LOCATION BETHESDA                OH+IL IN KY MO PA TN VA WV

Established Series
DJB-SLH/Rev. MDJ
12/2012

BETHESDA SERIES

Updated format; changed horizonation from Cd to C; location verified to NAD83; corrected saturated hydraulic conductivity for reclaimed and unreclaimed local phases; updated USE AND VEGETATION and REMARKS sections

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, acid, mesic Typic Udorthents

TYPICAL PEDON: Bethesda channery silty clay loam, on a 4 percent slope in grass. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Ap--0 to 13 cm (0 to 5 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) channery silty clay loam; weak coarse granular structure; friable; few roots; 15 percent fragments of shale and 10 percent fragments of sandstone; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 18 cm thick)

C1--13 to 51 cm (5 to 20 inches); variegated, 80 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and 20 percent brown (10YR 4/3) very channery silty clay loam; massive; firm; few roots; 25 percent fragments of shale and 15 percent fragments of sandstone; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary.

C2--51 to 152 cm (20 to 60 inches); variegated, 70 percent brown (10YR 4/3) and 30 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery clay loam; massive; very firm; 30 percent fragments of shale and 15 percent fragments of sandstone; extremely acid. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is 152 cm or more.)

TYPE LOCATION:
State: Ohio
County: Belmont
USGS Topographic Quadrangle: Fairview, OH
Latitude: 40.081472 N NAD 83
Longitude: 81.201556 W NAD 83
Directions to Pedon: Belmont County, Ohio; Kirkwood Township, about 1.25 miles southeast of Sewellsville, about 2,250 feet west and 100 feet south of the northeast corner, sec. 27, T. 9 N., R. 6 W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 cm (60 inches)
Depth Class: Very Deep
Rock Fragment Content: The A horizon ranges from 15 to 60 percent, by volume, where unreclaimed and up to 14 percent where reclaimed. The C horizon ranges from 35 to 80 percent, by volume, averaging 45 percent.
Rock Fragment Size: 2 mm to 25 cm, but can include stones and boulders
Rock Fragment Type: Shale, sandstone, siltstone and coal
Fine-Earth Fraction: Averages 18 to 35 percent clay in the control section
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid through strongly acid, except where limed

Range of Individual Horizons:
A or Ap horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 8, or is neutral with value of 3 through 5
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silty clay loam, clay loam, silt loam or loam

C horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 8, or is neutral with value of 3 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silty clay loam, clay loam, silt loam or loam

COMPETING SERIES:
Cedarcreek soils allow textures of silt loam, loam and sandy loam in the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRAs: 113 (Central Claypan Areas), 114 (Southern Illinois and Indiana Thin Loess and Till Plain), 115 (Central Mississippi Valley Wooded Slopes), 124 (Western Allegheny Plateau), 125 (Cumberland Plateau and Mountains) and 126 (Central Allegheny Plateau)
Landscape: Hills and mountains
Landform: Hillslope and mountain
Anthropogenic Features: Surface mine, spoil bank, spoil pile and reclaimed land
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, backslope, footslope and toeslope
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve, side slope, head slope, nose slope, free face, base slope, mountaintop, mountainflank and mountainbase
Parent Material: Coal extraction mine spoil derived from regolith of shale, sandstone and siltstone
Slope: 0 to 90 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 9 to 13 degrees C. (48 to 56 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 890 to 1143 mm (35 to 45 inches)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Fairpoint soils--occur on similar landscape positions derived from nonacid surface mine overburden
Berks soils--formed in residuum from shale, siltstone and fine-grained sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Coshocton soils--formed in residuum from shale, siltstone, sandstone and limestone on undisturbed uplands
Culleoka soils--formed in residuum from shale, siltstone, limestone and sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Dekalb soils--formed in residuum from sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Gilpin soils--formed in residuum from shale, siltstone and sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Guernsey soils--formed in residuum from siltstone, shale and limestone on undisturbed uplands
Lowell soils--formed in residuum from limestone and shale on undisturbed uplands
Westmoreland soils--formed in residuum from siltstone, sandstone and limestone on undisturbed uplands
Rigley soils--formed in colluvium from sandstone and siltstone on undisturbed uplands

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: None
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Very high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low through moderately high in the upper part, and very low through moderately high in the lower part
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Wildlife habitat and recreational areas. The rough topography and coarse fragment content of unreclaimed areas make it impractical for agriculture and difficult for standard forest harvesting practices. Some reclaimed areas are used for hay or pasture, and increasingly, are also used for homesites. Reclaimed areas typically exhibit higher bulk densities, much lower saturated hydraulic conductivities and low organic matter in the surface horizon, making establishment of vegetation difficult.
Dominant Vegetation: Unreclaimed areas are naturally seeded deciduous forests with some barren areas. Reclaimed areas are usually open grassland, including some legumes. A few reclaimed areas have been planted to trees, but mortality is high because of soil compaction.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia
Extent: Large, about 683,000 acres identified at the time of this revision

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Belmont County, Ohio, 1978

REMARKS: Bethesda soils were previously mapped as a variety of strip mine spoil and udorthents units.

Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 13 cm (Ap horizon)
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 200 cm

The 8/2001 revision included numerous changes to most parts of the OSD, including updating to the 8th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards.
The 6/2006 revision updated this series to the 9th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards. Several other changes were made including changes to the COMPETING SERIES and GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS sections.

Previous revisions: 6/88-PCJ,TNR,DRM; 8/01-PCJ,CER,LER; 6/06-LER,ELM,DHK;
4/09-PCJ,LER,ELM
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to pedon BT-14 for characterization data on the typical pedon, sample numbers 22988-22989, from Belmont County, Ohio; analyzed by The Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio.
Additional characterization data are available for pedons BT-15, BT-16, JF-8, JF-10, and VT-1.
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.