Originally mapped in
Cecil County, Maryland
Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...
in 1899, more than 10 million acres (40,000 km²) of the Cecil soil series (Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults) are now mapped in the
Piedmont region of the
southeastern United States. It extends from
Virginia through
North Carolina (where it is the
state soil),
South Carolina,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
, with th
typic Cecil pedonactually located in Franklin County, NC.
The Cecil series developed over
igneous rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
such as
granite, and
metamorphic rock which is chemically similar to granite. Virgin Cecil soils support forests dominated by
pine,
oak and
hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...
, and have a
topsoil of brown sandy loam. The
subsoil is a red
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay parti ...
which is dominated by
kaolinite and has considerable
mica. Few Cecil soils are in their virgin state, for most have been cultivated at one time or another. Indifferent land management has allowed many areas of Cecil soils to lose their topsoils through
soil erosion, exposing the red clay subsoil. This clay is amenable to cultivation, responds well to careful management, and supports healthy growth of
pine where allowed to revert to forest. Like other well-drained
Ultisol
Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. The word "Ultisol" is derived from "ultimate", because Ultisols were seen as the ultimate product of continu ...
s, it is ideal for urban development; however, in common with other kaolinite-dominated clays, it has little ability to recover from
soil compaction
In geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or other ...
. Total
potassium in the Cecil is higher than typical for Ultisols due to the presence of mica.
Official profile description
Ap—0 to ; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. to thick.
Bt1—8 to ; red (10R 4/8) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; sticky, plastic; common clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2—26 to ; red (10R 4/8) clay; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; sticky, plastic; common clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 24 to 50 inches)
BC—42 to ; red (2.5YR 4/8) clay loam; few distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to thick)
C--50 to ; red (2.5YR 4/8) loam saprolite; common medium distinct pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) and common distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) mottles; massive; very friable; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid.
The slight acidity of the Ap is atypical for Cecil series—moderate to very strong acidity is the rule—and is evidence that the soil was limed. The B and C horizons are strongly to very strongly acidic.
[https://soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/C/CECIL.html Official Series Description, updated URL]
See also
*
Pedology (soil study)
Pedology (from Greek: πέδον, ''pedon'', "soil"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a discipline within soil science which focuses on understanding and characterizing soil formation, evolution, and the theoretical frameworks for modeling ...
*
List of U.S. state soils
This is a list of U.S. state soils. A state soil is a soil that has special significance to a particular state. Each state in the United States has selected a state soil, twenty of which have been legislatively established. These official state ...
References
External links
Official Series Description - Cecil SeriesCecil soil landscape near Columbus GA
{{coord, 36.0455, -78.4907, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title
Pedology
Soil in the United States
Geology of North Carolina
Geology of Virginia
Geology of South Carolina
Geology of Alabama
Geology of Georgia (U.S. state)
Symbols of North Carolina
Types of soil