SOILS OF ALABAMA
The Earth Beneath
our Feet
by
Charles Mitchell, Ph.D.
Extension Agronomist-Soils
Auburn University
Coastal Plain
Tuscaloosa
Clanton
Thomasville
Mobile
UPPER COASTAL PLAIN
LOWER COASTAL PLAIN
BLACK BELT
WIREGRASS
COASTAL FLATWOODS
PINE FLATWOODS
CLAY HILLS
Troy
Dothan
Cotton on a Coastal Plain soil in
South Alabama
Tobacco on a Coastal Plain soil in
Georgia
A
B
C
Soil horizons are
usually distinct in
most Coastal Plain
soils.
Dothan
sandy loam
Red Bay sandy loam
Bama sandy
loam
Tifton loamy
sand
State Soil
of
Alabama
State Soil
of
Georgia
Counties
where
Bama soils
are found
Topsoils in the Coastal Plain may be
very sandy and low in organic matter.
Coastal Plain soils can be
highly erodible
Native wiregrass in a
pine forest near
Dothan
All Coastal Plain soils
require lime and
fertilizer for best fruit
and vegetable
production
Black Belt
Prairie
Eutaw
Selma
Montgomery
Demopolis
Selma Chalk
Faunsdale clay loam
Black Belt pasture
Black Belt cropland
Gaineswood (c. 1843),
Demopolis, AL
Catfish ponds near
Greensboro
Piedmont
Roanoke
Alexander City
Opelika
Piedmont parent material near Opelika.
Old cotton terraces on a steep, Piedmont
hillside in Chambers County.
Much of the Piedmont’s topsoil eroded
away during cotton cultivation. Today,
new topsoil is forming from the old
subsoil and parent material.
Cecil fine sandy
loam is a typical
Piedmont soil
found in
Alabama. It is
also the State
Soil of North
Carolina.
Piedmont soil in Chambers County
Today’s Piedmont is mostly devoted to
pastures, hayfields, and forests, and . . .
. . . to the development of large cities
like Atlanta and Charlotte.
Rainsville
Cullman
Albertville
Jasper
Sandstone
Plateau
View from Brindlee Mountain
near Arab
Chandler Mountain in northern
St. Clair County is a long, narrow
sandstone plateau
Soils tend to be sandy and
shallow over bedrock. Ground
water pollution is a major concern
on these soils.
Flint Creek near Hartselle is
polluted from nutrients from nonpoint sources in the watershed.
Huntsville
Muscle Shoals
Gadsden
Birmingham
Talladega
Limestone
Valleys
Belle Mina (c. 1830s) near
Mooresville in the Tennessee
Valley
Cotton Field in Lawrence County
Limestone outcropping on
hillside near Scottsboro in
Jackson County
The City of Birmingham is in a
limestone valley between
sandstone plateaus
The Tennessee River viewed from the
edge of Sand Mountain near Section
Prepared by:
Dr. Charles Mitchell
Extension AgronomistSoils & Professor,
Auburn University