LOCATION BRANCHVILLE INEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Branchville channery loam on a 23 percent slope in a woodland at an elevation of about 168 meters (550 feet) above MSL. (Colors are for moist conditions unless stated otherwise.)
A--0 to 7.5 cm (0 to 3 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) channery loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 20 percent sandstone channers; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. [5 to 30 cm (2 to 12 inches) thick]
BA--7.5 to 58 cm (3 to 23 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) extremely flaggy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine to coarse roots; 65 percent sandstone rock fragments (50 percent flagstones, 10 percent stones, and 5 percent channers); moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. [12.5 to 64 cm (5 to 25 inches) thick]
Bt1--58 to 74 cm (23 to 29 inches); pale brown (10YR 6/3) very channery clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; many distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay films on faces of peds; many medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; common black (10YR 2/1) iron-manganese concretions; 50 percent sandstone channers; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. [10 to 46 cm (4 to 18 inches) thick]
2Bt2--74 to 96 cm (29 to 38 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many prominent light gray (10YR 7/1) clay films on faces of peds; many medium prominent light gray (10YR 7/1) iron depletions in the matrix; many medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; 7 percent sandstone channers (2 percent is 3/4 to 3 inch); very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. [12.5 to 61 cm (5 to 24 inches) thick]
2Btg1--96 to 119 cm (38 to 47 inches); gray (10YR 6/1) clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct gray (10YR 6/1) clay films on faces of peds; many medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; 2 percent sandstone channers; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
2Btg2--119 to 140 cm (47 to 55 inches); gray (10YR 6/1) silty clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct gray (10YR 6/1) clay films on faces of peds; many medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in the matrix; 1 percent sandstone channers; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the 2Btg horizon is 25 to 102 cm (10 to 40 inches).}
2CBg--140 to 203 cm (55 to 80 inches); gray (10YR 6/1) extremely parachannery silty clay; strong fine platy structure; firm; few fine roots; 70 percent shale fragments (parachanners); slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Perry County, Indiana; about 2 miles northeast of Branchville; 1,820 feet east and 700 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 7, T. 4 S., R. 1 W; USGS Branchville, IN topographic quadrangle: lat. 38 degrees 11 minutes 20.5 seconds N and long. 86 degrees 33 minutes 55.9 seconds W; UTM Zone 16, 538048 easting and 4226879 northing, NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Thickness of colluvium: 50 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: more than 203 cm (80 inches)
Depth to a paralithic contact: more than 203 cm (80 inches)
A horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 1 to 3
Texture: channery loam; averages 15 to 26 percent clay, 32 to 48 percent sand, and 15 to 34 percent sandstone rock fragments, mainly channers and includes flagstones
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid
BA horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 3 or 4
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: channery, very channery, extremely channery, or flaggy, very flaggy, and extremely flaggy analogues of loam or sandy loam; averages 15 to 26 percent clay, 30 to 60 percent sand, and 15 to 80 percent sandstone rock fragments, mainly channers and flagstones and includes some stones
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid
Bt or Btg horizons:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 5 or 6
Chroma: 3 to 6
Texture: channery, very channery, flaggy and very flaggy analogues of clay loam or sandy clay loam; averages 25 to 35 percent clay, 25 to 60 percent sand and 15 to 60 percent sandstone rock fragments, channers and flagstones
Reaction: strongly acid to slightly acid
2Bt or 2Btg horizons:
Hue: 5YR to 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 7
Chroma: 1 to 6
Texture: clay or silty clay; averages 40 to 65 percent clay and 2 to 20 percent sand
Pararock (shale) fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Rock (sandstone channers) fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to neutral
2CBg or 2BC horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 5 to 7
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: very parachannery or extremely parachannery analogues of clay or silty clay; averages 40 to 65 percent clay and 2 to 20 percent sand
Pararock (shale) fragment content: 35 to 80 percent
Rock (sandstone channers) fragment content: 0 to 10 percent
Reaction: slightly acid to slightly alkaline
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Cardinal, Celina, Eudy, Hartville, Jerktail, Licking, Loudon, Tarlton and Whippany. Cardinal soils are less than 203 cm (80 inches) to the base of the argillic horizon and formed in glaciolacustrine sediments. Celina soils are moderately deep to dense till and formed in thin loess and the underlying loamy till of high-lime content. Eudy soils formed in loess and the underlying clayey residuum from cherty dolostone and are moderately deep to dolostone bedrock. Hartville soils average less than 15 percent rock fragments in the upper part of the series control section and formed in colluvium and alluvium derived from limestone and shale. Jerktail soils have bedrock at depths of less than 203 cm (80 inches) and formed in colluvium and residuum from dolostone. Licking soils are less than 203 cm (80 inches) to the base of the argillic horizon and formed in lacustrine sediments. Loudon soils have a paralithic contact at depths of 102 to 203 cm (40 to 80 inches) and formed in thin loess, till and residuum from shale and limestone. Tarlton soils are less than 106 cm (42 inches) to bedrock and formed in till and residuum. Whippany soils are less than 203 cm (80 inches) to the base of the argillic horizon and formed in sediments derived from shale, basalt and granite.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Branchville soils are on benches below sandstone and siltstone bedrock outcrops. Slopes typically are from 20 to 25 percent and range to 30 percent. They formed in 50 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches) of colluvium from sandstone and siltstone, and the underlying residuum from shale bedrock (Mississippian age). Mean annual temperature ranges from 11 to 14 degrees C (52 to 57 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 1016 to 1168 mm (40 to 46 inches). Frost-free days range from 170 to 200. Elevation ranges from 105.2 to 305 meters (345 to 1000 feet) above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Adyeville, Deuchars, Ebal, Jubin, Kitterman, and Tipsaw soils. The somewhat excessively drained, moderately deep Adyeville and Tipsaw soils are the upper part of backslopes. The very deep, moderately well drained Deuchars soils, the deep or very deep, moderately well drained Ebal soils and the moderately well drained, moderately deep Kitterman soils are either on higher lying shoulder and backslopes, or on lower lying footslopes. The well drained, very deep Jubin soils formed in more than 80 inches of colluvium and typically are on more sloping areas in a complex with the Branchville soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high (4.23 to 14.11 micrometers/s) in the upper part of the solum and moderately low or moderately high (0.42 to 1.41 micrometers/s) in the lower part. Permeability is moderate (0.6 to 2 inches per hour) in the upper part of the solum and slow (0.06 to 0.2 inches per hour) in the lower part. The potential for surface water runoff is high. Depth to an intermittent, perched high water table is at 61 to 91 cm (2.0 to 3.0 feet) from December through April in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for woodland and wildlife areas. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Indiana. The acreage is of small extent in the west part of MLRA 120B in Indiana.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Perry County, Indiana, 1997. The source of the name is a small town in Perry County.
REMARKS: Diagnostic surface and subsurface horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1) Ochric epipedon- the zone from 0 to 58 cm (0 to 23 inches)-(A, BA horizons);
2) Argillic horizon- the zone from 58 to 140 cm (23 to 55 inches)-(2Bt1, 3Bt2, 3Btg horizons);
3) Redoximorphic features from 58 to 203 cm (23 to 80 inches)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Data for the typical pedon S92IN-123-001 is at the NSSL, Lincoln, NE.