LOCATION BLAIRTON           PA+KY OH VA WV
Established Series
Rev. MEC-JRT-RRD
05/2003

BLAIRTON SERIES


The Blairton series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly and moderately well drained soils on uplands. They formed in materials weathered from gray shale. They are on upland flats, depressions, and in drainage heads. Slopes range from 0 to 35 percent. Permeability is moderately slow. Average annual precipitation is 41 inches and the mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Blairton silt loam, cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 9 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; 5 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)

Bt1--9 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--14 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silty clay loam; moderate medium blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; many medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) redoximorphic depletions and many medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 20 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 14 to 23 inches.)

BCg--26 to 34 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) very channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation and many medium distinct gray (N 5/0) redoximorphic depletions; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few dark coatings on faces of peds; 40 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

Cg--34 to 38 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) extremely channery loam; massive; firm; many coarse distinct gray (N 6/0) redoximorphic depletions and many coarse distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) soft masses of iron accumulation; 90 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

R--38 inches; noncalcareous shale bedrock.

TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, Pennsylvania; Saint Thomas Township, 1 mile southeast of Saint Thomas along route T460.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock range from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments are primarily shale, but some are sandstone and siltstone. They range from 0 to 30 percent in the A horizon, from 0 to 50 percent in individual horizons of the Bt, and from 15 to 90 percent in the BC and C horizons. Unlimed reaction ranges from extremely acid to very strongly acid.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Fine-earth texture is loam or silt loam.

The Bt horizons have hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. Mottles with chroma of 2 or less are in one or more horizons of the B horizon between depths of 12 to 30 inches.

The BC and C horizons have hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. Texture is silt loam, loam, or in some places silty clay loam or silty clay in the fine-earth fraction.

COMPETING SERIES: Adelphia, Bigpool, Holmdel, Kensington, Trackler, Wharton, Whiteside, and Woodstown series in the same family. Adelphia, Bigpool, Holmdel, Whiteside and Woodstown soils are very deep to bedrock. Kensington and Trackler soils are deep to bedrock. Wharton soils are deep and very deep to bedrock. A lithic contact does not occur in any of these soils within 40 inches of the surface.

Cotaco, Delanco, Dillard, and Tuscarawas soils are in related families. Cotaco, Delanco, and Tuscarawas soils do not have bedrock within 40 inches. The Dillard soils have mica in the series control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Blairton soils are nearly level to moderately steep soils on upland flats, depressions, and in drainage heads. Slope gradients are dominantly between 2 and 8 percent but range from 0 to 35 percent. The soils formed in residuum weathered from noncalcareous gray shale and some sandstone. Climate is humid and temperate; mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 46 inches; mean annual temperature ranges from 50 to 55 degrees F.; the growing season ranges from 150 to 190 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Bedington, Berks, Brinkerton, Comly, Markes, and Weikert soils are on nearby landscapes. Bedington, Berks, and Weikert soils are well drained. Brinkerton and Comly soils have fragipans. Markes soils have dominant chroma of 2 or less in the Bt horizon.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly to moderately well drained. Runoff is medium to very rapid. Permeability is moderately slow in B horizon and moderate to moderately slow in the C horizon.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Blairton soils are cleared and in cropland or pasture. Woodlands are mixed hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Eastern Panhandle Soil Conservation District, West Virginia, 1940.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 26 inches (Bt horizon).
3. Redoximorphic depletions at 14 inches.
4. Lithic contact at 38 inches.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.