LOCATION COVEGAP PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, subactive, mesic Typic Paleudults
Typical Pedon - Covegap cobbly sandy loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes, in a hay field on a toeslope, at an elevation of 685 feet. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap-- 0 to 12 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) cobbly sandy loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable, non sticky, non plastic; many very fine and fine roots throughout; 15 percent sandstone cobbles; 10 percent shale and sandstone channers; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
BE--12 to 15 inches; light brown (7.5YR 6/4) and pink (7.5YR 7/4) cobbly sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, non sticky, non plastic; common very fine and fine roots throughout; 15 percent sandstone cobbles; 10 percent shale and sandstone channers; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt1--15 to 22 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) cobbly loam; moderate and strong medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots throughout; few faint continuous clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent sandstone cobbles; 10 percent shale and sandstone channers; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--22 to 29 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) and light brown (7.5YR 6/4) very cobbly loam; moderate and strong medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots throughout; common distinct continuous clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent sandstone cobbles; 20 percent shale and sandstone channers; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--29 to 42 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and light brown (7.5YR 6/4); very cobbly sandy loam; moderate and strong coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, slightly plastic; very few very fine and fine roots throughout; few prominent black (7.5YR 2/0) patchy black stains on faces of peds, and many distinct continuous clay films; 20 percent sandstone cobbles; 20 percent shale and sandstone channers; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt4--42 to 76 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) and light brown (7.5YR 6/4); very cobbly sandy loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, non sticky, non plastic; very few very fine and fine roots throughout; few prominent black (7.5YR 2/0) patchy black stains on faces of peds, and few distinct continuous clay films; 25 percent sandstone cobbles; 20 percent shale and sandstone channers; very strongly acid; diffuse wavy boundary.
2Bt--76 to 90 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) cobbly silty clay loam; moderate and strong medium subangular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, slightly plastic; few prominent black (7.5YR 2/0) patchy black stains on faces of peds, and many distinct continuous clay films; 5 percent sandstone cobbles; 10 percent shale and sandstone channers; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Covegap cobbly sandy loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes, in Peters Township, Franklin County, 1 mile north east of Edenville, 0.5 mile northeast of the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 0016 and Pennsylvania Township Route T405, 300 feet north of T405; USGS Mercersburg topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 52 minutes 12 seconds N. and long. 77 degrees 55 minutes 40 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges greater than 60 inches. Depth to limestone bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to lithologic discontinuity is greater than 60 inches Content of clay in the control section is 12 to 25 percent. Rock fragments range from 15 to 40 percent in the surface and subsurface horizons, 15 to 60 percent in individual horizons of the upper subsoil, and 15 to 25 percent in the lower subsoil. Content of rock fragments in the control section is greater than 35 percent. Rock fragments are sandstone, chert, limestone, shale, and siltstone about 0.2 to 6 inches in diameter. In unlimed areas, soil reaction ranges from moderately acid to very strongly acid in the upper solum and very strongly acid in the lower solum.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium, granular. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BE horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium, subangular blocky. Consistence is friable.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is moderate or strong, fine to coarse, subangular blocky. Consistence is friable.
The 2Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. It is loam, clay loam, silt clay, or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is very weak, fine or medium, subangular blocky; or massive. Consistence is friable or firm.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no series that compete, Bouldin, Clarksville and Coulstone are siliceous. Poynor is siliceous and has a clayey substratum.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include Murrill, Dry Run, Clarksburg, Hagerstown, Opequon, and Carbo. All these soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments. In addition, colluvial, moderately well drained Clarksburg soils are on lower concave side slopes and in swales, Hagerstown, Carbo, and Opequon soils are clayey.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Covegap soils are on fan terraces of uplands near the major gaps of ridges of the Ridge and Valley Province. The soils are on convex to concave toeslopes and summits. The soils are formed in . Mean annual precipitation is 36 to 44 inches and the mean annual air temperature is 50 to 53 degrees. The number of frost-free days range from 120 to 196.
DRAINAGE AMD PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Surface runoff is slow to very rapid. Permeability is moderate in the upper solum and moderately slow to moderate in the lower solum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 35 percent of the Covegap soils are in pasture, 35 percent are in cropland or hayland, 10 percent are in orchards,and 20 percent are in woodland. Wooded areas are mixed hardwoods.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: Franklin County, Pennsylvania, 1995.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon- the zone form the surface to a
depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon- the zone from 15 to 90
inches (Bt)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Pedon S90-PA-755-021 has been partially characterized and data is available.