Soil Series Atlas

Ruston soil series

Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults

050100150200cm1 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft5 ft6 ft7 ftATopsoil0–10 cm · 0–4 inELeached layer10–18 cm · 4–7 inBt1Subsoil · clay build-up18–46 cm · 7–18 inBt2Subsoil · clay build-up46–66 cm · 18–26 inBt/EMixed subsoil and leached layer · claybuild-up66–99 cm · 26–39 inB't1Subsoil · clay build-up99–132 cm · 39–52 inB't2Subsoil · clay build-up132–170 cm · 52–67 inB't3Subsoil · clay build-up170–216 cm · 67–85 in050100150200cmATopsoil0–10 cm · 0–4 inELeached layer10–18 cm · 4–7 inBt1Subsoil · clay build-up18–46 cm · 7–18 inBt2Subsoil · clay build-up46–66 cm · 18–26 inBt/EMixed subsoil andleached layer · claybuild-up66–99 cm · 26–39 inB't1Subsoil · clay build-up99–132 cm · 39–52 inB't2Subsoil · clay build-up132–170 cm · 52–67 inB't3Subsoil · clay build-up170–216 cm · 67–85 in
Typical pedon, to scale: 216 cm (85 in), 8 horizons.

Ultisols — strongly weathered, leached soils with a clay-enriched subsoil

Ruston is mapped on 2.00 million acres in 8 states, 35th nationally by area. In Mississippi only three series cover more ground. Only four atlas descriptions go deeper than its 216 cm. Besides it, only Bama and Clarksville belong to the great group Paleudults in this atlas. It is the state soil of Louisiana.

Depth
Very deep
Drainage
Well drained
Water movement
Moderate

Compare with another seriesSimilar series in the finder

Where Ruston is mapped

2,001,198 acres in 121 soil survey areas, from current SSURGO data.

Alabama: 208,940 acresArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahoma: 75,236 acresPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexas: 41,190 acresWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansas: 105,684 acresCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippi: 907,476 acresMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennessee: 9,292 acresUtahVirginia: 972 acresWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisiana: 652,409 acresRhode Island

Share of all Ruston acres

  1. Mississippi45%
  2. Louisiana33%
  3. Alabama10%
  4. Arkansas5%
  5. Oklahoma4%
  6. Texas2%
  7. Tennessee0.5%
  8. Virginia<0.1%

In the field

Drainage

Well drained

Drains fastStays wet

Soil depth

Very deep

ShallowDeep

Permeability

Moderate

SlowFast
Parent material
Marine/coastal plain sediments
Landform
Uplands, coastal plains
Type location
Louisiana

How it is classified

  1. OrderUltisols
  2. SuborderUdults
  3. Great groupPaleudults
  4. SubgroupTypic Paleudults
  5. FamilyFine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudultsfine-loamy particle-size classsiliceous mineralogy classsemiactive cation-exchange activity classthermic soil temperature regime

Against other Ultisols

Ruston makes up 1.06% of all mapped Ultisols — the 10th largest of 1,278 series in the order.

Solum thickness (topsoil + subsoil)

216 cm over a median of 142 cm

Depth to the subsoil

18 cm under a median of 23 cm

Depth described

216 cm over a median of 178 cm

Its relatives

14 other established series share the family “Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults”

  1. Ruston2.0 M
  2. Nella911 k
  3. Allen385 k
  4. Etowah377 k
  5. Leesburg228 k
  6. Holston167 k
  7. Otanya159 k
  8. Warnock152 k
  9. Octavia107 k

Close relatives, at one scale

  1. Ruston216 cm · Typic Paleudults
  2. Bama188 cm · Typic Paleudults
  3. Clarksville152 cm · Typic Paleudults

Horizon by horizon

HorizonLayerDepthThickness
ATopsoil0–10 cm0–4 in10 cm
ELeached layer10–18 cm4–7 in8 cm
Bt1Subsoil: clay build-up18–46 cm7–18 in28 cm
Bt2Subsoil: clay build-up46–66 cm18–26 in20 cm
Bt/EMixed subsoil and leached layer: clay build-up66–99 cm26–39 in33 cm
B't1Subsoil: clay build-up99–132 cm39–52 in33 cm
B't2Subsoil: clay build-up132–170 cm52–67 in38 cm
B't3Subsoil: clay build-up170–216 cm67–85 in46 cm

Sources: USDA–NRCS Official Series Description (revised n/a), Soil Classification database and SSURGO. Ranks computed by Soil Series Atlas. Method · Guides