Soils Factor in the Character of Land Use in the Tennessee Valley

T S HE soils of the Tennessee Valley are relatively complex. The intermingling and blending of members of Gray-Brown Podzolic, Red, and Yellow soil groups, harmonize with the humid, mesothermal climate and with the intermediate location between northern and southern soils. Available soil maps show no Podzols or Laterites in the Basin, and the dominant soils, in a sense, are transitional between these two major groups. The intricate blending of the soils of the area makes difficult the identification of individual soils and the classification of the soil series into groups. In about half of the Basin, largely to the north, soils exhibit the general characteristics of Gray-Brown Podzolics. In the other half, soils fall into the Yellow and the Red groups, roughly in the proportions of 30 and 20 per cent, respectively. The climate of this region, particularly the abundant rainfall and relatively high temperatures, favors excessive leaching and, under favorable conditions of slope and drainage, accelerates soilforming processes. Under unfavorable conditions, on the other hand, excessive erosion and poor drainage-consequents of heavy rainfall--retard soil development and give rise to the immature profiles and the color characteristics peculiar to many basin soils. In the more nearly level areas, where the soil materials have lain in place, abundant rainfall at all seasons, continued heat of summers, and alternate freezing and thawing of winters have produced deeply weathered and greatly

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