LOCATION PENHOOK VA+NC
Established Series
MAV; Rev. JAK; DTA
05/2026
PENHOOK SERIES
MLRA(s): 136 (mesic part)
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Southeast
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium to high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from fine grained rock such as slate, phyllite, or schist
Slope: 2 to 45 percent
Elevation (type location): 250 meters (820 feet)
Frost Free Period: 200 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 13 degrees C (55 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1143 millimeters (45 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, subactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Penhook loam, on a 9 percent slope, in a Littlejoe-Strawfield-Penhook complex, 8 to 15 percent slopes--mixed hardwood and pine forest. (Colors are for moist soil)
Oi--0 to 2 centimeters (0 to 1 inches); loose leaves and twigs
Oe--2 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches); intermediately decomposed organic materials
A--5 to 18 centimeters (2 to 7 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; weak fine granular structure; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine, common medium and coarse roots; 14 percent subangular phyllite channers and subrounded quartz gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt1--18 to 25 centimeters (7 to 10 inches); yellowish red (5YR 4/6) clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine through coarse roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent subangular phyllite channers and subrounded quartz gravel; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--25 to 69 centimeters (10 to 27 inches); red (2.5YR 4/8) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine through coarse roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 2 percent subangular phyllite channers and subrounded quartz gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--69 to 112 centimeters (27 to 44 inches); red (2.5YR 4/8) clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 12 percent subangular phyllite channers and subrounded quartz gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
BCt--112 to 135 centimeters (44 to 53 inches); red (2.5YR 5/6) parachannery clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 30 percent subangular phyllite parachanners; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C--135 to 163 centimeters (53 to 64 inches); multicolored yellowish red, red, dark red, and reddish yellow loam saprolite; massive; soft, friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Virginia, located 6,350 feet south 12 degrees west of the intersection of State Routes 40 and 946; in woodland; in the eastern part of Franklin County; USGS Penhook, Virginia topographic quadrangle.
Latitude--36.9692
Longitude-- -79.6408
Datum--WGS84
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 25 percent, by volume, throughout. Rock fragments consist of gravel and channers.
Mica content: 0 to 20 percent, by volume throughout
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 3 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam
E horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, chroma of 3 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 10R through 5YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 5 to 8. Some pedons may have subhorizons with hues of 7.5YR or 10YR in the lower part.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, clay, or silty clay. The particle-size control section averages more than 30 percent silt, more than 40 percent silt plus very fine sand, or less than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine sand.
BC or BCt horizon:
Color-hue of 10R through 10YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 6 or 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
C horizon:
Color-hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 6 or 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam saprolite
COMPETING SERIES:
In same family:
Littlejoe soils--are deep to paralithic contact
In semiactive family:
Bentley soils--formed in alluvial and/or colluvial capping over residuum
Buffstat soils--are deep to paralithic contact
Clover soils--formed in residuum from Triassic Materials
Strawfield--are moderately deep to lithic contact
Totier soils--deep to paralithic contact in Triassic shale
Warminster soils--are deep to paralithic contact, and formed in residuum of Triassic red shale
Yellowbottom soils--are not as red in the subsoil
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from fine grained rock such as slate, phyllite, or schist
Elevation: 91 to 488 meters (300 to 1600 feet)
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 11 to 14 degrees C (52 to 57 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1020 to 1270 millimeters 40 to 50 inches
Frost Free Period: 175 to 205 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Buffstat soils--are 102 to 152 centimeters (40 to 60 inches) to soft bedrock
Bugley soils--are 15 to 51 centimeters (10 to 20 inches) to hard bedrock
Drapermill soils--are fine-loamy and are 51 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches) to hard bedrock
Fairystone soils--are 51 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches) to hard bedrock, and have more than 35 percent rock fragments
Littlejoe soils--are 102 to 152 centimeters (40 to 60 inches) to soft bedrock
Strawfield soils--51 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches) to hard bedrock
Yellowbottom soils--are less red in the subsoil
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: High
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Pasture, cropland, and forestland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated-corn, soybeans, small grain, hay. Where wooded-mixed hardwoods or pines.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Virginia, North Carolina
Extent: Small
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Virginia, 2004
REMARKS: Penhook soils were formerly recognized in the Georgeville series. The 4/97 relocation of the mesic/thermic line in MLTA 136 in North Carolina and Virginia dictated the need for the Penhook series as a mesic counterpart. The soil horizon depths were revised on 10/2021 to ensure the description began at the soil surface. The May 2026 revision changed the format. No data was changed.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 18 centimeters (0 to 7 inches) (O and A horizons)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 18 to 112 centimeters (7 to 44 inches) (Bt horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: This pedon sampled as S98VA067-006. Additional sample is S97VA067-008.
Typical Pedon Data Mapunit ID:27437
Benchmark Status: No
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
SC0014 NONE >6.0 - >80 -
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
SC0014 0-7 L VFSL SIL 0-2 80-100 5-27 8-16
SC0014 0-7 SICL CL 0-2 90-100 27-35 8-16
SC0014 7-37 C SIC SICL CL 0-1 95-100 35-65 9-15
SC0014 37-61 SICL L SIL CL 0-5 90-100 15-40 7-15
SC0124 0-7 GR-L;GR-SIL;GR-VFSL 0-10 55-75 5-27 8-16
SC0124 7-37 C SIC SICL CL 0-1 95-100 35-65 9-15
SC0124 37-61 SICL L SIL CL 0-5 90-100 15-40 7-15
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
SC0014 0-7 3.5-5.5 0.5-2.0 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
SC0014 0-7 3.5-5.5 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
SC0014 7-37 3.5-5.5 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
SC0014 37-61 3.5-5.5 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.