ARS | Publication request: Horizon nomenclature for quartzipsamments in the Carolina and Georgia Sand Hills, South Carolina

Submitted to: Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 28, 2012
Publication Date: July 30, 2012
Citation: Ogg, C.M., Reed, J.M., Miller, J.O. 2012. Horizon nomenclature for quartzipsamments in the Carolina and Georgia Sand Hills, South Carolina [abstract]. Agronomy Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America Meeting. http://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2012am/webprogram/Paper72489.html.

Technical Abstract: Quartzipsamments comprise about 189,600 hectare (9.5 percent) of the Carolina and Georgia Sand Hills region (MLRA 137). Official Series Descriptions typically have A - C (Lakeland Series; Typic subgroup) or A - E - E and Bt (Alpin Series; Lamellic subgroup) horizon designation. Horizon colors, along with a slight increase of clay and silt in the upper 100 centimeters of the sola, suggest a horizon other than C or E occurs in soils of both subgroups. Twenty-nine pedons were sampled in South Carolina. Pedons were described in the field and sampled by horizon for particle-size analysis. Munsell colors (moist) of the horizon in the upper sola are hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. This horizon was designated Bw (non-cambic) for both Typic and Lamellic subgroups because it has lower value and higher chroma than the overlying horizon. Particle-size analysis determined textures are primarily coarse sand or sand and verified an absolute clay increase less than 3 percent. Both clay and silt decrease below the Bw, but horizon colors in the lower sola, compared to clean sand, suggest these are not C horizons. Lower sola horizons for Typic subgroups were designated Bw, BE, or Bw/E; the latter designation accounts for small, low chroma zones of non-redoximorphic sand. The lower sola for Lamellic subgroups were designated E and Bt because it is presumed clay translocated through the soil matrix (the E part) and accumulated as lamellae (the Bt part). Clay percentages in the Bt part range from 3 to 12 percent and 2 to 10 percent more than the E part.