LOCATION ZENITH KY+TN

Established Series
Rev. HCD/JDM/JLN
01/2011

ZENITH SERIES

The Zenith series consists of deep and very deep, well drained soils that formed in colluvium or local alluvium that weathered from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. These soils are on mountain slopes and in coves with cool aspect. Slopes range from 10 to 65 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Humudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Zenith loam--on a forested 32 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, dark brown (10YR 3/3) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common medium and coarse roots; 5 percent sandstone fragments; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 24 inches thick)

AB--6 to 12 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; 3 percent sandstone fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)

BA--12 to 20 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; many fine pores; common faint dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic stains on all faces of peds; 5 percent sandstone fragments; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bw1--20 to 30 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint organic stains on all faces of peds; 3 percent sandstone fragments; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bw2--30 to 43 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few distinct very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic stains on all faces of peds; 9 percent sandstone fragments, 1 to 10 inches in diameter; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bw3--43 to 60 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic stains on all faces of peds; 3 percent sandstone fragments, 1 to 3 inches in diameter; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 25 to 65 inches thick)

BC--60 to 80 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; less than 2 percent sandstone fragments, 1 to 3 inches in diameter; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: 275 yards west of Kentucky Highway 167 and 1,520 yards north of the border with Tennessee in a north facing cove at the head of a small drainageway along Flint Fork of Langham Creek in Wayne County, Kentucky; 19.5 miles south of the junction of Kentucky Highways 167 and 92 in the county seat of Monticello; 36 degrees, 36 minutes, 57 seconds N. Latitude and 84 degrees, 46 minutes, 50 seconds W. Longitude; USGS Sharp Place Quadrangle.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock ranges from 40 to more than 80 inches. Fragments, mostly channers or gravels, of sandstone, siltstone, or shale range from 0 to 35 percent in the solum and from 0 to 60 percent in the substratum. Fragments commonly become larger with depth to include cobbles, flagstones, stones, and a few boulders in the lower horizons. Reaction is very strongly to moderately acid, except the surface layer is less acid where limed or influenced by leaf fall from species such as yellow poplar.

The A or AB horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is silt loam, loam or fine sandy loam.

The BA or BE horizons (where present) have colors and textures similar to the upper part of the Bw horizon.

The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture is silt loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.

The BC or CB horizons (where present) have colors and textures similar to the lower part of the Bw horizon.

In places, a C or 2C horizon is present that has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. In other places, the 2C is replaced by 2BC and/or 2CB horizons with similar colors and textures. Lithochromic mottles in shades of yellow, brown, red, or gray are common throughout. Fine-earth texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay, or clay loam.

COMPETING SERIES: The Crossville series is the only other member of this family. The Cutshin series is a close competitor in a similar family. Crossville soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to rock. Cutshin soils have mixed mineralogy.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Zenith soils are in concave areas on east and north facing mountain slopes and in mountain coves. Slopes range from about 10 to 65 percent, but are dominantly between 25 and 60 percent. Near the type location average annual temperature is 55 degrees F., and average annual rainfall is 53 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Beetree, Grimsley, Jefferson, Muse, Muskingum, Petros, Ramsey, and Shelocta series. All of these soils lack an umbric epipedon. Grimsley, Jefferson, Muse, and Shelocta soils have argillic horizons. Petros and Ramsey soils are less than 20 inches deep to bedrock. Petros and Grimsley soils are loamy-skeletal. Muse soils are fine. Ramsey soils are loamy. Muskingum, Muse, Petros, and Shelocta soils have mixed mineralogy.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Zenith soils are well drained and permeability is moderate. Runoff is medium in areas with slopes of less than 20 percent and high in areas with slopes greater than 20 percent.

USE AND VEGETATION: Practically all areas are in forest. The main tree species are yellow-poplar, eastern hemlock, white pine, northern red oak, and white ash.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Cumberland Mountains and Plateau in Tennessee and in Kentucky. Extent is small.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Anderson County, Tennessee; 1978.

REMARKS: 2006 revision moves OSD site from Fentress County, Tennessee to bordering Wayne County, Kentucky. Site was formerly mapped as a taxadjunct of the Cutshin series as a component of map unit SMF-Shelocta-Muse-Cutshin complex, steep (order-three map unit) as part of the Soil Survey of Wayne County, Kentucky (1990).

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Umbric epipedon - from 0 to 12 inches (A and AB horizons)
Cambic horizon - from 12 to 80 inches (Bw horizons)

ADDITIONAL DATA: Primary Characterisation by University of Kentucky Agronomy Department. Sample number 81KY-231-7 (1-7) published in Special Report 91-1 "Descriptions and Laboratory Data for Some Soils in Kentucky" (Section 5. Mountains and Coalfields Region, page 61). Characterisation of the 51-76 cm (10-30 inch) mineralogy control section by National Soil Survey Laboratory (same sample number) dated 10/1/1984. Mineralogy Counts on Fentress County site from Beltsville Laboratory.

Taxonomic Version: Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 11th edition 2010.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.