LOCATION BOWMANTOWN TN

Established Series
NTH, JYM
06/2021

BOWMANTOWN SERIES

The Bowmantown series consists of nearly level to sloping, very deep, moderately well drained soils. They occur on base slopes and nose slopes, and on interfluve summits capped with alluvium (mostly remnants of dissected stream terraces) in the Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128). These soils formed in a layer of colluvial or alluvial sediments weathered from interbedded sedimentary rocks and the underlying limestone residuum. Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Aquic Paleudults

TYPICAL PEDON: Bowmantown silt loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes in a hay field. Colors are for moist soil.

Ap--0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine, fine, and common medium roots; 2 percent rounded quartzite gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.

AB--15 to 43 centimeters (6 to 17 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent rounded quartzite gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt1--43 to 64 centimeters (17 to 25 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; weak
medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine, fine, and medium roots; common fine pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--64 to 89 centimeters (25 to 35 inches); 60 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and 40 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; many medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions and common coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) iron accumulations in the matrix; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

2Bt3--89 to 128 centimeters (35 to 50 inches); yellowish red (5YR 5/6) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; common coarse prominent gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions and common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and red (2.5YR 4/6) iron accumulations in the matrix; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

2Bt4--128 to 200 centimeters (50 to 79 inches); red (2.5YR 5/6) silty clay; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine and medium pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; common coarse prominent gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions and many coarse prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) iron accumulations in the matrix; 5 percent subangular chert gravel; very strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Tennessee; the field in the northwest corner of the intersection of Matthews Mill Road and O.J. Campbell Road. Latitude: 36.2519444 degrees north; Longitude: 82.5788278 degrees west (WGS 1984).

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to limestone bedrock is more than 152 cm (60 inches). The content of chert or quartzite gravel typically ranges up to about 2 percent in all horizons, but a few pedons range up to 10 percent in the A, AB, and BA horizons, and to about 20 percent in subhorizons of the Bt and 2Bt horizons. The soil is very strongly acid to moderately acid, except the A, AB, and BA horizons range to neutral in areas where the soil has been limed. A seasonal high water table is present beginning at a depth between 30 and 75 cm (1 to 2.5 feet). Downward water movement is slowed across the contact between the transported layers and the underlying residual soil that has a higher clay content and slower permeability. This lithologic discontinuity typically occurs below about 75 cm (30 inches) but is higher in the soil profile in some areas.

The Ap or A horizon has a hue of 10YR; value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam or loam.

The AB or BA horizon, if present, have hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. The texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam. Few to common iron depletions occur in some pedons.

The Bt horizon has a hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. The texture of the fine-earth fraction is clay loam or silty clay loam. Redoximorphic features (iron depletions and iron accumulations) are present in shades of gray, brown, yellow, and red.

The 2Bt horizon has a hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. The texture of the fine-earth fraction is clay, silty clay, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Lithochromic mottles are present in some pedons in shades of red, brown, and yellow. Few to many iron depletions and/or iron accumulations are present in most pedons, especially in the upper part of the horizon. They are in shades of gray, brown, yellow, and red.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Izagora, Kullit, Quitman, and Wrightsboro series. Each of these soils formed in coastal plain sediments. Quitman and Wrightsboro soils are somewhat poorly drained.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bowmantown soils are on hillslopes in the Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128). They occupy foot slopes, base slopes, nose slopes, and interfluve summits capped with alluvium (mostly remnants of dissected stream terraces). Slopes range from 0 to 12 percent. Elevation ranges from 330 to 585 meters (1,100 to 2,000 feet). These soils formed in a layer of colluvial or alluvial sediments weathered from interbedded sedimentary rocks, and the underlying limestone residuum. Mean annual air temperature is 12.7 to 13.5 degrees C (54.9 to 56.3 degrees F), and mean annual precipitation is 1,041 to 1,168 mm (41 to 46 inches).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Collegedale, Dewey, and Dunmore soils are on adjacent higher-lying hillslopes. They are very deep, clayey, and well drained. The well drained Etowah soils occupy adjacent base slopes, foot slopes, or toe slopes. The well drained Greendale soils are in drainageways, typically lying just below the Bowmantown soils.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: These soils are moderately well drained. The saturated hydraulic conductivity class is moderately high and the permeability class (obsolete) is moderately slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: About 75 percent is in pasture, hay, or other grassland; about 10 percent is forested; about 13 percent is in residential or commercial development; and about 2 percent is in cropland or other uses. Cropped areas are in corn, soybeans, small grains, or tobacco. Forested areas consist of various oak species, yellow poplar, maple, sycamore, sweetgum, and various pine species.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128) in Tennessee and possibly Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County, Tennessee, 2021. Bowmantown is the name of a community in the central part of the county.

REMARKS: These soils were formerly mapped as the Pace series in older soil surveys of Washington and Greene Counties, TN. Pace is an inactive soil series for which interpretations have not been maintained. The Bowmantown series is product of field studies conducted on these soils over several years. The range in characteristics is based on field data from 88 representative pedons. Five representative pedons will be sampled and submitted to the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory for characterization.

Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon are:
Ochric Epipedon - zone from 0 to 43 cm (0 to 17 inches - A and AB horizons).
Argillic Horizon - zone from 43 to 200 cm (17 to 79 inches - Bt1 through 2Bt4 horizons).
Redoximorphic features - iron depletions and iron accumulations in the Bt1 through 2Bt4 horizons.
Lithologic discontinuity - at 89 cm (35 inches) where the alluvium contacts the underlying residuum.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.