LOCATION CRUSO NC
Established Series
TPH, DJT, MLS
09/2016
CRUSO SERIES
Physiographic Province: Southern Blue Ridge
Landscape: Mountains
Landform: Coves, depressions, and drainage ways
Depth Class: Very deep
Drainage Class: Poorly drained and very poorly drained
Permeability: Rapid
Parent Material: Colluvium and local alluvium from high-grade metamorphic rocks Slope: 2 to 15 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 55 degrees F
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 60 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, isotic, mesic Humic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Cruso cobbly loamy sand, from a map unit of Cullasaja-Tuckasegee complex, 8 to 15 percent slopes, very stony, on a 10 percent slope in a mountain cove depression, at an elevation of 3400 feet--forest. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) cobbly loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and coarse roots; 5 percent gravel, 7 percent cobbles, 2 percent stones by volume; common, fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Thickness of the A horizon is 7 to 10 inches.)
Bg--7 to 15 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) very cobbly loamy sand; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; common, medium, distinct very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) organic stains on faces of peds; common, medium, distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) iron accumulations in the matrix; 38 percent gravel and 20 percent cobbles by volume; common, fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear wavy, boundary. (Thickness of the Bg horizon is 12 to 20 inches.)
Cg1--15 to 20 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) extremely cobbly loamy sand; massive; very friable; common, medium, faint gray (7.5YR 5/1) iron depletions in root channels; 28 percent gravel, 50 percent cobbles, and 15 percent boulders by volume; common, fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; abrupt boundary.
Cg2--20 to 61 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) extremely cobbly sand; massive; very friable; common, medium, faint gray (7.5YR 5/1) iron depletions in root channels; 20 percent gravel, 50 percent cobbles, and 15 percent boulders by volume; common, fine flakes of mica; strongly acid. (Thickness of the Cg horizon is greater than 36 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Haywood County, North Carolina; HWY 276 south of Cruso 4.75 mile to F.S. trail on west side of road, go .25 mile. Cruso USGS Topographic Quadrangle: Latitude 35 degrees 21 minutes, 46.20 seconds N.; Longitude 82 degrees 49 minutes 8.30 seconds W., NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: 15 to 30 inches.
Depth to bedrock: Greater than 72 inches.
Content of mica flakes: Common throughout
Reaction range: Strongly acid to very strongly acid
The A horizon has hue of 7.5 to 10YR, value of 2-3, and chroma 1-2. Dry value is less than 5.
Texture-loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, and loamy sand in the fine earth fraction.
Rock fragments-gravels, cobbles, stones, and boulders range from 5 to 60 percent by volume.
The Bg horizon is mottled with hue of 7.5 to 10YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 1-8.
Texture-sandy loam and loamy sand in the fine earth fraction.
Rock fragments-gravels, cobbles, stones, and boulders range from 50 to 70 percent by volume.
The Cg horizon is mottled with hue of 7.5 to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 2. Texture-loamy sand and sand in the fine earth fraction.
Rock fragments-gravels, cobbles, stones, and boulders range from 50 to 70 percent by volume.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Physiographic Province: Southern Blue Ridge
Landscape: Mountains
Landform: Coves, depressions, and drainage ways
Parent Material: Colluvium and local alluvium from high-grade metamorphic rocks such as mica gneiss, granite gneiss, and hornblende gneiss
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 55 degrees F
Mean Annual Precipitation: 60 inches
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Evard soils--well drained, fine-loamy, very deep to paralithic contact, on summits and steep side slopes
Cleveland soils--well drained, loamy, shallow to a lithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Leatherwood soils--well drained, fine, very deep to a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Plott soils--well drained, fine-loamy, very deep to a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Trimont soils--well drained, fine-loamy, very deep to a paralithic contact, on and side slopes
Cowee soils--well drained, fine-loamy, moderately deep to a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Tuckasegee soils--well drained, fine-loamy, very deep, formed in colluvial material, on in coves and along drainageways
Chestnut soils--well drained, coarse-loamy, moderately deep a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Cullasaja soils--well drained, loamy-skeletal, very deep, formed in colluvial material, on in coves and along drainage ways
Chandler soils-micaceous, are well drained, coarse-loamy, deep to a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Fannin soils-micaceous, are well drained, fine-loamy, deep to a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
Lauada soils-micaceous, are well drained, fine-loamy, moderately deep to a paralithic contact, on summits and side slopes
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage Class: Poorly drained and very poorly drained
Index of Surface Runoff: Very low
Permeability: Rapid above the high water table
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity ( Ksat): Rapid
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: Woodland, recreation, wildlife habitat
Overstory vegetation: Cove hardwoods including yellow poplar, white oak, northern red oak, yellow buckeye, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, basswood, white pine, black cherry, and black locust.
Understory vegetation: Poison ivy, buffalo nut, cinnamon fern, ironwood, New York fern, Christmas fern, basswood, red maple, Japanese grass, Frazer magnolia, arrowhead, and wood sorrel.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130B) of North Carolina and possibly Georgia and Virginia. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: Haywood County, North Carolina, 2006. The name is taken from the Cruso topographic quadrangle and nearby community.
REMARKS: Cruso soils are mapped in complex with Cullasaja and Tuckasegee soils. Cullasaja and Tuckasegee soils are loamy-skeletal. However, because Cruso is developed closer to stream channels it is sandy-skeletal and usually has greater number of and larger surface fragments. Seeps and springs are common. Most areas of Cruso soils are too small to delineate as a consociation map unit. These areas represent unique habitat for certain aquatic species.
Although Cruso soils may exhibit some of the characteristics of andic soil properties, they lack the volcanic glass found in soils of similar taxa in the Western United States.
2016 Update was to change the status to Established.
Diagnostic horizons:
Humic Epipedon - 0 to 7 inches (A horizon)
Cambic Horizon - 7 to 15 inches (Bg horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE for the following pedon S03NC-087-001.
MLRA = 130B
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.