Soil Survey of Murray and Whitfield Counties, Georgia

160 Soil Survey
series. A pedon, a small three-dimensional area of soil, that is typical of the series in
the survey area is described. The detailed description of each soil horizon follows
standards in the “Soil Survey Manual” (Soil Survey Division Staff, 1993) and in the
“Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils” (Schoeneberger and others, 2002).
Many of the technical terms used in the descriptions are defined in “Soil Taxonomy”
(Soil Survey Staff, 1999) and in “Keys to Soil Taxonomy” (Soil Survey Staff, 1998).
Unless otherwise indicated, colors in the descriptions are for moist soil. Following the
pedon description is the range of important characteristics of the soils in the series.
Albertville Series
Major land resource area: Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys
Landform: Hills
Parent material: Residuum from shale or interbedded shale and sandstone
Depth class: Deep
Drainage class: Moderately well drained
Seasonal high water table: Apparent; at a depth of 2.5 to 3.5 feet
Permeability: Moderately slow
Slope range: 2 to 15 percent
Classification: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Oxyaquic Hapludults
Geographically Associated Soils
Capshaw soils, which have limestone bedrock at a depth of 40 to 80 inches
Conasauga soils, which have shale bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches
Cunningham soils, which are well drained and have B horizons with a hue of 7.5YR
or redder and have a slow permeability
Enders soils, which are well drained and have B horizons with a hue of 5YR or
redder and have a very slow permeability
Montevallo soils, which are well drained and have shale bedrock at a depth of 10 to
20 inches
Sipsey soils, which are well drained and have less than 35 percent clay in the control
section and have interbedded sandstone and shale bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40
inches
Townley soils, which are well drained and have shale or interbedded sandstone and
shale bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches
Typical Pedon
Albertville silt loam, 6 to 15 percent slopes; 2.0 miles south on Georgia Highway 225
from intersection of Georgia Highway 52 Alternate and Georgia Highway 225 at Spring
Place, 1.0 mile southeast on Spring Place Smyrna Road, 1.6 miles south on Bishop
Pond Road, 0.9 mile south on Smyrna Church Road, 150 feet east of Smyrna Church
Road, and 100 feet north of dirt road; Murray County, Georgia; USGS topographic
quadrangle, Calhoun NE, GA (1972); lat. 34 degrees 42 minutes 44 seconds N. and
long. 84 degrees 48 minutes 12 seconds W.
A—0 to 6 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine granular structure;
very friable; many very fine and fine and common medium roots; moderately acid;
clear smooth boundary.
BE—6 to 9 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) silty clay loam; common medium
distinct pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure;
friable; common very fine and fine and few medium roots; moderately acid; clear
smooth boundary.
Bt1—9 to 24 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) silty clay; few medium prominent pale
yellow (2.5Y 7/4) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine