George Martin Soil Data Quality Specialist USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service Auburn, AL

Alabama - a Rich and Beautiful State

Lake Martin -- Tallapoosa County

Little River -- DeKalb County

Ridge and Valley Cherokee County

Needle Eye Rock -- Little River Area, DeKalb County

Baldwin County

Blackland Prairie -- Dallas County

Loblolly pine -- Crenshaw County

Corn and Pine -- Dothan soils, Covington County

Alabama -- A State of Diversity Alabama has a very diverse and varied geologic history resulting in a variety of physiographic regions scattered throughout the state.

The Soil Areas of Alabama

Soil Survey §INVENTORY OF SOILS l Characteristics l Map §PREDICTION OF BEHAVIOR l Cropland l Woodland l Building Sites l Waste Disposal

Alabama Cooperative Soil Survey §Landgrant Universities and Agricultural Experiment Stations §Cooperative Extension System §S&W Conservation Committee §USDA-NRCS, Forest Service, RD §State Health and Highway Departments §Local SWCD, County Commissions

Estimated Acreage by Soil Taxonomic Order * 8 of 12 Soil Orders mapped in Alabama ~375 Soil Series ~4,500 Mapping Units

The Soil Survey Program

And, we’re still mapping soils.

Our tools and methods have changed.

Status of Soil Survey 36 Modern Reports 3 Awaiting Publication 4 Mapping complete 5 In progress

Status of Digitized Soil Surveys 20 counties completed 4 counties in progress

Limestone valleys and uplands Limestone valleys and uplands

Limestone Valleys and Uplands Thick beds of limestone and dolomite, Conasauga Formation

Decatur Series A very deep, moderately slowly permeable, clayey soil; Tennessee Valley.

Bodine Series

Barfield Series A shallow, clayey soil over hard limestone bedrock; Valley and Ridge Province

Appalachian Plateau

Fractured sandstone, Pottsville Formation

Hartsells Series A loamy, well drained, moderately deep (20-40”) over sandstone bedrock.

Townley Series

Piedmont Plateau

Tilted, thinly stratified metamorphic and igneous bedrock Piedmont Plateau

Cecil SeriesLloyd Series

Tallapoosa Series

Coastal Plain

Sandy Geological Strata Troup and Alaga soils

Lucy SeriesOrangeburg-Lucy Soil Landscape

Coastal Plain Thinly stratified clays and shales Luverne and Boswell soils

Coastal Plain Thick bed of siltstone (buhrstone), Tallahatta Formation Arundel, Cantuche, and Lauderdale soils

Blackland Prairie

Blackland Prairie Thick beds of Demopolis Chalk

Okolona Series Sumter Series

Demopolis Series A shallow (10-20 in.), loamy soil over chalk bedrock. Generally has common or many concretions of CaCO3.

Hannon Series

Blackland Prairie Soil Landscape Relationships

Major floodplains and terraces

Riverview Series

Bama SeriesSavannah Series

Coastal marshes and beaches

Coastal Marsh

Newhan Series Leon Series

Land use map developed from LandSat TM imagery

Soil Properties Important to Agriculture §Texture §Available water capacity §Rooting depth §Natural fertility §pH & Aluminum toxicity §Organic matter content §Natural drainage

Cropland Capability Classification

Percentage of Land in Land Capability Classes I - IV in the United States, Alabama, and Iowa