LOCATION BEECH GROVE VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, superactive, nonacid, mesic Lithic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Beech Grove on a south facing slope in a forest at an elevation of 1,320 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated)
Oi--1 to 0 inch; slightly decomposed hardwood leaf litter. (0 to 2 inches thick)
A--0 to 3 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common medium and many fine and very fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 8 inches thick)
R-- 3 inches; gray limestone bedrock
TYPE LOCATION: Lee County, Virginia; 225 feet north of County Route 679 at a point 0.9 miles east of the intersection of County Route 833 and County Route 679. U.S.G.S. Back Valley topographic quadrangle; Latitude 36 degrees, 36 minutes, 39 seconds N and Longitude 83 degrees, 15 minutes, 41 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock ranges from 1 to 8 inches. The content of rock fragments, dominantly limestone, ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume. Reaction is slightly acid to moderately alkaline throughout. Some pedons effervesce.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4 and chroma of 2 or 4. It is silt loam or loam.
The bedrock is dominantly gray calcareous limestone, but some pedons contain chert or thin layers of shale.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Galoo soils are in a related family and may become a competitor when it is updated to the ninth edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy. Galoo soils are formed in glacial till and have a B horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Beech Grove soils formed in residuum from limestone bedrock but may contain chert or thin layers of shale, and are on upland in the Appalachian Ridges and Valleys. The soil is on bedrock controlled landforms that contain areas of exposed bedrock rising 1 to 5 feet above the ground and extremely steep escarpments adjacent to streams. Slope gradients range from 3 to 100 percent but are commonly 3 to 25 percent. Climate is humid continental. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 47 to 57 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 54 inches, and frost free days range from 130 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Caneyville, Frederick, Opequon, Poyner and Timberville soils. Caneyville and Opequon soil are on similar topographic positions and have lithic contacts at depths greater than 10 inches. Frederick and Poyner soils are more than 60 inches deep to bedrock. Timberville soils are lower on the landscape and are more than 60 inches deep to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff potential is low to high. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mostly forested or in unimproved pasture. Forested areas consist mainly of red cedar, northern red oak, chestnut oak and sugar maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 128,147. In the limestone valley of southwest Virginia. The soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lee County, Virginia, 1991.
REMARKS: This series is used to cover areas that were previously considered very shallow inclusions in the Opequon series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 3 inches (A horizon).
2. Lithic feature - hard limestone bedrock at 3 inches (R horizon).