LOCATION GOBLINTOWN VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, subactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Goblintown loam on a 17 percent slope, in woodland (Colors are for moist soil, unless otherwise indicated.)
A--0 to 6 inches; black (2.5Y 2.5/1) loam, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; many fine, medium, and coarse roots; common fine tubular pores; 10 percent gravel; very strongly acid, gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
Bt--6 to 14 inches; very dark gray (2.5Y 3/1) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many fine and medium, and common coarse roots; common fine tubular pores; 5 percent gravel; few fine flakes of mica; few faint discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 30 inches thick)
BCt--14 to 20 inches; very dark gray (2.5Y 3/1) channery clay loam; many medium faint black (2.5Y 2.5/1) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common fine and medium, and few coarse roots; few fine tubular pores; 15 percent channers and 15 percent parachanners; few fine flakes of mica; few discontinuous clay films on channers and some faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
C--20 to 37 inches; black (2.5Y 2.5/1) very channery loam; common medium faint very dark gray (2.5Y 3/1) mottles; massive; friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; few fine, medium, and coarse roots; 35 percent channers and 50 percent parachanners; few fine flakes of mica; common clay flows between channers; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary.
Cr--37 to 80 inches; soft, graphitic schist; weakly cemented; high excavation difficulty.
TYPE LOCATION: Patrick County, Virginia; near Fairy Stone Lake, in Mines Branch Recreation Area; on ridge south of Smith River and west of Secondary Route 623; USGS Philpott Lake, VA topographic quadrangle; lat. 36 degrees 50 minutes 43.00 seconds N and long. 80 degrees 05 minutes 16.00 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to top of the Argillic horizon: 2 to 10 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic horizon: 15 to 40 inches
Depth to Bedrock: 20 to 40 inches to soft bedrock
Thickness of Argillic horizon: 10 to 30 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 72 inches
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid to moderately acid, except where limed
Rock and Pararock Fragment Content: 0 to 15 percent, by volume, in the A horizon, 0 to 35 percent in the upper B horizon, and 0 to 90 percent in the lower B and C horizons
Organic matter content: 2 to 8 percent in the A horizon, 0.0 to 0.5 percent in the B and C horizons (See Remarks.)
(Effective) Cation Exchange Capacity: 2 to 15 milliequivalents per 100 grams of soil in the A horizon; 1 to 7 in B horizon; and 1 to 6 in the C horizon
Shrink-swell potential: Low
Mica content: 0 to 20 percent, by volume mica flakes
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A horizon or Ap horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 or 3, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--very fine sandy loam, silt loam, or loam; where eroded clay loam or silty clay loam
Clay content--12 to 35 percent
BA horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 or 4, chroma of 1 to 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Clay content--12 to 35 percent
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 or 4, chroma of 1 to 4
Mottles (where present)--shades of brown, gray, or black
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Clay content--27 to 60 percent
BCt horizon or BC, B/C, or C/B horizons (where present):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 6
Mottles (where present)--shades of brown, gray or black
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Clay content--12 to 35 percent
C horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 4, chroma of 1 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Most pedons have C horizons with flows of soil material in cracks between fragments or as coatings on fragment faces.
Clay content--12 to 35 percent
Cr layer:
Bedrock kind--soft, felsic graphitic schist and graphitic phyllite
Bedrock hardness--extremely weakly cemented to moderately cemented
Fracture interval--greater than 4 inches, many fragment faces are coated with soil material
Excavation difficulty--low to high
COMPETING SERIES:
None
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont
Landform: Ridges, hillslopes
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes, head slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: Summits, shoulders, back slopes
Parent Material: Residuum from felsic graphitic schist and graphitic phyllite
Elevation: 900 to 1300 feet
Frost Free Period: 175 to 205 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 52 to 57 degrees
Mean Annual Precipitation: 40 to 60 inches
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Buffstat soils--have browner subsoil and are 40 to 60 inches to bedrock
Bugley soils--have browner subsoil and are 10 to 20 inches to bedrock
Fairystone soils--have redder subsoil and are 40 to 60 inches to bedrock
Littlejoe soils--have redder subsoil and are 40 to 60 inches to bedrock
Penhook soils--have redder subsoil and are greater than 60 inches to bedrock
Strawfield soils--have redder subsoil
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Slowest Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high (1.4 to 14 micrometers per second)
Permeability of Restrictive Layer (upper 60 inches): moderate or moderately slow
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland, some pasture, lawns, and gardens
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--yellow poplar, eastern white pine, Virginia pine, northern red oak, white oak, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, and black gum. Understory--mountain laurel, rhododendron
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Virginia and possibly North Carolina
Extent: Small
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Virginia, 2004.
REMARKS: Goblintown soils were previously mapped as inclusions in Littlejoe, Buffstat, and Bugley soils. Levels of total carbon are high due to the influence of graphitic parent materials; however organic matter from plant residue is thought to be similar to adjacent soils.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 6 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 6 to 20 inches (Bt and BCt horizons)
Paralithic contact--bedrock contact at 37 inches (upper boundary of the Cr layer)
Paralithic Materials--the zone from 37 to 80 inches (Cr layer)
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 47 inches
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are available from NRCS-Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE (Lab Pedon Number: 99P0442; User Pedon ID: 99VA141005).