LOCATION BELVOIR VA
Established Series
Rev. JBC,NAM, MHC
03/2022
BELVOIR SERIES
Soils of the Belvoir series are very deep and somewhat poorly drained. They formed in colluvial and residual material weathered from crystalline rocks. Permeability is moderate above the fragipan and slow in the fragipan layer. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 52 degrees F and mean annual precipitation is about 40 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Belvoir loam - forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; partially decomposed leaves, twigs and other organic material.
A--2 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
E--6 to 14 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt--14 to 21 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) loam; few fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly plastic and slightly sticky; common fine and medium roots; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 16 inches thick)
Btx--21 to 30 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy loam; few fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak thick platy; firm and brittle; medium patchy clay films on vertical faces of peds and thin very patchy clay films on horizontal faces of peds; 10 percent quartz pebbles up to 10 mm in diameter; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 24 inches thick)
B't1--30 to 36 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay loam; few medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate coarse angular blocky structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; friable, sticky and plastic; thin patchy clay films and vertical and horizontal faces of peds; 2 percent gravel up to 1 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
B't2--36 to 47 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) clay loam; common medium distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate coarse angular blocky structure parting to weak fine subangular blocky; friable, sticky and plastic; thin very patchy clay films on faces of peds; 2 percent gravel up to 1 inch in diameter; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon below the fragipan is 10 to 30 inches)
C1--47 to 67 inches; light gray (10YR 7/2) and reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) clay loam; massive; firm, sticky and plastic; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C2--67 to 74 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) clay loam; many medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; massive; firm, nonsticky slightly plastic; very strongly acid. (Thickness of the C horizon is more than 20 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Albemarle County, Virginia; 9 miles NNW of Charlottesville. About 3/4 mile west of the junction of VA-609 and VA-665, 100 yards south of VA-609.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum is 30 to 60 inches thick. Depth to bedrock is more than 80 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 16 to 30 inches. Content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the solum and from 0 to 30 percent in the substratum. In some pedons a discontinuity between the colluvium and residuum is evident. Reaction of the solum is very strongly acid or strongly acid unless limed.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 6. It is loam, silt loam or sandy loam.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6 and chroma of 2 through 6. It is loam, silt loam or sandy loam.
The Bt and B't horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. There are mottles with high and low chroma. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam or loam.
The Btx horizon has colors similar to those in the Bt horizon. There are mottles with high and low chroma in most pedons. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam or loam.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 7, and chroma of 1 through 8. There are mottles with high and low chroma in most pedons. It is commonly loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam but the range includes clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Buchanan,
Calverton,
Cookport,
Ernest,
Glenville,
Kedron, and
Raritan series in the same family and the
Califon,
Colfax and
Trego series in associated families. Buchanan, Cookport, and Ernest soils contain sandstone and shale rock fragments. Calverton soils have a silty clay loam Bt horizon. Glenville soils are silt loam, channery loam or channery silty clay loam in the layer above the fragipan. Kedron soils have Btl horizons redder than 5YR or redder. Raritan soils contain water rounded gravel. Califon soils do not have low chroma mottles in the upper part of the argillic horizon. Colfax soils are in a thermic family and Trego soils have fragipans that are redder than 7.5YR.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Belvoir soils are on nearly level and gently sloping upland depressions and footslopes and along intermittent drainageways. Slopes are dominantly concave. Gradients are typically less than 4 percent but the range includes up to 8 percent. These soils developed in colluvial and residual material weathered from crystalline rocks. The mean annual precipitation ranges from about 38 to 44 inches and the mean annual temperature ranges from about 50 degrees to 59 degrees centigrade.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Braddock,
Chester,
Meadowville,
Thurmont and
Worsham soils. These soils do not have a fragipan.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained; medium to slow runoff; slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Used mainly for pasture and forest. A small acreage is used for cultivated crops. Native vegetation includes pin oak, white oak, willow oak, hickory, sweetgum, loblolly pine and virginia pine and an understory of greenbriars, huckleberry, grasses and reeds.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Principally in the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley Provinces of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fauquier County, Virginia, 1949.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Ochric epipedon - zone from 0to 14 inches (A and E horizons). Argillic horizon - zone from 14 to 47 inches (Bt, Btx, and B't horizons).
Fragipan - zone from 19 to 28 inches (Btx horizon)
SIR = VA0063
MLRA = 128, 130, 126, 136
REVISED = 3/29/91
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
The 12/2005 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). The CEC activity class placement is based on similar soils and not on laboratory data. Class placement may be revised in the future when laboratory data are reviewed or become available.
Competing series, pedon description (including horizon nomenclature and/or descriptive terms), and other sections on the OSD were not revised.
Previous revision dates: 4/91
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.