LOCATION CULLEN VA+NC
Established Series
Rev. DDR-MHC,DTA
09/2025
CULLEN SERIES
MLRA(s): 136 (thermic part)
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Southeast
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Moderate
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from mixed mafic and felsic crystalline rocks
Slope: 0 to 35 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 16 degrees C (60 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1118 millimeters (44 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Cullen loam, in woods on an 11 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches); dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine, medium, and coarse roots; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters (0 to 10 inches) thick)
Bt1--10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; many fine, medium, and coarse roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--25 to 84 centimeters (10 to 33 inches); red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; common fine, medium, and coarse roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--84 to 135 centimeters (33 to 53 inches); red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; common medium prominent yellow (10YR 7/8) mottles; strong fine subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine and medium roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 63 to 152 centimeters (25 to 60 inches) thick.)
BC--135 to 152 centimeters (53 to 60 inches); red (2.5YR 4/6) clay with pockets of clay loam; many medium prominent yellow (10YR 7/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Montgomery County, North Carolina; approximately 6.4 miles north of Uwharrie on North Carolina Highway 109 to Secondary Road 1156; 0.5 mile west on Secondary Road 1156 to Secondary Road 1179; 0.25 mile south on Secondary Road 1179; 1.5 miles east and south on USFS Road S97; about 80 feet west of road, in woods. USGS Biscoe, North Carolina topographic quadrangle.
Latitude--35.471
Longitude-- -80.67
Datum--WGS84
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness: 102 to 152 centimeters (40 to 60 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 35 percent, by volume, in the A, Ap, and BA horizons, from 0 to 15 percent, by volume, in the Bt and BC horizons, and 0 to 50 percent, by volume, in the C horizon.
Soil Reaction: Strongly acid to slightly acid throughout
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 to 5, chroma of 2 to 8. Value of 3 is restricted to A horizons less than 4 inches thick.
Texture--silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam. Where eroded, it is silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
BA horizon, (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 to 8
Texture--loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 10R or 2.5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8. Many pedons have a subhorizon with a value of 3. High chroma mottles and dark streaks or stains occur in some pedons.
Texture--clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
BC horizon:
Color--hue of 10R or 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 or 8. High chroma mottles and dark streaks or stains are in some pedons.
Texture--clay, clay loam, silty clay loam, silt loam, or loam
C horizon, (if it occurs):
Color--highly variable and commonly contains shades of red, brown, and yellow. Generally, it does not have a dominant matrix color.
Texture--loam, silt loam, or clay loam
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no other series in the same family. Closely related soils in the fine family include:
Badin soils--have a depth to weathered bedrock of 51 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Catharpin soils--have a lithologic discontinuity in the solum
Cecil soils--have less than 60 percent clay in the control section
Davidson soils--are rhodic
Fluvanna soils--are not as red
Gaston--have a dark surface layer
Georgeville soils--have less than 60 percent clay in the control section
Lloyd soils--are rhodic
Mayodan soils--formed in Triassic sediments
Mecklenburg soils--have mixed mineralogy
Nanford soils--are not as red and have a depth to weathered bedrock of 102 to 152 centimeters (40 to 60 inches)
Pacolet soils--have less than 60 percent clay in the control section
Tarrus soils--have less than 60 percent clay in the control section and a depth to weathered bedrock of 102 to 152 centimeters
Uwharrie soils--have less than 60 percent clay in the control section
Vance soils--are not as red
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont upland
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from mixed mafic and felsic crystalline rocks.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 15 to 18 degrees C (59 to 65 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1041 to 1219 millimeters (41 to 48 inches)
Frost-free Period: 185 to 230 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Enon soils--are not as red and have moderately low saturated hydraulic conductivity
Iredell soils--are not as red and have very high shrink swell potential
Madison soils--contain many flakes of mica
Poindexter soils--are not as red and are fine-loamy
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Cropland, pasture, and woodland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--small grain, corn, soybeans, cotton, hay, pasture plants and some fruit crops
Where wooded--southern red oak, white oak, willow oak, hickory, loblolly pine, sweetgum, and yellow-poplar. Understory species include eastern red cedar, flowering dogwood, eastern redbud, and sassafras.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Virginia and North Carolina
Extent: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Charlotte County, Virginia, 1970.
REMARKS:
Previous revisions 1/28/1993 by MHK; 9/30/1998 by DTA; 09/2025 by DTA.
The September 2025 revision reformatted the description to semi-tabular. No data was changed
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 10 centimeters (0 to 4 inches)(A horizon)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 10 to 135 centimeters (4 to 53 inches) (Bt horizons).
SIR=VA0050, VA0295 (Gravelly)
ADDITIONAL DATA:
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
VA0050 CULLEN 0-35 59- 65 185-230 41- 48 300-1200
VA0295 CULLEN 0-25 59- 65 185-230 41- 48 300-1200
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
VA0050 NONE >6.0 - >60
VA0295 NONE >6.0 - >60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
VA0050 0-4 L SIL 0-0 75-100 15-27 -
VA0050 0-4 FSL 0-0 75-100 15-20 -
VA0050 0-4 CL 0-0 75-100 27-40 -
VA0050 4-53 C CL 0-0 75-100 50-75 -
VA0050 53-60 C CL SICL 0-0 75-100 30-60 -
VA0295 0-4 GR-L GR-SIL 0-0 50-75 15-27 -
VA0295 0-4 GR-FSL 0-0 50-75 15-20 -
VA0295 0-4 GR-CL 0-0 50-75 27-40 -
VA0295 4-53 C CL 0-0 75-100 50-75 -
VA0295 53-60 C CL SICL 0-0 75-100 30-60 -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
VA0050 0-4 5.1- 6.0 1.-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
VA0050 0-4 5.1- 6.0 1.-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
VA0050 0-4 5.1- 6.0 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0050 4-53 5.1- 6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0050 53-60 5.1- 6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0295 0-4 5.1- 6.0 1.-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
VA0295 0-4 5.1- 6.0 1.-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW
VA0295 0-4 5.1- 6.0 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0295 4-53 5.1- 6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0295 53-60 5.1- 6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.