Land use: Most of this area is in small farms, but a sizable acreage is controlled by woodland companies. Land adjacent to major cities is used for residences and associated urban development. Although most of the land was once cultivated, much has reverted to mixed stands of pine and hardwoods. Most of the open land is pasture, but some crops, such as soybeans, small grain, corn, cotton, wheat, and, to a lesser extent, tobacco, are grown. Dairy cattle and poultry are important locally.
Elevation and topography: Elevation ranges from 100 to 400 m. Drainage patterns are well defined. Streams have dissected the original plateau, leaving narrow to fairly broad upland ridgetops and short slopes adjacent to the major streams. The valley floors generally are narrow and make up about 10 percent or less of the land area. The associated stream terraces are minor.
Climate: Average annual precipitation-1,150 to 1,400 mm. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year, but the lowest is in autumn; snowfall is light. Average annual temperature-14 to 18 C. Average freeze-free period-205 to 235 days.
Water: Precipitation, perennial streams, and lakes provide an abundance of water. Ground-water supplies are relatively small, but shallow and deep wells are the principal sources of water for domestic use. Small farm ponds are an important source of water for livestock.
Soil: The dominant soils are Udults. They have a clayey or loamy subsoil, a thermic temperature regime, an udic moisture regime, and kaolinitic, mixed, or oxidic mineralogy. Well drained very gently sloping to gently sloping Hapludults (Cecil, Madison, and Appling series) and Paleudults (Davidson series) are on uplands. Well drained Hapludults, Rhodudults, Dystrochrepts, and Hapludalfs (Pacolet, Cecil, Gwinnett, Louisa, Louisburg, and Wilkes series) are on the steeper slopes. In some localities, these soils contain coarse fragments. Dystrochrepts (Chewacla series), Udifluvents (Congaree and Cartecay series), and Fluvaquents (Wehadkee series) are in alluvial deposits.
Potential natural vegetation: The uplands generally support hardwood and pine forest vegetation. Loblolly pine, slash pine, white oak, red oak, gum, yellowpoplar, and sycamore are principal species; pine is dominant on eroded sites. Hardwoods or mixed stands of pine and hardwoods are on slightly eroded soils and stream flood plains. Dogwood, honeysuckle, pinehill bluestem, briars, and other grasses and forbs characterize the understory.
(From "Land Resource Regions and Major Land Resource Areas of the United
States". United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service
Handbook 296. Dec. 1981. page 98.)