LOCATION ALBEMARLE VA
Established Series
Rev. MAV
03/2022
ALBEMARLE SERIES
Soils of the Albemarle series are deep and well drained with moderate permeability. They formed in the weathered products of meta-arkosic sandstone. These soils are on upland ridgetops and sideslopes of the northern Piedmont Plateau. Slopes range from 0 to 45 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 55 degrees F and annual precipitation is about 44 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Albemarle fine sandy loam - hardwood forest on a north facing convex sideslope of 8 percent. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; partly decomposed forest litter of leaves, twigs, sticks, and other organic material.
A--2 to 3 inch; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
E--3 to 7 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent sandstone gravel up to 2 inches across; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
BE--7 to 10 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium and common coarse roots; few faint strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica, very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--10 to 16 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay loam; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable, sticky and slightly plastic; few medium and fine roots; few distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--16 to 26 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/8) clay loam; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots; few distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) weathered sandstone gravel; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 24 inches)
BC--26 to 32 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few fine and medium roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; 10 percent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) highly weathered sandstone gravel; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
C--32 to 40 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy loam streaked with yellow (10YR 7/8) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6); massive; firm; nonsticky and nonplastic; strongly acid; abrupt broken boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Cr--40 to 52 inches; multicolored, moderately weathered, meta-arkosic sandstone streaked with shades of yellow, brown, white, gray and red that crushes to sandy loam; massive; firm in place; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 16 inches thick)
R--52 inches; hard meta-arkosic sandstone.
TYPE LOCATION: Albemarle County, Virginia; about 4 miles south of Charlottesville; 1 mile northwest of intersection of VA-20 and VA-742, 550 yards southwest of Reynovia Lake.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 24 to 48 inches. Depth to bedrock is 40 to 60 inches and is quite variable within short horizontal distances. Content of rock fragments is 0
to 15 percent in the solum, and 0 to 30 percent in the C horizon. Rock fragments consist dominantly of angular and subangular
gravel of meta-arkosic sandstone, graywacke or quartzite. The soil is very strongly or strongly acid throughout, unless limed.
The A horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. The A horizon is fine sandy loam, sandy loam or loam.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam.
The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is loam, sandy clay loam or clay loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is sandy clay loam or clay loam.
The BC horizon, where present, has the same color range as the Bt horizon and commonly is mottled or streaked in shades of yellow, red, white, and brown. It is sandy clay loam or loam.
The C horizon is highly variable in color and commonly contains shades of olive, gray, white, yellow, red and brown. It is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, gravelly fine sandy loam, and
gravelly sandy loam, or it is highly weathered meta-arkosic
sandstone that crushes to one of these textures.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Allegheny,
Allenwood,
Arendtsville,
Aura,
Bedington,
Birdsboro,
Bucks,
Butano,
Chester,
Chetwynd,
Chilmark,
Clymer,
Collington,
Edgemont,
Edneytown,
Elsinboro,
Eubanks,
Frankstown,
Freehold,
Gilpin,
Glenelg,
Leck Kill,
Meadowville,
Murrill,
Nixon,
Quakertown,
Rayne,
Shelocta,
Shouns,
Syenite,
Tate,
Thurmont,
Ungers and
Whiteford series in the same family. Allegheny soils contain water worn rock fragments. Allenwood, Arendtsville, Aura, Birdsboro, Chester, Collington, Elsinboro, Eubanks, Murrill, Shouns, and Thurmont soils have bedrock at a depth of more than 60 inches. Bedington, Bucks, Butano, Frankstown, Gilpin, Leck Kill, Nixon, Rayne, Shelocta, and Ungers soils have fragments of shale in part of the solum. Chetwynd soils formed in loess and loamy outwash. Chilmark, and Meadowville soils have a lithologic discontinuity. Clymer soils contain channery fragments of sandstone throughout the soil. Edgemont soils contain fragments of quartzite and quartz. Edneytown soils are underlain with saprolite from gneiss, granite or schist rock. Freehold soils contain glauconite. Glenelg soils have rock fragments dominated by mica schist and mica gneiss. Quakertown soils contain fragments of siltstone and argillite. Tate soils have rock fragments dominated by granite. Syenite soils have bedrock within 20 to 40 inches of the surface. Whiteford soils contain rock fragments of slate.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Albemarle soils are on nearly level to steep uplands of the northern Piedmont Plateau. Gradients are typically less than 15 percent but the slope range includes 0 to 45 percent. The soils formed in residuum from meta-arkosic sandstone with
small amounts of mica schist and phyllite at elevations of less
than 1700 feet. The mean annual temperature ranges from about 53 degrees to 59 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from about 38 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the competing
Glenelg soils, and the
Culpeper,
Elioak,
Hazel, and Louisburg
soils.
Culpeper and
Elioak soils have clayey particle-size
control sections.
Hazel and
Louisburg soils have coarse-loamy particle-size control sections, in addition Hazel soils have
bedrock at a depth of less than 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are in forest. The cleared areas are mostly used for hay and pasture. A small part is cultivated. Principal crops are corn and small grain. Native vegetation includes white, scarlet, red, chestnut and post oaks, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, pitch pine, dogwood and black gum.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Piedmont Plateau of Virginia.
The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Culpeper County, Virginia, 1943.
REMARKS: The type location has been changed to Albemarle County, Virginia to make maximum use of recent soils information and reflect present concepts of soil taxonomy.
10/2003 Added semiactive cation-exchange activity class based on associated soils. Previously revised by JBC-RLV-MHC.
03/2022 revision: Oi had 2 to 0 inch depths, corrected to be 0 to 2 in horizon depths then added 2 inches to all horizon depths throughout the typical pedon. WJN
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.