LOCATION BLAND VA+TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Bland silty clay loam - in a pasture (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 4 inches; reddish gray (5YR 5/2) silty clay loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; 2 percent shale and limestone channers; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 6 inches thick)
BE--4 to 7 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silty clay; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; common fine tubular pores; 2 percent shale and limestone channers; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
Bt1--7 to 18 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silty clay; strong coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, slightly firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--18 to 30 inches; weak red (2.5YR 4/2) silty clay; strong medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, sticky, plastic; few fine roots; common fine tubular pores; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; few medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) streaks and soft masses of highly weathered argillaceous limestone; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bt is 14 to 30 inches)
C--30 to 36 inches; dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) channery clay; massive; hard, firm, sticky, slightly plastic; 30 percent slightly weathered dusky red and dark reddish brown argillaceous limestone channers that can be broken with fingers; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
R--36 inches; hard dusky red argillaceous limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Tazewell County, Virginia; 1.5 miles south southeast of intersection of U.S. 460 and VA-16, 500 yards northwest of intersection of VA-16 and VA-604. 37 degrees, 04', 49" north latitude, 81 degrees, 33',09" west longitude..
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral and increases with depth. Shale and limestone rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent in the solum and up to 50 percent in the C horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 5YR, value of 3 through 5 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is less than 7 inches thick if the moist color value is less than 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR, value of 3 through 5 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The BE or BA horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. Mottles or streaks of higher value and chroma are allowed in the lower part. It is silty clay or clay with 45 to 60 percent clay and 4 to 8 percent sand.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 3 through 5 and chroma of 2 through 4, and may have mottles or streaks in shades of brown and black. It is silt loam through clay in the fine earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Beasley, Bledsoe, Bonnell, Brashear, Bratton, Briggsville, Bucklick, Caneyville, Chrome, Donahue, Eden, Edenton, Elba, Eldean, Estate, Faywood, Fredonia, Gunlock, Hagerstown, Heitt, Jessup, Kewaunee, Lamoille, Lewisburg, Lowell, Markland, Medary, Milton, Newnata, Ozaukee, Paintcreek, Shrouts, Solway, Upshur, Vandalia, Woodsfield, and Wynn. Beasley, Bledsoe, Bonnell, Brashear, Bratton, Briggsville, Bucklick, Elba, Eldean, Estate, Gunlock, Heitt, Hagerstown, Jessup, Kewaunee, Lamoille, Lewisburg, Lowell, Markland, Medary, Newnata, Ozaukee, Shrouts, Upshur, Vandalia, Woodsfield, and Wynn soils are deeper than 40 inches to bedrock. Caneyville and Fredonia soils have chroma of 4 through 6 in the Bt horizon. Chrome soils have 7.5YR or lOYR hue in the Bt horizon and coarse fragments of serpentine. Donahue soils have a lithologic discontinuity within the series control section. Eden soils have 7.5YR through 5Y hue in the Bt horizon and a paralithic contact between 20 and 40 inches. Edenton soils have lOYR through 5Y hue in the Bt horizon and a paralithic contact between 20 and 40 inches. Faywood soils have hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y in the Bt horizon. Milton soils have rounded rock fragments of glacial erratics.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bland soils are in sloping to very steep uplands. Slopes range from 2 to 50 percent. These soils formed in materials weathered from purplish red argillaceous limestone. Rock outcrops are common on most areas. These soils are very erosive and characterized by a type of erosion locally called "slip erosion" where fairly large areas of soil slide downhill exposing the bare rock. Mean annual air temperature ranges between 50 and 57 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges between 38 and 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:: These are the competing Caneyville soils and the Westmoreland soils. Westmoreland soils have a fine-loamy particle-size control section and less than 60 percent base saturation.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderately slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Chiefly used for growing pasture; small areas are in forest. The smoother, less rocky areas are used for growing crops such as corn, small grain, clover, and alfalfa. Native vegetation is deciduous hardwoods and eastern red cedar. DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and West Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Russell County, Virginia; 1940.
REMARKS: The type location of the typifying pedon is in the limestone valley portion of the Appalachian Valley. Chemical and physical data for samples from typifying pedon available (VPI Soil Testing Laboratory). Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric Epipedon - from 0 to 4 inches.
b. Argillic Horizon - Between 7 and 30 inches
MLRA=128
SIR=VA0020
REVISED=12/2/94, MHC