LOCATION CATEACHE WV+MD VA
Established Series
JWB, ABJ/Rev. MDJ
03/2015
CATEACHE SERIES
MLRA(s): 127 (Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains)
Depth Class: Moderately deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Landscape: Mountains and hills
Parent Material: Residuum weathered mainly from red inter-bedded siltstone and shale
Slope: 3 to 80 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 11.7 degrees C. (53.1 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 959 mm (37.8 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Cateache channery silt loam on a south-facing, convex 74 percent slope in a forested area. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 9 cm (0 to 3 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) channery silt loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common very fine roots to very coarse roots throughout; 2 percent extremely firm siltstone flagstones and 20 percent extremely firm siltstone channers; very strongly acid; pH 4.8; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 13 cm thick)
Bt1--9 to 21 cm (3 to 8 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/3) very channery silty clay loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine to very coarse roots throughout; 4 percent faint clay films on all faces of peds; 2 percent extremely firm siltstone flagstones and 36 percent extremely firm siltstone channers; very strongly acid, pH 4.9; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--21 to 53 cm (8 to 21 inches); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) channery silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine to medium roots throughout; 10 percent faint clay films on all faces of peds; 2 percent extremely firm siltstone flagstones and 30 percent extremely firm siltstone channers; strongly acid, pH 5.1; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--53 to 75 cm (21 to 29 inches); dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots throughout; 30 percent distinct clay films on all faces of peds; 10 percent extremely firm siltstone channers; moderately acid, pH 5.7; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt4--75 to 92 cm (29 to 36 inches); dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) channery silty clay; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots throughout; 20 percent faint clay films on all faces of peds; 10 percent extremely firm siltstone flagstones and 11 percent extremely firm siltstone channers; moderately acid, pH 5.8; abrupt broken boundary.(Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 30 to 89 cm)
Cr--92 cm (36 inches); extremely firm; dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3) highly weathered and fractured siltstone; moderately strongly cemented; moderate excavation difficulty.
TYPE LOCATION: Summers County, WV; about 1,000 feet north of Lick Creek and 4.5 miles south-east of the intersection of County Route 4 and Interstate Highway 64 at Green Sulphur Springs. USGS Meadow Bridge, West Virginia topographic quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 46 minutes 48.00 seconds N. and longitude 80 degrees 45 minutes 44.00 seconds W. NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Argillic horizon: 3 to 30 cm (1 to 12 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 46 to 102 cm (18 to 40 inches)
Solum Thickness: 46 to 102 cm (18 to 40 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Rock Fragments: Rock fragments are dominantly highly weathered channers and flagstones of reddish brown siltstone, but also include shale and fine-grained sandstone. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 25 percent by volume in the A and BA horizons, from 10 to 50 percent in the Bt horizon, and from 35 to 80 percent in the BC and C horizons. Rock fragment content averages 15 to 35 percent by volume in the particle size control section.
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid through moderately acid, except where limed
Range in Individual Horizons:
O horizon (if it occurs): Slightly to high decomposed organic matter derived from hardwood leaf litter. Forested pedons often have an O horizon that is up to 10 cm (4 inches) thick.
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 2 through 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, silty clay loam
BA horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, silty clay loam
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 through 6.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay.
Clay content: the weighted average in the particle size control section is less than 35 percent
Structure: Weak or moderate; fine, medium, or coarse subangular blocky.
BC horizon (if it occurs): Has color and textures similar to the Bt horizon.
C horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 2.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay
COMPETING SERIES:
Oatlands soils--contain gravel and cobbles of Triassic-Jurassic age sandstone and conglomerate
Spriggs soils--are weathered from mafic rock, contain mica flakes and gravels of gneiss or schist
The following competing series are greater than 102 cm (40 inches) to bedrock--
Alanthus,
Athol,
Burkittsville,
Door,
Duffield,
Dumfries,
Ebbing,
Grayford,
Hayter,
Lamotte,
Legore,
Manassas,
Mechanicsburg,
Middleburg,
Morrison,
Myersville,
Panorama,
Sowego,
Sudley,
Westmoreland,
Wheeling, Williamsburg
The following competing series have hue of 7.5YR or yellower in the solum--
Culleoka,
Frondorf,
Kell, Loudonville
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Mountains and hills
Landform: Ridge, mountain slope, hillslope
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, backslope
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve, side slope, nose slope
Parent Material: Residuum weathered mostly from red inter-bedded shale and siltstone of the Mississippian geologic system. In West Virginia, this includes members of the Mauch Chunk Group and the Maccrady Formation.
Slope: 0 to 80 percent
Elevation: 336 to 1098 meters (1100 to 3600 feet)
Frost-free period: 140 to 184 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 9 to 12 degrees C. (49 to 53 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 991 to 1321 mm (39 to 52 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Belmont soils--are more than 102 cm (40 inches) deep to bedrock.
Berks soils--have hue of 7.5YR or yellower and belong to the loamy-skeletal particle size class.
Dekalb soils--have hue of 7.5YR or yellower and belong to the loamy-skeletal particle size class.
Gauley soils--have a spodic horizon, a frigid temperature class and are found at higher elevations on the mountain landscape.
Mandy soils--belong to the loamy-skeletal particle size class, have a frigid temperature class and are found at higher elevations on the mountain landscape.
Pipestem soils--are more than 102 cm (40 inches) deep to bedrock and are found on footslopes and concave mountain coves.
Shouns soils--are more than 102 cm (40 inches) deep to bedrock and are found on footslopes.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Absent
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Low to high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Permeability Class: Moderate
Shrink-swell Potential: Moderate
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Mostly forested; some areas have been cleared and are used for pasture.
Dominant Vegetation: Northern hardwoods consisting of American beech, black birch, yellow birch, sugar maple, black cherry, white ash, northern red oak, and black locust.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: West Virginia and possibly Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Extent: Large extent with estimated acreage exceeding 350,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pocahontas County, WV, 1988.
REMARKS: Cateache soils were previously mapped as members of the Teas series (inactive) or as a high base substratum phase of the Calvin series.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 9 cm (A horizon)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 9 to 92 cm (Bt horizons)
Other soil features identified with this pedon:
Base saturation (by sum of cations)--58 percent at paralithic contact (92 cm).
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 117 cm
The 04/2010 revision moves the Type Location and the Typical Pedon from Pocahontas County, WV to Summers County, WV based on analysis of lab data collected in 2003. The OSD format is changed and metric units are added. The range of fine-earth textures for the Bt, BC, and C horizons is expanded to include SIC.
Previous revisions: DGF-ART 06/2001
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data from the NSSL is available for this pedon: Pedon ID: 04N0131. Other valuable reference pedons available from the NSSL (http://ssldata.nrcs.usda.gov/querypage.asp): 40A4027, 04N0126, 04N0130, 04N0122, 04N0123.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.