LOCATION MARBLEDALE TN+GATentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Marbledale loam on a 7 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil)
A-- 0 to 3 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent gravels; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Ap-- 3 to 8 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent gravels; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons is 3 to 10 inches)
Bt1-- 8 to 18 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) clay; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common faint clay films lining faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2-- 18 to 39 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common distinct clay films lining faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 25 to 50 inches)
BC-- 39 to 70 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) clay loam; many coarse distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; massive; firm; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Knox County, Tennessee, from Interstate 40, take Highway 129 south 4.5 miles to the University of Tennessee Plant Science Farm, on the west side of road. The site is on the higher Tennessee River terrace, north of the farm buildings and tractor storage areas. It is on the Knoxville, Tennessee topographic quadrangle, Latitude: 35 degrees, 54 minutes, 08 seconds N; Longitude: 83 degrees, 57 minutes, 33 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum and depth to bedrock are more than 60 inches. The soil ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid, except layers near the surface may be less acid where the soil has been limed. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 15 percent throughout, except the surface layer may range as high as 25 percent. Fragments are usually gravels or cobbles of sandstone, quartzite, or chert.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. A hue of 5YR may occur where the soil is significantly eroded. Texture is commonly loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam, but includes clay loam, silty clay loam, or clay, where eroded.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 6 or 8. Mottles, when present, are in shades of brown, yellow and red. The texture is clay, clay loam, or sandy clay.
The BC horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. It may also be profusely mottled in these colors, having no dominant matrix color. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, or loam. In some pedons, the BC horizon is quite massive and dense, but does not exhibit fragic characteristics.
COMPETING SERIES: These are currently the
Albertville,
Badin,
Brockroad,
Carnasaw,
Catharpin,
Coghill,
Corryton,
Cuthbert,
Kirvin,
Luverne,
Masada,
Mayodan,
McQueen,
Nason,
Peakin,
Sweatman,
Tatum,
Townley,
Uwharrie, and
Vance series. Soils in related families include the
Fluvanna,
Mattaponi,
Noah,
and
Williamsville series. Albertville, Carnasaw, Fluvanna, and Noah soils have a paralithic contact at 40 to 60 inches. Badin and Townley soils have a paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. Brockroad and Catharpin soils have a lithologic discontinuity at 24 to 50 inches of alluvium over residuum. Coghill soils formed in residuum from quartzose limestone, and interbedded calcareous sandstone and shale. Corryton soils formed in residuum derived from shale that is interbedded with thin seams of limestone. Cuthbert soils formed in weakly consolidated loamy, sandy and shaly materials mainly of Tertiary age. Kirvin soils commonly contain ironstone pebbles. Luverne soils formed in stratified marine sediments of the Southern Coastal Plain. Masada soils contain coarse fragments of quartz, quartzite, gneiss or schist and formed in old alluvium on terraces in the Southern
Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Mattaponi soils formed in Coastal Plain sediments and have less than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the sand and silt fraction of the upper part of the B horizon. Mayodan and Peakin(T)soils formed in residuum from Triassic materials in the Southern Piedmont. McQueen soils are on low and intermediate stream terraces in the Southern Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Nason soils have 25 to 50 inch sola and contain quartz and schist fragments. Sweatman soils formed in marine sediments in the Southern Coastal Plain. Tatum soils contain schist fragments and have a paralithic contact with weathered schist. Uwharrie soils formed in residuum from slate, phyllite, or sericite schist in the Southern Piedmont. Vance soils have C horizons of saprolite weathered from felsic crystalline rock. More competitors will become apparent as more series are reclassified.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Marbledale soils are on intermediate and high stream terraces, mainly associated with major river systems in the Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128). Slopes range from 2 to 30 percent. These soils formed in old alluvium derived from sandstone, shale, and limestone. Near the type location,
mean annual temperature is 57.2 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 57 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Etowah, Shady, and Waynesboro soils. Etowah soils, in similar positions, have siliceous mineralogy, and are in a fine-loamy family. Waynesboro soils, in similar positions, have subsoils that remain fine-textured to a depth of 5 feet. Shady soils are on lower-lying terraces. They are brown in color, and are in a fine-loamy family.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Marbledale soils are well drained. Runoff is medium and permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of these soils have been cleared and are used for hay, pasture, or row crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys in Tennessee, Georgia, and possibly Alabama.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: Knox County, Tennessee, 2000.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 8 inches (A and Ap horizons)
Argillic horizon - from 8 to 39 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons)
Laboratory data for this pedon processed by the University of Tennessee soil characterization laboratory.