LOCATION CRUZE OH+KYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Cruze silt loam - on a 20 percent slope on a bench in an area of Shelocta-Cruze silt loams that has reverted to woodland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and few large roots; 3 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
BA--9 to 13 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; 3 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--13 to 17 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; common fine distinct light grayish brown (10YR 6/2) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; many distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--17 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; common medium distinct light grayish brown (10YR 6/2) and few fine distinct (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt3--24 to 35 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silty clay; common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate fine subangular blocky; firm; few medium roots; many distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films on vertical faces of peds; 10 percent sandstone fragments; extremely acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt4--35 to 45 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay loam; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and fine subangular blocky; firm; very few fine roots; common distinct brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; 12 percent sandstone fragments; extremely acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 15 to 38 inches.)
BC--45 to 53 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and brown (10YR 5/3) silty clay; many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6 and 5/8) mottles; weak very coarse subangular blocky structure with platy rock structure still visible in ped interiors; firm; very few fine roots; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 16 inches thick)
Cr--53 to 80 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) weathered soft clay shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Hocking County, Ohio; Greene Township; 2000 feet east and 100 feet south of the northwest corner of sec. 36, T. 13 N., R. 16 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 36 to 60 inches. Depth to soft bedrock ranges from 48 to 80 inches. Rock fragments, mostly flat fragments of sandstone and siltstone less than 6 inches in length, vary considerably and range from 0 to 15 percent by volume in the A horizon and 0 to 35 percent in individual horizon of the Bt and BC horizons (and C horizons, where present).
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5 (6 or 7 dry), and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. It is medium acid to extremely acid. Some pedons have a thin A horizon and an E horizon.
The upper part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 3 to 6, and mottles are of high and low chroma, (low chroma is within the upper 24 inches). It is silty clay loam or silty clay. The lower part of the Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay, or their channery or shaly analogues. The Bt horizon is strongly acid to extremely acid throughout.
The BC horizon (and C horizon where present) has similar color, texture, and reaction range as the lower part of the Bt horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Donlonton, Keyport, Latham, and Zoar series in the same family and the Brookside, Guernsey, and Wharton soils have a component of glauconite and typically are dominated by hue of 2.5Y. Keyport and Zoar soils formed in coastal plain sediments or slackwater sediments and essentially do not have coarse fragments or have few coarse fragments in the solum. Latham soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Brookside and Guernsey soils have higher base saturation. Wharton soils are fine-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cruze soils typically are on foot slopes, benches, and fans that have a concave surface but are on summits in places. Slope gradients range from 2 to 70 percent. The soils formed in colluvium and residuum derived mainly from acid shale and some thin layers of interbedded siltstone or sandstone. In some pedons materials are mixed from downslope movement. The mean annual temperature ranges from about 50 to 54 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from about 38 to 42 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Latham and the Coolville, Lily, Muse, Rarden, and Shelocta soils. The moderately well drained Latham and Rarden soils are moderately deep to bedrock and are on summits or on shoulder or back slope positions. In addition, the Rarden soils are redder and have higher base saturation. The moderately well drained Coolville soils have a mantle of loess and are on the broadest and most stable summits and benches. The well drained Lily soils are moderately deep to sandstone and are on nearby summits. The well drained Muse and Shelocta soils are on steeper parts of side slopes, foot slopes, or benches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderately slow or slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Much of this soil is used for forest and pasture. Cultivated areas are used for corn, winter wheat, hay, and some tobacco. The original vegetation was mixed hardwoods including oaks, hickory, ash, gums, poplar, maple, elm, beech, ironwood, and sycamore.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Cruze soils are in southern and eastern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and possibly in West Virginia. They are moderately extensive, about 15,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bath County, Kentucky, 1960.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to about 13 inches; argillic horizon - the zone from approximately 13 to 45 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, and Bt4); paralithic contact - at a depth of about 53 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Data is available for particle size analysis and for base saturation. The pedon has been sampled for full characterization (HO-24).