LOCATION CADES              TN+NC
Established Series
ARK-HCD
10/2007

CADES SERIES


The Cades series consists of very deep, well drained soils on old stream terraces and alluvial fans in the lower coves in the Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130B). They formed in alluvium derived from materals weathered from metasedimentary rocks such as phylite and metasandstone. Slope ranges from 2 to 8 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: In a map unit of Cades silt loam 2 to 8 percent slope. (pasture)

A--0 to 4 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR4/4) silt loam, weak fine granular and moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and very fine roots; 12 percent by volume fragments up to 1 inch across; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)

BA--4 to 10 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR4/6) silty clay loam, moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and very fine roots; 12 percent by volume fragments up to 1 inch across; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt--10 to 27 inches; strong brown (7.5YR4/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium to very course subangular blocky structure; friable; few clay films on ped faces; few fine and very fine roots; 10 percent by volume rock fragments which are mainly channers; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 14 to 36 inches)

2C--27 to 72 inches; strong brown (7.5YR5/8) extremely channery sandy clay loam; massive; 75 percent by volume fragments up to 7 inches across; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Blount County, Tennessee; Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Cades Cove; 2000 feet west of the the entry gate of the Cades Cove Loop Road, 400 feet north of road in pasture field; USGS Cades Cove topographic quadrangle; latitude 35 degrees, 36 minutes, 26.49 seconds, North; longitude 83 degrees, 47 minutes, 5.53 seconds, West, NAD27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock is greater than 72 inches. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to strongly acid. Rock fragments range from 0 to 25 percent above the lithologic discontinuity and 35 to greater than 80 percent below the discontinuity. The depth to the lithologic discontinuity ranges from 24 to 48 inches. Average rock fragment content in the particle-size control section is less than 35 percent. They range from channers to flagstones with size increasing with depth.

The A horizon has a hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam or loam in the fine earth fraction.

The BA horizon, where present, has a hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam, loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction.

The Bt horizon has a hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6 to 8. Texture is loam, silty clay loam or clay loam in the fine earth fraction.

The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 7.5YR, value 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 to 8. Texture is loam, silty clay loam or sandy clay loam in the fine earth fraction.

The 2C horizon has colors similar to the BC. Texture is loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam and clay loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Allegheny, Allenwood, Chetwynd, Drapermill, Frankstown, Gilpin, Gilwood, Glenelg, Leck Kill, Lonon, Murrill, Queponco (T), Reybold, Rhodhiss, Tate, Ungers, and Whiteford series. Allegheny soils are on lower stream terraces and do not have a discontinuity. Allenwood soils formed in till derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale and contain fragments of those rocks. Chetwynd soils formed in loamy outwash sediments and underlying sandy outwash capped by loess. Drapermill, Gilpin, and Gilwood soils formed in residuum and have a lithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Frankstown, Leck Kill, Rhodhiss, Ungers, and Whiteford soils formed in residuum and do not have a discontinuity. Glenelg soils formed in residuum weathered from micaceous schist and contain fragments of those rocks. Lonon soils are on higher colluvial remnants, have redder Bt horizons, and lack a discontinuity. Murrill soils formed in colluvium from acid sandstone and shales and contain fragments of those rocks. Queponco soils formed in loamy fluvial and eolian deposits underlain by sandy and loamy fluvial and marine (fluviomarine) deposits at 15 to 40 inches. Reybold soils formed in silty eolian deposits underlain by sandy and loamy fluviomarine sediments at 12 to 30 inches. Tate soils formed in colluvium and alluvium from high grade metamorphic rocks and contain fragments of those rocks.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cades soils are on gently sloping stream terraces and alluvial fans in lower coves in the Blue Ridge (MLRA 130). Slope ranges from 2 to 8 percent. Elevation ranges from 1400 to 3000 feet. Cades soils are formed from alluvium weathered from metasedimentary rocks such as phyllite and metasandstone. Mean annual temperature 53 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 67 inches near the type location

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Allegheny and Lonon series, these are the Dellwood, Junaluska, Smokemont, Soco, Stecoah, and Tsali soils. Dellwood, and Smokemont soils are on adjacent floodplains and are in a loamy-skeletal particle-size class. Junaluska, Soco, Stecoah, and Tsali soils are on adjacent residual side slopes. Junaluska and Soco soils have paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Stecoah soils have paralithic contact at depths of 40 to 60 inches. Tsali soils have paralithic contact at less than 20 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is low. Permeability is moderate.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most of this soil is cleared and used as pasture and hayland. Originally, all areas of this soil were forested.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130B) in Tennessee and North Carolina. This series is of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2007

REMARKS:

Revisions made 9/07(HCD) adjusted OSD to reflect Lab Data.

Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this soil are:

Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 10 inches (A and BA horizons)

Argillic horizon - the zone from 10 to 27 inches (Bt horizon)

Lithologic discontinuity - abrupt change in particle-size distribution at 27 inches

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data from the National Soil Survey Laboratory: S00TN-009-006; S00TN-009-007.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.