LOCATION BROWNSVILLE OH+KY WV
Established Series
Rev. RDJ-DJB-JRT
09/2020
BROWNSVILLE SERIES
The Brownsville series consists of deep and very deep, well drained soils formed in colluvium and residuum weathered from fractured siltstone and very fine-grained sandstone. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Slopes range from 2 to 70 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 991 mm, and mean annual temperature is about 11 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Brownsville channery silt loam - on 24 percent convex north-facing slope in woodland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 5 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) channery silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots, common medium roots, few coarse roots; 20 percent coarse fragments; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 13 cm thick)
E--5 to 15 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) channery silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate medium platy structure parting to moderate fine granular; friable; common fine roots, few medium and coarse roots; 20 percent coarse fragments; very strongly acid (pH 4.8); clear smooth boundary. (0 to 15 cm thick and in cultivated pedons the E horizon is commonly mixed in with the Ap horizon)
Bw1--15 to 48 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; 30 percent coarse fragments; strongly acid (pH 5.3); clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--48 to 76 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films lining old root channels; 45 percent coarse fragments; strongly acid (pH 5.2); clear smooth boundary.
Bw3--76 to 104 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint yellowish brown (10YR5/4) clay films lining old root channels; 55 percent coarse fragments; strongly acid (pH 5.2); clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 38 to 127 cm.)
C--104 to 130 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery silt loam; few fine prominent gray (N 6/) and distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; massive; friable; few fine roots; 40 percent coarse fragments; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 102 cm thick)
R--130 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fractured, hard siltstone bedrock with fractures spaced at 10 to 25 cm; material cannot be dug with a spade but can be chipped with a spud bar.
TYPE LOCATION: Licking County, Ohio; Hopewell Township; about 1440 yards south and 2970 yards east of the northwest corner of quarter township 2, T. 1 N., R. 10 W; USGS Hanover, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 0 minutes 42 seconds N. and long. 82 degrees 15 minutes 30 seconds W., WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 61 to 140 cm and depth to bedrock is 102 to 183 cm. Coarse fragments mainly are thin flat fragments of siltstone or very fine-grained sandstone less than 15 cm in length but range to 38 cm in length. Fragments range from 5 to 35 percent in the A horizon, from 15 to 85 percent in subhorizons of the B horizon, and from 25 to 90 percent in the C horizon. (Coarse fragments greater than 75mm range from 5 to 40 percent by weight in the B horizon and 15 to 60 percent by weight in the C horizon.) Bedrock is commonly fractured siltstone or very fine-grained sandstone with many voids about 10 to 25 cm apart.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 5 (4 to 7 dry), and chroma of 1 to 4. The A or Ap horizon is silt loam, channery silt loam, or very channery silt loam. It is slightly acid to extremely acid.
The E or EB horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam, channery silt loam, or very channery silt loam. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 3 to 6. It is channery, very channery, extremely channery, flaggy, very flaggy, or extremely flaggy analogues of silt loam or loam with about 8 to 18 percent clay and less than 40 percent sand. Thin subhorizons of sandy loam, silty clay loam, and their channery analogues are present in some pedons. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y; value of 4 to 6; and chroma of 4 to 6. It is channery, very channery, extremely channery, flaggy, very flaggy, or extremely flaggy analogues of silt loam, or loam. It is moderately acid to extremely acid.
COMPETING SERIES: Competing series in MLRA 124 and nearby MLRAs include the
Berks,
Blasdell,
Brownstown,
Calvin,
Chiswell,
Highsplint,
Matewan,
Peaks,
Sylco, and
Wyoming series. Berks, Brownstown, Calvin, Matewan, Peaks, and Sylco soils have a lithic or paralithic contact at depths of 51 to 102 cm. Blasdell soils have coarse fragments dominated by shale. Chiswell soils have a paralithic contact at depths of less than 51 cm. Highsplint soils have greater than 18 percent clay in the control section. Wyoming soils contain more than 50 percent coarser than very fine sand and contain rounded fragments from differing lithologies.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Brownsville soils are on summits, shoulders and backslopes. Slopes have gradients of 2 to 70 percent. The soils formed in colluvium and residuum from thinly bedded and fractured acid siltstone and very fine-grained sandstone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 864 to 1118 mm, and mean annual temperature ranges from about 9 to 13 degrees C.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Dekalb,
Latham,
Rarden,
Shelocta, and
Rigley soils. Dekalb, Latham, Rarden, and Rigley soils are in similar landscape positions. Dekalb soils have sandstone bedrock at 51 to 102 cm. Latham and Rarden soils have clay shale and seasonal wetness at 51 to 102 cm and Rarden soils have hue of 5YR or redder. Rigley soils have an argillic horizon and are coarse-loamy. Shelocta soils are on colluvial footslopes.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained.
Index of surface runoff is very low to medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Brownsville soils are mostly in woodland or pasture. Woodland consists of mixed oak, hickory, ash, and Virginia pine. A few areas are cultivated. Principle crops are corn and soybeans. Native vegetation is mixed hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern and east central Ohio, West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky. Mainly MLRA 124 but extends into MLRAs 111A, 111E, 114A,121, 126, 127, 139. The series is of large extent with approximately 324,000 acres mapped to date.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jackson County, Ohio, 1981.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon --the zone from 0 to 15 cm (A and E horizons)
Cambic horizon--the zone from 5 to 104 cm (E and Bw horizons)
Lithic contact at 130 cm (top of R horizon)
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 130 cm
This revision updates the type location to WGS84 datum, updates the competing series and associated soils sections, and converts measurements to metric. Characterization information has been updated in the additional data section.
Previous revision dates: 01/2001-AR, RJP, DRM
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory for the following Lab Sample Numbers: LC-027 (User Pedon ID 1978-OH089-027, the typical pedon), HO-016 (User Pedon ID 1963OH073016), JK-006 (User Pedon ID YYYY-OH079-006), SC-007 (User Pedon ID 1980-OH145-007), 90KY-135-002 (User Pedon ID 90KY-135-002).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.