LOCATION CRAIGSVILLE VA+KY NC PA TN WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Fluventic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Craigsville cobbly sandy loam - forested area in George Washington National Forest. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; fresh and partially decomposed leaves, pine needles, and twigs,extremely acid.
Ap--2 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) cobbly sandy loam; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 35 percent cobbles and gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--7 to 23 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; common fine and medium roots; 45 percent gravel and cobbles; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--23 to 30 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; 35 percent gravel and cobbles; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 15 to 36 inches.)
2C--30 to 67 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) extremely gravelly loamy sand; massive; very friable; few roots; 65 percent gravel and cobbles; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Augusta County, Virginia; 60 yards west of intersection of U. S. Forest Service Roads 95 and 96; 20 yards south of Road 96, 5 miles northwest of West Augusta Post Office.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Average content of rock fragments ranges from 5 to 60 percent in the A horizon and 35 to 70 percent in the B and C horizons. These consist of gravel and cobbles. A lithologic discontinuity is not present in all pedons. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid, unless limed.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 1OYR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sandy loam to silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The B horizon has hue of 5YR to 1OYR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6. It is loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6. It is loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand in the fine-earth fraction.
The C or 2C horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. They are loamy sand or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Thin unconforming horizons may have less than 15 percent gravel or cobbles.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other known series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Craigsville soils are nearly level to gently sloping soils on first bottoms along the major streams and their tributaries. Slope gradients are commonly 1 to 3 percent and range from 0 to 5 percent. Craigsville soils formed in alluvium washed from sandy and gravelly upland soils that weathered from acid sandstone and quartzite. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 56 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 46 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Allegheny, Berks, Laidig, and Rushtown soils. Allegheny soils have an argillic horizon and are on stream terraces. Berks soils are on uplands and are less than 40 inches deep to fractured shale bedrock. Laidig soils have a fragipan. Rushtown soils are silty and contain many fine shale fragments.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained to somewhat excessively drained; The potential for surface runoff is neglegible to very low. Permeability is moderately rapid or rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: More than one-half of these soils are in forest and the remainder is used for growing pasture and crops. Crops are mixed hay, small grain, and corn. Native vegetation is yellow-poplar, white pine, northern red oak, and white oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia and West Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Augusta County, Virginia, 1976.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 2 to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 7 to 30 inches (Bw horizon).
c. Fluventic feature - organic carbon decreases irregularly with depth.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Mechanical analysis by hydrometer method (U.S. Forest Service, Profile No. 241) and chemical analysis (V.P.I. Soil Testing Laboratory, Profile No. 241) available for samples from typical pedon.
SIR = VA0072, VA0265 (GRAVELLY)
MLRA = 125, 127, 128, 147
REVISED =1/23/92, MHC