LOCATION BRIERY WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, nonacid, frigid Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Briery very channery silt loam, very stony - on a 4 percent southwest-facing slope, at 3,860 feet elevation, in an area revegetated with crownvetch, bird's-foot trefoil and orchard grass. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very channery silt loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine, fine and medium roots; 45 percent channers and stones (50 percent siltstone, 40 percent shale); moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
C1--2 to 21 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) very channery silt loam; common distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and prominent gray (10YR 5/1) lithochromic mottles; massive; friable; few fine and medium roots; 55 percent channers and stones (50 percent siltstone, 40 percent shale); neutral; gradual irregular boundary.
C2--21 to 65 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) extremely channery silty clay loam; massive; friable; few very fine and fine roots; 75 percent stones and channers (50 percent siltstone, 40 percent shale); mildly alkaline. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is 60 inches or more.)
TYPE LOCATION: Pocahontas County, West Virginia. Approximately 4.5 miles southwest of Sharp Knob on Gauley Mountain.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock is greater than 5 feet. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to mildly alkaline. Fragments of rock range from 15 to 85 percent throughout the profile, but average 35 percent or more in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are siltstone, shale, sandstone and coal and the percentage of each is less than 65 percent of the total rock fragments in the control section. Rock fragments are dominantly channers but stones and a few boulders are included. Clay content in the control section ranges from 18 to 35 percent. Some pedons have red or yellow lithochromic mottles in the C horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 3. The fine earth material is silt loam or loam.
The C horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. The fine earth material is silt loam, silty clay loam or loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Fairpoint, Fiveblock, Kaymine, and Myra soils are in related families. All these soils are mesic. Fairpoint soils have moderately slow permeability. Fiveblock soils contain less than 18 percent clay in the control section, are somewhat excessively drained, and sandstone is more than 65 percent of the total rock fragments. Myra soils are calcareous and have dominant rock fragments that are Pennsylvanian calcareous and noncalcareous shale, siltstone, and small amounts of fine to coarse grained sandstone and coal.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Briery soils are on nearly level to gently sloping benches, gently sloping to strongly sloping hillslopes and steep to very steep outslopes at elevations of 3,500 to 5,000 feet above sea level. These soils formed in regolith from surface coal mine operations. The regolith is a mixture of partially weathered fine earth and fragments of bedrock. Some of the fine earth material is from fragments of bedrock that have been crushed by machinery and weathered. Dominant rock fragments are neutral siltstone and shale with small amounts of sandstone and coal. Slopes range from 0 to 80 percent. The climate is humid continental with long winter snow cover. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 60 inches and is evenly distributed throughout the year. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 47 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gauley, Mandy, Simoda, and Trussel series. All these soils are on undisturbed uplands. Gauley soils have a spodic horizon and Mandy soils have a cambic horizon and both soils are formed in residumm. Simoda soils are moderately well drained, have a fragipan and are formed in residuum. Trussel soils are poorly drained, have a fragipan and are formed in colluvium.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Briery soils are well drained; runoff is slow to medium on bench slopes and rapid to very rapid on outslopes and hillslopes; permeability is moderate or moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Land use emphasis is on reclamation of surface mined lands. Vegetation consists of legumes, grasses, red pine, Scotch pine, and other plants commonly used in surface mine reclamation. Some nearly level areas have been used for the production of hay crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia and possibly Pennsylvania. The acreage is small.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: Pocahontas County, West Virginia, 1986. The name is from a knob in the area.
REMARKS: In West Virginia, these soils have resulted from the strip mining of coal from the Kanawha and New River groups of the Pottsville Formation. These soils in adjacent counties were mapped as Strip Mine Spoils, Udorthents mudstone and shale low base and Udorthents mudstone and shale high base.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 2 inches (A horizon).
b. The percentage of any one rock type is less than 65 percent of the total rock fragments in the particle-size control section. (10 to 40 inches C1, C2 horizons)