Soil Profiles

Easy as ABC

Soil Profile

Organic layer (absent in farmed soils

Topsoil

Subsoil

Parent material

Usually darker because of organic matter (humus)

Redder color, distinctly different structure than “A”

Weathered material usually related to the above layers

The Demopolis series consists of shallow, well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in materials weathered from chalk and soft limestone. These soils are on

ridgetops and side slopes in uplands

The Hannon series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in clayey sediments overlying stratified loamy and clayey materials and chalk. These soils are on ridgetops and side slopes on

uplands of the Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas Blackland Prairie and Southern Coast.

The Houlka series consists of deep, somewhat poorly drained, very slowly permeable

soils formed in clayey alluvium. These are nearly level soils on flood plains.

The Houston series consists of moderately well drained, slowly permeable, cyclic soils

that formed in alkaline clays and chalk of the Blackland Prairies.

The Ailey series consists of soils that are deep or very deep to a dense layer. These well drained, slowly permeable soils formed in sandy and loamy marine sediments on

uplands, mostly in the upper Coastal Plain

The Cecil series consists of very deep, well drained moderately permeable soils on ridges and side slopes of the Piedmont uplands. These soils are deep to saprolite and

very deep to bedrock.

The Hartsells series consists of moderately deep, well

drained, moderately permeable soils

The Kureb series consists of very deep, excessively drained, gently sloping to moderately

steep soils on Coastal Plain uplands and on side slopes along streams and bays

Soil Depth

Depth refers to how deep plant roots can extend into the soil until they are stopped by barriers such as rock, sand, gravel, compacted clay, or cement.

In other words the “A” and “B” Horizons added together make up depth

If you encounter a barrier within a few inches of the surface layer, then the soil is very shallow.

12 inches are shallow

Soils from 12-24 are moderately deep

Deep soils range from 36-60 inches.

Very deep soils are more than 60 inches (5 feet)

Moderately Deep

Deep

Very Deep

Very Deep

Shallow

Other questions they may ask

Average depth in inches of a particular layer

Color of a layer and what that color means

Soil forming processes

Gains aka additions

Solids transported by wind or water

Plant or animal remains

bacterias

Removal aka. Losses or deletions

Removal includes losses by:

Wind erosion

Water erosion

Uptake of nutrients by plants

Mixing aka transactions

Mixing can be by:

Soil animals

Gravity

Shrinking/swelling due to water content

Freezing and thawing

Translocation

Movement up or down through the horizons by nutrients, and compounds catching a ride on water

Transformations

Soil components are transformed by chemical and biological reactions

Decomposition of organic compounds

Soils with a different color than their parent material show that the surface layer was formed through transformations.