LOCATION GREENLEE NC+TN VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Greenlee very cobbly loam on a 11 percent south facing colluvial bench--forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oe--0 to 2 inches; partially decomposed hardwood litter.
A--2 to 5 inches; black (10YR 2/1) very cobbly loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine flakes of mica; many fine and medium roots; 40 percent by volume gravel, cobbles, stones, and boulders; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 11 inches thick)
BA--5 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) very cobbly sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine flakes of mica; common fine and medium roots; 40 percent by volume gravel, cobbles, and stones; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bw--10 to 28 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) very cobbly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine flakes of mica; 40 percent by volume gravel, cobbles, and stones; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (15 to 63 inches thick.)
BC--28 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very cobbly loamy sand; massive; very friable; common fine flakes of mica; 45 percent by volume gravel, cobbles, and stones; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 50 inches thick)
C--72 to 82 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very cobbly loamy sand; massive; very friable; common fine flakes of mica; 60 percent by volume gravel, cobbles, stones, and boulders; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: McDowell County, North Carolina; 6.0 miles north of U.S. 70 on Curtis Creek Road; 1.5 miles north of U.S. Forest Service campground; and 25 feet west of road in woods.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is 20 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid unless limed. Rock fragment content commonly ranges from 35 to 60 percent by volume in the A and B horizons, and 35 to 80 percent in the C horizon. In some pedons, rock fragment content may range to as low as 15 percent, but averages more than 35 percent in the 10 to 40 inch control section. Also, rock fragment content in the A horizon may range to 80 percent in some pedons. The fragments may be gravel, cobbles, stones, or boulders. The volume of rock fragments and their dominant size typically increases with depth. Content of flakes of mica ranges from none to common.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. Where the value and chroma are both 3 or less, the horizon is less than 7 inches thick. The A horizon is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or sandy clay loam in the fine earth fraction.
The BA or AB horizons, where present, have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. The BA or AB horizons have the same textural range as the A horizon.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. The Bw horizon has the same textural range as the A horizon.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand in the fine earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy sand, or sand in the fine earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Berks, Blasdell, Brownsville, Calvin, Cardiff, Chenango, Dekalb, Hazleton, Itswoot, Lehew, Lippitt, Manlius, Northcove, Oquaga, Parker, Remote, Sylco, Tunkhannock, Warwick, Watt, and Wyoming in the same family. The Berks, Calvin, Dekalb, Lehew, Lippitt, Manlius, Oquaga, Sylco, and Watt soils are less than 40 inches in depth to lithic or paralithic contacts. Blasdell, Chenango, Tunkhannock, Warwick, and Wyoming were formed in glacial outwash and have stratified C horizons. Brownsville, Cardiff, Hazleton, and Parker soils have C horizons of saprolite. Itswoot soils have silt loam and silty clay loam textures and mean annual precipitation of over 130 inches. Northcove soils formed in colluvium derived from low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as quartzite and metasandstone and contain fragments of those rocks.
Note: Competing series have not been updated since most of these will also require reclassification using the 7th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy (1996).
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Greenlee soils are in coves on lower mountain sides, colluvial fans, foot slopes, and benches in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Slopes are commonly 8 to 30 percent but range from 6 to 80 percent. Elevation ranges from about 1,500 to 3,500 feet. The soil formed in colluvial material weathered from felsic to mafic, high-grade metamorphic and igneous rocks such as granite, granite gneiss, mica gneiss, hornblende gneiss, and schist. Mean annual air temperature near the type location is 55 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 54 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Ashe, Brevard, Cleveland, Chestnut, Cowee, Cullasaja, Edneyville, Evard, Porters, Potomac, Saluda, Tate, Tuckasegee, and Tusquitee series. None of these soils are in a loamy-skeletal family except for Cullasaja soils. Also, all are in higher positions on ridges and side slopes except for Brevard, Cullasaja, Tuckasegee, Tusquitee soils on colluvial positions and Potomac soils on flood plains. Brevard, Cowee, Evard, Saluda, and Tate soils have an argillic horizon. Ashe, Cleveland, Chestnut, Cowee, and Saluda soils are either shallow or moderately deep to bedrock. Cullasaja, Porters, Tuckasegee, and Tusquitee soils have umbric or umbric-like horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very little runoff where forest litter has not been disturbed or is only partly disturbed; medium to very rapid runoff where litter has been removed; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: More than 80 percent is in native woodland of hardwoods and pines. Cleared areas are used for pasture, Christmas trees, homesites, and as a source of gravel and stone.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia and possibly Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McDowell County, North Carolina; 1989.
REMARKS: This series was formerly included with the Spivey series. However, Spivey soils have an umbric epipedon, form from materials weathered from low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as phyllite and slate, and contain fragments of those rocks.
The 12/97 revision places the Greenlee series in the coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrochrepts changes the family per the 7th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy (1996). The CEC activity class placement is based on sample pedon S92-NC-171-002 and placement of similar soils such as Ashe and Cleveland. Family placement of the sample pedon is siliceous and semiactive, but mixed and semiactive is more consistent with similar soils and other areas where Greenlee is mapped. Horizon depths and runoff class were also revised at this time.
The 2/99 revision updates classification to 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to a depth of 10 inches (Oe, A and BA horizons).
Cambic horizon - The zone from 5 to 28 inches below the surface (BA and Bw horizons).
Loamy-skeletal feature - The presence of more than 35 percent coarse fragments by volume in the 12 to 42 inch control section (Bw and BC horizons).
MLRA: 130 SIR(s): NC0173
Revised: 10/92-RHR-RLM; 1/98-DHK; 2/99-MKC
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE; pedon number S92-NC-171-002.