LOCATION PIKECITY ARTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Pikecity silt loam, 1 to 6 percent slopes, in forest. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine to coarse roots throughout; common fine and medium pores; few prominent patchy black (10YR 2/1) stains on faces of peds; 10 percent rounded sandstone gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
BA--3 to 6 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine to coarse roots throughout; common fine pores; 10 percent rounded sandstone gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt1--6 to 22 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots and common medium roots throughout; common fine pores; common faint discontinuous red (2.5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; about 5 percent by volume rounded sandstone gravel; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--22 to 31 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly clay loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots, common medium roots, and common coarse roots throughout; common fine pores; common faint discontinuous red (2.5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; about 15 percent by volume rounded sandstone gravel; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--31 to 48 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly clay; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine and medium roots throughout; common fine pores; common faint discontinuous red (2.5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; about 20 percent by volume rounded sandstone gravel and about 5 percent rounded sandstone cobbles; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt4--48 to 80 inches; light gray (10YR 7/1), yellowish brown (10YR 5/8), and dark yellowish brown (10YR3/6) cobbly clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common faint patchy red (2.5YR 4/6) clay films on faces of peds and in pores; about 35 percent by volume rounded sandstone gravel and about 15 percent subrounded sandstone cobbles; extremely acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Pike County, Arkansas; about 1.5 miles west of Narrows Dam. SE14, NE1/4, SW1/4 Section. 14, T.7 S., R.26 W., Latitude: 34 degrees, 8 minutes, 49 seconds North; Longitude: 93 degrees, 44 minutes, 49 seconds West.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is more than 6 feet. Depth to horizons containing more than 35 percent by volume gravel begin at a depth of 30 inches or deeper. Depth to horizon(s) containing more than 40 percent clay begin at a depths of 30 inches or deeper. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to strongly acid in the A and BA horizons and strongly acid to extremely acid in the Bt and BC horizons. Coarse fragments range from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A, E, BE, and upper Bt horizons and 15 to 60 percent in the lower Bt horizons and BC horizon.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 through 4, or a hue of 7.5YR with a value of 4 and chroma of 4. Texture is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, or silt loam or their gravelly analogs.
The E horizon, where present, has a hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6 and a chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is fine sandy loam,, sandy loam, loam or silt loam or their gravelly analogs.
The BA horizon has a hue of 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 5 or 6; or hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is very fine sandy loam, loam or silt loam or their gravelly analogs.
The Bt1 horizon has a hue of 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 or 8; or hue of 5YR, value of 4 or 5 and a chroma of 4 to 8; or a hue of 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 or 8. Texture is loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or their gravelly analogs.
The Bt2 horizon has the same colors as the Bt1 horizon and also allows a hue of 10R, value of 3 and chroma of 6. Texture is sandy clay loam, clay loam, clay, or their gravelly analogs.
The Bt3 horizon has the same colors as the Bt2 horizon. Some pedons may not have a dominant matrix color, but are variegated in various shades of brown, red, and gray. Texture is loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, clay, or their gravelly, very gravelly or cobbly analogs.
The Bt4 horizon has hue of 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 or 8; or hue of 5YR, value of 4 or 5 and a chroma of 4 to 8; or a hue of 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 or 8. In many pedons, these horizons are variegated in various shades of brown, red , and gray. Texture is loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or their gravelly, very gravelly, or cobbly analogs.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 or 8; or hue of 5YR, value of 4 or 5 and a chroma of 4 to 8; or a hue of 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 or 8. In some pedons, these horizons are variegated in various shades of brown, red , and gray. Texture is gravelly loam, gravelly clay loam, gravelly sandy clay loam, or their very gravelly, cobbly, or very cobbly analogs.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pikecity soils are on marine terraces of the Cretaceous Western Gulf Coastal Plain, MLRA 135B. They formed in loamy and gravelly marine sediments. Slopes range from 1 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 55 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 63 degrees to 75 degrees F. Thornthwaite annual P-E indices are greater than 64.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Peanutrock, Tiak, Biggs and Stelltown series on adjacent marine terraces and uplands, and the Dela, Nugent, Ochlockonee, Murfreesboro, Pikecreek, and Vaughn series on flood plains and alluvial terraces.Peanutrock soils have a loamy-skeletal control section and argillic horizon, Tiak soils have a fine control section. Pikecity and Biggs soils have a fine-loamy control section and Stelltown soils have a coarse-loamy control section. Dela and Vaughn soils have a coarse-loamy control section. Dela soils are moderately well drained and Vaughn soils are well drained. Nugent soils have a sandy control section. Ochlocknee soils have a sandy control section, Murfreesboro soils have a fine-loamy control section, and Pikecreek,soils have a loamy-skeletal control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Pikecity soils are well drained. Runoff is low to medium and permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for native pasture and woodland. The vegetation is primarily southern red oak, sweetgum, American sycamore, white oak, and loblolly pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cretaceous Western Gulf Coastal Plain of southwest Arkansas and possibly southeast Oklahoma. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Little Rock, Arkansas
SERIES PROPOSED: Pike County, Arkansas; 2004
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: Surface to 3 inches
Argillic horizon: 6 to 80 inches
These soils were formerly included in the Pikeville series.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization of the typical pedon by the University of Arkansas Soil Characterization Laboratory; S98AR-109-01.