HomeSoil seriesSharkey
Sharkey soil series
Sharkey soils cover 3,660,556 mapped acres, mostly in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. USDA rates shrink-swell a limit for houses without basements on 99% of that land, and a shallow water table a limit for basements on 99%.
It is the leading soil series by area in 23 of the counties and cities on this site, including Madison Parish, LA; Tensas Parish, LA; Tunica County, MS.
SSURGO survey versions to August 5, 2026 · series description revised 2013-02
of its land: shrink-swell limits houses without basements
of its land: a shallow water table limits basements
median highest linear extensibility (6% and up is high)
median highest clay content in the top 150 cm
USDA's description
The Sharkey series consists of very deep, poorly and very poorly drained, very slowly permeable soils that formed in clayey alluvium. These soils are on flood plains and low terraces of the Mississippi River; MLRA 131A. Slope is dominantly less than 1 percent, but ranges to 5 percent.
Source: USDA NRCS series description (OSD) for Sharkey, revised 2013-02. Read it.
Engineering properties
| Mapped area (SSURGO) | 3,660,556 acres |
| Shrink-swell limits houses without basements | 98.9% |
| Shallow water table limits basements | 99.5% |
| Very limited for septic absorption fields | 98.9% |
| Most common drainage class | Poorly drained |
| Most common hydrologic soil group | D |
| Taxonomic class | Very-fine, smectitic, thermic Chromic Epiaquerts |
| Type location | Madison Parish, Louisiana |
Where Sharkey is mapped
| State | Mapped acres |
|---|---|
| Louisiana | 1,373,752 |
| Arkansas | 915,401 |
| Mississippi | 896,878 |
| Missouri | 407,921 |
| Tennessee | 60,806 |
| Kentucky | 5,798 |
Places where Sharkey leads
Counties and cities where Sharkey covers more mapped land than any other series.
Other places where Sharkey is a main soil
Counties and cities where Sharkey is among the six soil series covering the most mapped land, but not the first. Share of the place's mapped land.
Counties
- Chicot County, AR 20%
- Pointe Coupee Parish, LA 18%
- Yazoo County, MS 17%
- Avoyelles Parish, LA 16%
- Coahoma County, MS 12%
- Iberville Parish, LA 10%
- Scott County, MO 10%
- St. Martin Parish, LA 9%
- Stoddard County, MO 9%
- Lee County, AR 9%
- St. Francis County, AR 9%
- Warren County, MS 8%
- Lake County, TN 8%
- West Carroll Parish, LA 7%
- Lauderdale County, TN 6%
- West Feliciana Parish, LA 6%
- Quitman County, MS 5%
- Adams County, MS 4%
- Sunflower County, MS 4%
Sources
Shares and properties: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access, weighted by each component's share of its map units. Description: the USDA NRCS series description. How we count.