LOCATION AARON KY+OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Aaron silt loam--on a smooth 4 percent slope in pasture. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 17 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) clay; moderate coarse and medium subangular blocky structure which parts to weak fine angular blocky; very firm; common fine roots; common faint clay films; common distinct dark brown (10YR 3/3) coatings; mildly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
Bt2--17 to 26 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) clay; few medium faint grayish brown mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine angular blocky; very firm; few fine roots; common faint clay films; common distinct dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) coatings; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Bt3--26 to 37 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) clay; common fine distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; weak and moderate medium subangular and angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots; common faint clay films; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (7 to 12 inches thick)
BC--37 to 45 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) silty clay; many medium distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine dark brown and black concretions; 5 percent flagstones of siltstone and highly weathered shale; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
C--45 to 53 inches; mixed; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) and light olive gray (5Y 6/2) silty clay; massive; very firm; common fine calcium carbonate concretions; 10 percent flagstones of siltstone, limestone, and highly weathered shale; mildly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
R--53 inches; hard limestone bedrock with interbedded calcareous shale and siltstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Montgomery County, Kentucky; east-west about 2,057,250 feet and north-south 222,900 feet by Kentucky coordinate grid values (Sideview topo quad). About 3/4 mile west from the intersection of U.S. Highway 460 and Chiles Road; about 1,350 feet north of Chiles Road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 50 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 40 to 60 inches. In some pedons the bedrock is soft and in some pedons there is a thin loess cap. Soil reaction ranges from strongly acid to mildly alkaline in the the A and B horizons. Reaction in the BC and C horizons range from medium acid to mildly alkaline. Coarse fragments of limestone, siltstone, and shale range from 0 to 14 percent in the Ap and Bt horizons, and 0 to 35 percent in the BC and C horizons.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
Some pedons have BA horizons with hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Below the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon mottles that have chroma of 2 or less range from few to many. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The BC and C horizons have colors like the Bt horizon. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay, or their channery analogues.
COMPETING SERIES: Celina, Guernsey, Hartville, Lewisburg, Licking, Loudon, Vandergrift, and Whippany series in the same family and Beasley, Caneyville, Eden, Faywood, Fredonia, Lowell, and Markland series in closely related subgroups or families. Celina soils have silt loam or loam textured C horizons of calcareous glacial till. Guernsey soils have a discontinuity in the B horizon. Hartville soils are more acid and lack rock fragments in the solum. Lewisburg soils have a thinner sola and in addition have glacial pebbles and stones throughout. Licking soils have a discontinuity within the control section. Vandergrift and Whippany soils have hue of 7.5YR or redder in their B horizons. Beasley, Caneyville, Eden, Faywood, Fredonia, Lowell, and Markland soils do not have mottles that have chroma of 2 or lower chroma in the upper part of the B horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Aaron soils are on upland ridgetops and side slopes with slopes ranging from 0 to 25 percent. These soils formed in residuum weathered from interbedded limestone, siltstone, and calcareous shale. The geographic area of these soils have an average annual precipitation of 45 inches, and an average temperature of 55 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Faywood and Lowell series, and Crider, Cynthiana, Nicholson, and Shelbyville series. Faywood and Lowell soils are better drained and Faywood soils are less than 40 inches to bedrock. Crider and Shelbyville soils have fine-silty control sections. Cynthiana soils are less than 20 inches to bedrock. Nicholson soils have fragipans.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained, with medium to rapid runoff. Permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used for hay and pasture. Other important uses for this soil are corn, small grain, and tobacco. Wooded areas dominantly consist of upland oaks, hickory, maple, black locust, ash, and red cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Hills of the Bluegrass, Inner Bluegrass, and Outer Bluegrass physiographic regions of Kentucky and Southern Ohio. Extent is moderate.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Montgomery County, Kentucky, 1982.
REMARKS: Areas of Aaron soils were previously mapped as Lowell soils, or Lowell Variants.
Diagnostic horizons in the pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 8 inches, (Ap Horizon).
Argillic horizon - 8 to 37 inches, (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons).
Redoximorphic features- The zone from 26 to 53 inches.