LOCATION ANNABERG VI+PREstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, isohyperthermic Lithic Haplustolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Annaberg gravelly loam. (Colors for moist conditions unless otherwise noted.)
A1--0 to 5 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots, few coarse roots; about 35 percent, by volume, pebbles; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
A2--5 to 10 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very gravelly loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 50 percent, by volume, pebbles; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
R--10 to 60 inches; 50 percent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) and 50 percent yellow (10YR 7/8) unweathered, fine-grained, volcanic bedrock. The rock is weathered and has a few fine roots in the upper 4 to 8 inches.
TYPE LOCATION: Representative profile of Annaberg gravelly loam, in an area of Annaberg-Maho Bay Complex, 40 to 60 percent slopes, extremely stony; St. John Island, Leinster Bay, 0.1 mile southwest of the hill top ruins (about 0.2 mile from Leinster Point), or 0.1 mile northwest of the Leinster Bay Cemetery, 75 feet north of the Johnny Horn Trail, on a steep southwestern aspect.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the lithic contact ranges from 6 to 15 inches. The mollic epipedon is 6 to 16 inches thick. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the A horizon, and from very strongly acid to slightly alkaline in the Bw and Cr horizons.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loam or clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. Content of pebbles and cobbles range from 10 to more than 60 percent, by volume.
The Bw horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is loam, clay loam, or their gravelly to extremely gravelly analogs.
The R horizon is unweathered very strongly cemented to indurated igneous bedrock. The rock is weathered and fractured in the upper 0 to 8 inches in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in the same family. Similar soils in related families include the Caguabo, Cramer, Descalabrado, Fredriksdal and Southgate series. The Cramer, Descalabrado, and Fredriksdal soils average more than 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section. In addition, Fredriksdal soils have vermiculitic mineralogy. The Caguabo and Southgate soils do not have a dark surface horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Annaberg soils are on summits and side slopes of volcanic hills and mountains. They formed in material weathered from igneous bedrock. Slopes range from 12 to 90 percent. The climate is tropical semiarid. The average annual air temperature ranges from 76 to 82 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 40 inches
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the similar Cramer and Fredriksdal soils, these include the Jealousy, Maho Bay, Parasol and Victory soils. Jealousy soils have clayey, smectitic particle-size control sections and are moderately deep to bedrock. Maho Bay soils have loamy horizons and are shallow to bedrock. Parasol soils are very deep to intrusive bedrock. Victory soils are moderately deep to bedrock and do not have the dark surface horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Annaberg soils are in pasture. Rangeland areas are in native grasses and shrubs. Some areas are used for residential and commercial development.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. They are not extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: St. John Island, USVI, 1995.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon:
Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 10 inches (A horizons).
Skeletal feature - more than 35 percent weighted average rock fragments in the particle-size control section.
Paralithic contact - weathered, highly fragmented, igneous bedrock at 10 inches.
Lithic contact - unweathered igneous bedrock at 13 inches.
MLRA = 271
SIR = VI0001
This series is related to the Tutu and associated geologic formations.