What is Lucien soil and how does it affect Oklahoma foundations?

Reviewed by Preston, Oklahoma foundation repair consultant · Updated 2026-10-14

In short: Lucien is a shallow, well-drained loamy soil on the tops and shoulders of low hills in central Oklahoma. Weathered Permian sandstone, sometimes mixed with clay, siltstone or sandy shale, starts just 10 to 20 inches below the surface. The main foundation questions on Lucien are about shallow, soft rock and how water runs off and through it, rather than clay swelling.

What is Lucien soil?

Lucien is an official USDA soil series classified as "Loamy, mixed, superactive, thermic, shallow Udic Haplustolls" ¹. "Shallow" in the name refers to its limited depth to rock ¹. The soil formed in material weathered from Permian sandstone interbedded with clay, siltstone or sandy shale ¹.

It sits on summits and shoulders of low hills in the Central Rolling Red Prairies (MLRA 80A), with slopes of 1 to 30 percent ¹. The series occurs in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and is rated as moderately extensive ¹. It was established in Noble County, Oklahoma, in 1947, and the type location is about 8 miles north and 6 miles east of Perry ¹. Mean annual precipitation is about 33 inches (range 26-41) ¹.

In Oklahoma, Lucien areas fall in the OKC Metro and North-Central (Red Prairies and Wheat Belt) regions, over red-bed sandstone units such as the Garber Sandstone and Wellington Formation.

What is its typical soil profile?

Source for the table: ¹. Other properties from the official description ¹:

• Depth to rock: 10 to 20 inches; paralithic contact at 14 inches in the typical profile ¹.
• Texture range: loam, fine sandy loam or very fine sandy loam, including gravelly or stony phases ¹.
• Drainage: well drained, with very high runoff and high permeability ¹.
• Use: mainly rangeland; gentler areas mixed with deeper soils are farmed ¹.

What does it mean for foundations?

Shallow, soft rock

A paralithic contact is the boundary between soil and soft bedrock that is very weakly to moderately coherent ³. Paralithic material can be dug with hand tools, with some difficulty ³. On Lucien, this layer starts within 20 inches of the surface ¹, so the soil layer between a footing and rock is thin.

The parent material includes interbedded clay, siltstone and sandy shale ¹. For background on how weathered red-bed rock behaves as a bearing layer, see shale weathering and bearing strata and depth to rock from borings.

When steel push piers are used in Oklahoma, installation records show typical pier depths of about 8 to 16 feet, with a median near 12 feet in Tulsa ⁴. On a shallow-rock soil like Lucien, a pier may stop sooner. Whether that early stop is on competent rock or on a soft or broken layer is a question for the installer's pressure records and, where needed, an engineer; see steel push piers and working with engineers.

Slopes and runoff

Lucien has slopes up to 30 percent, very high runoff and high permeability ¹. Related pages cover surface drainage, erosion under footings and settlement of placed fill (see Related below).

How can the soil at a property be confirmed?

Web Soil Survey shows mapped soil units and soil data for more than 95 percent of U.S. counties ². Actual rock depth at a house is confirmed by a boring or by pier installation records.

Related

• Quinlan soil
• Bedrock in the OKC metro
• Surface drainage and grading
• Erosion, undermining and washout voids
• Fill consolidation settlement
• Soil series index