LOCATION LINKER AR+AL GA KY MS NC OK TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Linker fine sandy loam, 3 percent slope in
pasture.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam; weak
medium granular structure; very friable; common roots; few
sandstone flags on surface and in soil; common fine pores; few wormcasts; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 7 inches
thick)
B1--5 to 10 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; many
medium pores; clay coatings and bridging on sand grains and in
some pores; few wormcasts; very strongly acid; clear wavy
boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
B2t--10 to 25 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/8) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots;
common fine pores; common patchy thin clay films on faces of peds
and in pores; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (12 to 20 inches thick)
B3--25 to 35 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/8) gravelly fine
sandy loam; common medium distinct red (2.5YR 4/6), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), and common medium prominent pale brown (10YR 6/3) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine pores; few patchy thin clay films on faces of peds; about 20 percent pebbles and flagstones of sandstone; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
R--35 to 37 inches; level-bedded acid sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Pope County, Arkansas; 2.4 miles north of Moreland
on Buck Mountain, 300 feet east and 50 feet north of road turn, on crest of ridge, SW1/4SW1/4NW1/4 sec. 35, T. 9. N., R. 19 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock
range from 20 to 40 inches. The reaction ranges from extremely
acid to strongly acid throughout, except for surface layers limed.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value 4 or 5, and chroma of 3; or value of 4, and chroma of 2 or 4; or hue of 7.5YR, value of 4 or
5, and chroma of 4; or value of 4, and chroma of 2. Some pedons
have A1 horizons, 2 to 4 inches thick, with hue of 10YR, value 3
or 4, and chroma of 2 or 4. Some pedons have A2 horizons with hue
of 10YR, value of 5, and chroma of 2, 3, or 4; or hue of 7.5YR,
value of 5, and chroma of 2 or 4. The fine-earth is fine sandy
loam or loam. Gravelly, flaggy, and stony modifiers are
recognized.
The B1 horizon has hue of 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6 or
8; or hue of 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6. Texture is fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or loam. The B2t horizon0has
hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6 or 8.
Texture is sandy clay loam, clay loam, or loam. The upper 20
inches of the B horizon averages between 18 and 28 percent clay
and more than 20 percent fine and coarser sand. Sandstone
fragments by volume in the B1 and B2t horizons range from 0 to
about 10 percent.
The B3 horizon has colors similar to that of the B2t horizon and contains red, brown, and gray mottles. Coarse fragments range
from 0 to 25 percent by volume.
Some pedons have Cr horizons, 1 to 6 inches thick, of reddish, brownish, or grayish weathered sandstone.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Apison,
Cahaba,
Durham,
Euharlee,
Granville,
Hartsells,
Kempsville,
Nauvoo,
Nectar,
Pirum, and
Spadra series. Apison soils have B horizons of 7.5YR or yellower
hue of gravelly silty clay loam. Cahaba, Durham, Euharlee, Granville, Kempsville, Nauvoo, Nectar, and Spadra soils are deeper than 40 inches to bedrock. In addition, Cahaba and Kempsville
soils have sand or loamy sand C horizons. Hartsells soils have B2 horizons of 7.5YR or yellower hue. Pirum soils have an irregular lower boundary and lithic contact within 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Linker soils are on broad plateaus, mountains and hilltops, and benches. Much of the soil has slopes between 2
and 8 percent and the full range is from 1 to 15 percent. The
soil formed in loamy residuum weathered from sandstone or
interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Near the type
location, average annual temperature is about 60 degrees F., and average annual precipitation is about 49 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Hartsells series and the
Hector series. Hector soils are less
than 20 inches deep to bedrock and contain more sand.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, slow to rapid runoff depending upon slope; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of the soil is cleared and used for
growing cotton, corn, small grains, sorghum, peaches, hay, and pasture. Forests are white, red, post, and blackjack oaks,
sweetgum, blackgum, hickory, and shortleaf pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Boston Mountains, Arkansas Valley, and Ouachita Highlands of Arkansas, and Oklahoma; Cumberland Plateau
and Mountains of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia; Sand Mountain
area of Alabama. The series is of large extent, probable in
excess of 300,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Little Rock, Arkansas
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pope County, Arkansas, (Illinois Bayou SCD); 1939.
REMARKS: The Linker series was classified in the Red-Yellow
Podzolic great soil group in the 1938 classification system.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are published in Soil
Survey Investigations Report No. 6. Soil Survey Laboratory Data
and Descriptions for Some Soils of Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, 1966, pedon S59Ark-58-1 & S59Ark-58-2.