LOCATION CHRISTIAN KY+TN VAEstablished Series
The Christian series consists of deep and very deep, well-drained soils formed in residuum from interbedded limestone, sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent. Near the type location, the average annual precipitation is 48.4 inches and the average annual temperature is 53 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Christian gravelly silt loam, on an 8 percent slope in a pasture. (Colors are for moist unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine roots; 16 percent angular fragments of chert; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
Btl--6 to 15 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/8) gravelly silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very fine roots; few distinct continuous yellowish red (5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent angular fragments of chert; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--15 to 26 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly clay; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky and moderately plastic; few very fine roots; common distinct continuous reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent fragments of chert; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--26 to 38 inches; 34 percent red (2.5YR 4/6), 33 percent yellowish red (5YR 4/6), and 33 percent reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8) gravelly clay; moderate fine and medium subangular and angular blocky structure; very firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many prominent continuous reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) and reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 25 percent fragments of chert; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt4--38 to 50 inches; dark red (10R 3/6) gravelly clay; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium angular blocky structure; very firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many prominent continuous reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 26 percent fragments of chert; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt5--50 to 63 inches; dark red (10R 3/6) clay; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium and fine angular blocky structure; very firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many prominent continuous reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent fragments of chert; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt6--63 to 72 inches; 34 percent dark red (10R 3/6), 33 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), and 33 percent light reddish brown (2.5YR 7/4) clay; weak medium and coarse subangular and angular blocky structure, with some medium platy structure in the lower part; very firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many prominent continuous reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent fragments of chert less than 8 inches in size and few weathered remanants of siltstone that crushes to loamy material, extremely acid. (Combined thickness of the Bt Horizons is 50 to 100 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Allen County, Kentucky; 1.44 miles northwest of Butlersville, 2.11 miles northwest of the intersection of KY Highway 1332 and Trammel Road, 0.9 mile north of the intersection Trammel Road and Stone Road, 153 feet east of Stone Road in pasture. USGS Allen Springs Quadrangle (latitude: 36 degrees, 47 minutes, 43.9 seconds N; longitude: 86 degrees, 19 minutes, 52.5 seconds W)
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 40 to more than 80 inches. Chert, sandstone fragments and channers or pebbles range from 0 to 50 percent in the A horizon and from 0 to 35 percent in the B and C horizon. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to extremely acid.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR; value of 4 or 5; and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is a silt loam, silty clay loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or clay loam.
Where present, the BA horizon has colors and textures transitional of the A and B horizons.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR, 2.5YR, or 10R, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 4 through 8. Mottles in shades of brown or yellow range from none to common. Some pedons can have a thin upper subhorizon with hue of 7.5YR. Some pedons have subhorizons which consist of a mixture of colors in shades of red, brown, and yellow. Texture is silty clay loam, sandy clay, clay loam, silty clay, or clay. In pedons greater than 60 inches to bedrock, the percent clay decreases by more than 20 percent of its maximum within a depth of 60 inches.
When present the BC or C horizon are similar in color and texture to the Bt horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Boden, Braddock, Buffstat, Clifton, Clover, Groseclose, Howell, Muse, Sequoia, Totier, and Unison series. Boden soils are shallower to bedrock and contain less than 20 percent silt. Braddock, Clifton, Groseclose, and Muse soils have a thinner solum. Howell soils have dominant hues of 2.5Y or 5Y in the lower Bt horizons. Sequoia soils are less than 40 inches to bedrock. Unison soils contain coarse fragments of granodiorite or greenstone. Buffstat and Clover soils formed in Triassic Basin sediments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Christian soils are on upland ridgetops and hillsides. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent. The soils formed in residuum of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, shale, and limestone origin. Near the type location, the average annual temperature is 53 degrees F, and the average annual precipitation is 48.4 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Baxter, Frederick, Caneyville, Crider, Frankstown, Pricetown, and Trimble series. Baxter soils have more than 35 percent base saturation. Frederick soils commonly have a deeper solum and are in similar landscape positions. Caneyville soils are less than 40 inches to bedrock. Crider and Pricetown soils are fine-silty. In addition, Crider soils have more than 35 percent base saturation. Frankstown soils are fine-loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; with medium to high runoff; and permeability ranges from moderately slow to very slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas on lesser slopes are cleared. Crops normally grown are corn, tobacco, small grain, hay, or pasture. Most of the steeper areas are in forest and less commonly, pasture. Forest consists of red, white, and black oaks, hickory, pines, dogwood, and red cedar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia. It is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Christian County, Kentucky, 1912.
REMARKS: Christian soils having mixed mineralogy were mapped Frederick soils in the past. Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 6 inches (Ap)
Argillic horizon: 6 to 72 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, Bt4, Bt5, Bt6)
ADDITIONAL DATA: 4 reference samples on earlier samples (S54KY-1-10, 11, 12, & 13) from Adair County, Kentucky confirmed the mineralogy as mixed rather than kaolinitic. Based on data the classification is changed to mixed. Characterization data for this pedon is S82KY-003-002. Additional pedon sampled is S82KY-003-001 (NSSL).