LOCATION BARFIELD TN+AL GAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, vermiculitic, thermic Lithic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Barfield silty clay loam--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; common small brown and black concretions; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--6 to 8 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silty clay; common medium faint dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) mottles; moderate fine and medium angular and subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common fine and medium brown and black concretions; few small fragments of chert; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--8 to 12 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) clay; common fine and medium prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) and olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) mottles; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) on faces of cracks and filling old root channels; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common small dark brown and black concretions; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Thickness of the Bw horizon ranges from 3 to 12 inches)
BC--12 to 16 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) channery clay; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and common fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) mottles; weak medium angular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots; common small and medium reddish brown and black concretions; 20 percent thin fragments of limestone 2 to 8 inches across; mildly alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
C--16 to 18 inches; mottled olive brown (2.5Y 4/4), dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2), and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery clay; 25 percent thin fragments of limestone 2 to 8 inches across; massive; very firm; common small and medium reddish brown and black concretions; mildly alkaline. (0 to 5 inches thick)
R--18 inches; limestone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Rutherford County, Tennessee; 1/2 mile north of Floraton between Murray Branch and road on Fred Arnold's farm.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to limestone bedrock ranges from 8 to 20 inches. Reaction in each horizon ranges from slightly acid through mildly alkaline. Channers and flagstones of limestone range from 0 to about 20 percent in the A horizon and from 3 to about 35 percent in the B and C horizons. The mollic epipedon is 7 inches or more in thickness.
The A and Bw horizons have hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. In some pedons the lower part of the Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y value of 4 and chroma of 3 or 4. The texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The BC and C horizons, where present, have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Mottles are in shades of brown, olive, and yellow. Some pedons have gray mottles just above bedrock. The texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
COMPETING SERIES: Barfield is the only series in this family. Soils in closely associated families are the Ashwood, Fairmount, and Gladeville series. Ashwood soils are deeper than 20 inches to bedrock and have an argillic horizon. Fairmount soils are mesic. Gladeville soils are clayey-skeletal and less than 12 inches deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Barfield soils are on nearly level to very steep uplands. Slopes range from 1 to about 70 percent. The soil formed in limestone residuum. At the type location the mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 49 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Ashwood and Gladeville series and the Colbert, Mimosa, and Talbott series all of which have argillic horizons and are more than 20 inches deep to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained to excessively drained; medium to very rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: About 50 percent has been cleared of original hardwood trees consisting chiefly of oak, hickory, red cedar, elm, maple, and redbud. Most of the cleared areas are used for pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Nashville Basin and Southern Appalachian ridges and Valleys in Tennessee, Sand Mountain in Alabama, and possibly the Pennyroyal in Kentucky. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rutherford County, Tennessee; 1974.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 12 inches (Ap, Bw1, Bw2 horizons)
Cambic horizon - 6 to 12 inches (Bw1, Bw2 horizons)