LOCATION CLIFFTOP WV
Established Series
ABJ, JDM, JWB / Rev. MDJ
08/2014
CLIFFTOP SERIES
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Clifftop channery silt loam, on a 12 percent slope, in a forested area (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated.)
Oi--0 to 2.5 cm (0 to 1 inches); slightly decomposed plant material; strongly acid (pH 5.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 5 cm (0 to 2 inches) thick)
A--2.5 to 7.6 cm (1 to 3 inches); brown (10YR 4/3) channery silt loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine to very coarse roots; 15 percent shale channers; extremely acid (pH 4.0); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 18 cm (2 to 46 inches) thick)
BA--7.6 to 20 cm (3 to 8 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine to very coarse roots; 10 percent shale channers; extremely acid (pH 3.9); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 inches) thick)
Bt1--20 to 41 cm (8 to 16 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine to coarse roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 15 percent shale channers; extremely acid (pH 4.3); gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--41 to 64 cm (16 to 25 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silty clay loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine to very coarse roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 15 percent shale channers; extremely acid (pH 4.4); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 20 to 71 cm (8 to 28 inches))
BC--64 to 74 cm (25 to 29 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silty clay loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine to coarse roots; few faint clay films on surfaces of peds and along pores; 20 percent shale channers; extremely acid (pH 4.4); clear broken boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick).
C--74 to 91 cm (29 to 36 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery silty clay loam with lithochromic mottles in shades of reddish brown, yellowish brown, and gray; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine to coarse roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 50 percent shale channers and parachanners; extremely acid (pH 4.4); clear broken boundary. (0 to 20 cm thick).
Cr--91 cm (36 inches); moderately hard, fractured dark bluish gray (5B 4/1) shale.
TYPE LOCATION:
County: Fayette
State: West Virginia
USGS Quadrangle: Winona
Latitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): 38.038
Longitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): -80.951
Directions to the pedon: 3.25 miles north of the community of Clifftop
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 13 to 51 cm (5 to 20 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 30 to 91 cm (12 to 36 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches); bedrock is dominantly very weakly to moderately cemented shale, siltstone, or fine-grained sandstone of early Pennsylvanian Period age (members of the Pottsville Group or its analogue)
Rock Fragment content (by volume): 0 to 25 percent in the upper solum, 15 to 65 percent in the BC and C horizon.
Soil Reaction: strongly acid to extremely acid throughout, except where limed or affected by forest fires.
Range of Individual Horizons:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to5, and chroma of 1 to 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction) silt loam or loam.
BA or similar transitional horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6, moist, (dry value of 6 or more).
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam or loam.
E (or transitional eluvial) horizon present in some pedons:
Color--hue of 10YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6, moist, (dry value of 6 or more).
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam or loam.
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or loam.
C horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 4 to 8.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, clay loam, or loam.
Lithochromic colors in shades of yellowish brown, gray, and reddish brown may be present.
COMPETING SERIES:
Albemarle soils--formed in residuum from metamorphic rocks in the
Piedmont region.
Cardova soils--formed in residuum from metamorphic rocks in the
Piedmont region.
Drapermill soils--formed in residuum from metamorphic rocks in the
Piedmont region.
Gilwood soils--contain 15 percent or less sand throughout the control section.
Milldraper soils--formed in residuum from metamorphic rocks in the
Piedmont region.
The following competing series are greater than 102 cm (40 inches) to bedrock--
Allegheny,
Allenwood,
Arendtsville,
Cades,
Chester,
Chetwynd,
Elsinboro,
Eubanks,
Ezel,
Frankstown,
Glenelg,
Happyland,
Leck Kill,
Lonon,
Meadowville,
Murrill,
Nixon,
Pfafftown,
Queponco,
Reybold,
Rhodhiss,
Shouns,
Tate,
Ungers,
Whiteford
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscapes: Plateau and mountains
Landforms: Ridge, hillslope, mountain slope
MLRA(s): 127 (Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains) and 125 (Cumberland Plateau and Mountains)
Geomorphic Component: Interfluves, side slopes, and nose slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, backslope
Parent Material: Residuum derived from of early Pennsylvania Period acid shale, siltstone, or fine-grained sandstone (members of the Pottsville Series or its analogue)
Depth Class: ModeratelyDeep
Slope: 3 to 70 percent
Elevation: 549 to 1067 m (1795 to 3500 feet)
Frost-free period: 140 to 180 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 9 to 13 degrees C. (48 to 55 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1143 to 1397 mm (45 to 55 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Fenwick soils--are moderately well drained
Layland soils--are formed in colluvium and greater than 152 cm (60 inches) to bedrock
Nallen soils--have less clay in the control section and siliceous mineralogy
Dekalb soils--have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Absent
Index Surface Runoff: Moderate to very high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Permeability Class: Moderate
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Shrink-swell potential: Low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland, pasture, and hay land, and minor urban development
Dominant Vegetation: Oak-hickory or mixed mesophytic forests.
Where wooded--scarlet, black, white, red, or chestnut oak, red maple, pignut or mockernut hickory, yellow poplar, American Holly, beech, and Virginia or white pine are the dominate species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: West Virginia, and possibly; Kentucky, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Extent: Moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fayette County, West Virginia, 2009.
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 20 cm (Oi, A and BA horizons)
Argillic horizon(s)--the zone from 20 to 64 cm (Bt horizon)
The clay mineralogy is mixed, with kaolinite dominant and illite and vermiculite in lesser quantities.
This series is proposed to cover areas in MLRA 127 and 125 previously mapped as Gilpin or Muskingum in published and out-of-date surveys. Gilpin is among the most extensive series in MLRAs 124, 125, 126, and 127 and is mapped on a variety of geologic parent materials. The Clifftop series will be limited to soils formed in materials weathered from early Pennsylvanian Period geologic parent materials (members of the Pottsville Group or its analogue).
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Characterization data from the NSSL is available for this pedon: Pedon ID: 01N1152 (S01WV019007). Other valuable reference pedons available from the NSSL (http://ssldata.nrcs.usda.gov/querypage.asp): 79P0242, 79P0249, 79P0250, 01N1137, 01N1147, and 01N1144.
NASIS User Pedon ID: S01WV019007
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.