LOCATION BELLAMY            TN
Established Series
Rev. NTH:DLN:RPS
03/1999

BELLAMY SERIES


The Bellamy series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in a mantle of loamy colluvium and alluvium. They are on stream terraces in the Ridge and Valley portion of the Southern Appalachians. They have some properties of a fragipan beginning at a depth of about two feet. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Fragiaquic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Bellamy loam--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil)

Ap--O to 5 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

A--5 to 10 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons ranges from 6 to 10 inches)

Bw--10 to 19 inches thick; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine roots; many fine and common medium tubular pores; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)

Btx--19 to 32 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) loam; coarse faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2)mottles; few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure; firm; few very fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores; few faint clay films on prisims; 40 to 60 percent of the volume is brittle; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 36 inches thick)

Bt1--32 to 41 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) clay loam; common fine faint light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), common coarse faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and many fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8)mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 5 percent rounded gravel and quartz crystals up to 1/2 inch across; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt2--41 to 54 inches; mottled, light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), gray (10YR 6/1), and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on ped faces and in pores; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons ranges from 10 to 24 inches)

BC--54 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy clay loam; common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and common fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; massive; friable; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

TYPE LOCATION: Sullivan County, Tennessee. From intersection of Highway 93 and Murrill Road, go 600 feet north, 30 degrees west. Latitude: 36 degrees, 26 minutes, 40 seconds north. Longitude: 82 degrees, 37 minutes, 15 seconds west.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 48 to greater than 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Rock fragments, mostly small rounded pebbles, range from 0 to 5 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid except the surface layer is less acid where limed.

The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loam or silt loam.

The BA horizon, where present, and the Bw horizon have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is loam or silt loam.

The Btx and Bt horizons have hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles in shades of gray, brown and red range from few to common. Texture is clay loam, or loam.

The BC horizon has the same colors as the Btx and Bt horizons, or is mottled in shades of gray, brown and red. Texture is sandy clay loam, or clay loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Columbus, Eunola, Mazaran, Mollicy, Pelion, Slagle, Whitwell and Yauhannah series in the same family. All of these soils lack properties of a fragipan in the subsoil.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bellamy soils are on nearly level to sloping stream terraces and foot slopes with relatively broad flats and short side slopes. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent. These soils formed in a mantle of silty colluvium and the underlying older mixed alluvium. Mean annual air temperature is 62 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 44 inches near the type location.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the tentative, Bays, Bloomingdale, Pettyjon, and Steadman series. Bays soils, on shale uplands, are well drained and are less than 20 inches deep to shale bedrock. Bloomingdale soils, on flood plains, are poorly drained. Pettyjon soils, on flood plains, are well drained. Steadman soils, on low terraces, are well drained.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability in the upper and lower part of the profile and moderately slow permeability in the fragic layer.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are cleared. Pasture and hay are the main crops, but a few areas are in row crops. The native vegetation is upland oaks.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Appalachian Ridges and Valleys of Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, Tennessee; 1991.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 10 inches. (Ap, A horizons)

Fragic layer - from 19 to 32 inches. (Btx horizon)

Argillic horizon - from 19 to 54 inches. (Btx, Bt1, Bt2 horizons)

These soils were formerly included in the Monongahela and Leadvale series.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data - Characterization of the type location by the National Soil Survey Laboratory. Pedon No. 87P0140


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.