parts of the landscape, do not have a glossic horizon, and are clayey throughout. Morey soils are in slightly higher positions and do not have a glossic horizon. Also, Judice and Morey soils have a mollic epipedon. Vidrine soils are on circular convex mounds and have chroma of 3 or more in the upper subsoil.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is negligible. Very slow permeability. A water table is at a depth of 0 to 2 feet below the surface during the months of December through April.
USE AND VEGETATION: Native vegetation was tall prairie grasses. Most of the soils are used for rice, soybeans, and grain sorghum, rotated with crayfish aquaculture and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas (MLRA 150A, LRR T). The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Temple, Texas.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Evangeline Parish, Louisiana; 1970.
REMARKS: This soil was formerly included in the Midland series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--from a depth of 0 to 14 inches (Ap and Eg horizons).
Albic horizon--from a depth of 5 to 14 inches (Eg horizon).
Argillic horizon--from a depth of 14 to 51 inches (Btg/E, Btgl, Btg2, and Btg3 horizons).
Glossic horizon--from a depth of 14 to 22 inches (Btg/E horizon).
Slickensides--at a depth of 51 to 90 inches (Btssg and Ckssg horizons).
Aquic moisture regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data on the typifying pedon from Louisiana Agriculture Experiment Station, sample number S96LA-001-1.
TAXONOMIC VERSION: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Ninth Edition, 2003.