LOCATION CATASKA                 TN+GA NC VA

Established Series
MSH, BPS/ Rev. MDJ
11/2013

CATASKA SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic, shallow Typic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Cataska channery silt loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated.)

Oi--0 to 3 cm (0 to 1 inch); slightly decomposed forest litter of hardwood leaves and twigs.

A--3 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches); dark brown (10YR 3/3) channery silt loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium, and few coarse roots; 20 percent siltstone channers by volume; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 15 cm, 1 to 6 inches thick)

BA--5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery silt loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium, and few coarse roots; 30 percent siltstone channers by volume; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm, 0 to 5 inches thick)

Bw1--13 to 28 cm (5 to 11 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine, and many medium and coarse roots; common fine and medium pores; 45 percent siltstone channers by volume; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bw2--28 to 48 cm (11 to 19 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and coarse, and common medium roots; few fine pores; 50 percent siltstone channers by volume; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 20 to 41 cm, 8 to 16 inches)

Cr--48 to 58 cm (19 to 23 inches); fractured, weathered, multicolored siltstone; excavation difficulty is high with hand tools; few roots in cracks, cracks are more than 10 cm (4 inches) apart. (20 to 152 cm, 8 to 60 inches thick)

TYPE LOCATION:
County: Carter
State: Tennessee
USGS Quadrangle: Carter TN
Latitude: 36.4700000 N (NAD 27)
Longitude: 82.0561111 W (NAD 27)
Directions to the pedon: On Holston Mountain, 2,300 feet south and 18 degrees west of the intersection of Flint Mill Trail and Holston Mountain Trail

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness: 30 to 51 cm (12 to 20 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: 25 to 51 cm (10 to 20 inches) to weathered bedrock (paralithic); 51 to 122 cm or more (20 to 48 inches or more) to unweathered bedrock (lithic).
Depth Class: Shallow
Rock Fragment content: 15 to 45 percent, by volume, in the A horizon; 35 to 80 percent, by volume, in the Bw and C horizons.
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid, except where limed.
Content of Mica: none or few throughout.

Range of Individual Horizons:
A horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. Where value and chroma is 3 or less, surface horizons are less than 18 cm (7 inches) thick.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam.

E horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 6.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam.

BA, BE horizons (if they occur):
Color--hue 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 6.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam.

Bw horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam.

C horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam saprolite.
Non-redoximorphic mottles (if they occur)--shades of yellow, brown, or gray mottles of relic rock material are in some pedons.

Cr horizon:
Bedrock kind--weathered, low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as tilted siltstone, slate, phyllite, or metasandstone with small amounts of fine-earth within rock fractures.
Bedrock hardness--weakly to strongly cemented.
Fracture interval--greater than 10 cm (4 inches).
Excavation difficulty--moderate or high.

R horizon (if it occurs):
Bedrock kind--unweathered, hard, low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as tilted siltstone, slate, phyllite, or metasandstone with small amounts of fine-earth within the fractured rock.
Bedrock hardness--Very strongly cemented or indurated
Fracture interval--greater than 10 cm (4 inches)
Excavation difficulty--very high or extremely high

COMPETING SERIES:
Petros soils--formed in residuum from sedimentary rocks and associated fragments on the Cumberland Plateau physiographic province.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRA using this series: Southern Blue Ridge--130B.
Landscape: Low and intermediate mountains and occasionally intermountain hills.
Landform: Mountain slope, hillslopes, and ridges.
Geomorphic Component: Mountain top, mountain flank, and side slope.
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, and backslope.
Parent Material Origin: Low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as tilted siltstone, slate, phyllite, or metasandstone; fragments are channers, flagstones, or stones ranging up to 24 inches across.
Parent Material Kind: Residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper solum.
Slope: Typically 15 to 70 percent, but range from 5 to 95 percent.
Elevation: 366 to 1,463 meters; (1,200 to 4,800 feet)
Frost-free period: 130 to 210 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 8 to 14 degrees C (46 to 57 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1168 millimeters (46 inches) near the Type Location

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Brookshire soils -- occur in coves along sloping drainage ways, and on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans, have thicker, darker surface layers, and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Citico soils -- occur in coves along sloping drainage ways, and on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Cheoah soils -- occur on ridges and side slopes of cool, north to east facing aspects, formed in residuum, have thicker, darker surface layers, and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Ditney soils -- formed in residuum and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Jeffery soils -- occur on ridges and side slopes of cool, north to east facing aspects, formed in residuum, have thicker, darker surface layers, and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Maymead soils -- occur in coves along sloping drainage ways, and on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Northcove soils -- occur in coves along sloping drainage ways, and on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Santeetlah soils -- occur in coves along sloping drainage ways, and on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans, have thicker, darker surface layers and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Soco soils -- formed in residuum and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Spivey soils -- occur in coves along sloping drainage ways, and on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Stecoah soils -- formed in residuum and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.
Sylco soils-- formed in residuum and are deeper than 51 cm (20 inches) to bedrock.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class: Excessively drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep
Index Surface Runoff: Low runoff where forest litter has not been disturbed or only partially removed; medium or high runoff where litter has been removed.
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: High
Permeability Class (obsolete): Moderate rapid or rapid
Shrink-swell Class: Low
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland, rarely pasture and hayland
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--scarlet oak, chestnut oak, red maple, Virginia and pitch pine. Understory species are dominantly mountain laurel, sourwood, and buffalo nut. Where cleared--used for wildlife plantings.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Southern Blue Ridge Mountains (MLRA 130B) of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.
Extent: Large--more than 100,000 acres.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monroe County, Tennessee; 1974.

REMARKS:
The 3/99 revision updates classification to the 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The 4/00 revision represents the movement of the official type location from Monroe County, TN to Carter County, TN. 11/13 revision verifies classification --11th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy. Note-mineral surface layers typically 3-5 inches thick

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 13 cm, 0 to 5 inches (Oi, A, BA horizons)
b. Cambic horizon--the zone from 13 to 48 cm, 5 to 19 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
c. Paralithic contact--the occurrence of fractured, partially weathered bedrock at 48 cm (19 inches).

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Soil Characterization Data is available from the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL) website: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/querypage.aspx

SIR = TN0071; TN0133, stony

Revised: 1/04 MKC; 10/13-Semi tab format and minor changes to Range in Characteristics, MLRA 130B.
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.