LOCATION DAMASCUS OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Endoaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Damascus loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) loam; common fine distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and reddish brown (5YR 4/3) mottles; moderate medium granular structure; friable; medium acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Beg-- 8 to 12 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam; many fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; light gray (10YR 7/1) coatings on some faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Btg1-- 12 to 17 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) loam; many medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and brown (7.5YR 4/4) mottles; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; firm; thin patchy gray (10YR 6/1) clay films on faces of peds and bridging sand grains; about 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btg2-- 17 to 26 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly loam; many medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; medium patchy gray (N 5/0) clay films on faces of peds and bridging sand grains; 15 to 20 percent gravel; medium acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined Bt horizons range from 10 to 32 inches thick.)
BCg-- 26 to 33 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) and brown (7.5YR 5/2) very gravelly sandy loam; many coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; about 40 percent gravel; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cg1-- 33 to 45 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) extremely gravelly sandy loam; massive; very friable; 50 to 70 percent gravel; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cg2-- 45 to 75 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly sandy loam; massive; loose; about 70 percent gravel; mildly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Columbiana County, Ohio; SE1/4NE1/4 section 11, T. 12 N., R. 2 W., Fairfield Towship; west of State Highway 7; 700 feet north of Penn Central Railroad; about 2 miles east of Columbiana.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 28 to 48 inches. The top 20 inches of the argillic horizon averages between 18 to 27 percent clay. Coarse fragments average from 0 to 15 percent in horizons above a depth of 20 inches, from 5 to 50 percent in the solum between 20 to 40 inches, and 15 to 75 percent in the C horizon. The reaction ranges from very strongly to slightly acid in A and B horizons and from strongly acid to neutral in the upper part of the C horizon; pH values increase with depth in the C horizon to slightly acid to mildly alkaline.
The Ap horizon ranges from gray (5Y 5/1) to dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2 or 2.5Y 4/2). Texture is loam or silt loam. An A horizon, if present, is 1 to 5 inches thick and ranges from black (10YR 2/1) to very dark gray (10YR 3/1). The E horizon below an A horizon or, if present, below an Ap horizon is 3 to 10 inches thick. The color range is from gray (10YR 5/1) through light grayish brown (2.5Y 6/2).
The BEg horizon color range is similar to that of Btg horizons. Texture is loam or sandy loam and gravelly analogues. The Btg horizons have hues of 10YR to 5Y, values of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. Mottles with chroma of 3 to 8 comprise 10 to 40 percent of the matrix. Texture is loam, sandy clay loam, light clay loam, and gravelly analogues of these textures. Thin subhorizons of sandy loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam are within the range. The structure is moderate or weak fine to coarse subangular blocky. Clay films are on faces of peds and bridging sand grains.
The BCg horizon is gravelly sandy loam, gravelly loamy sand, gravelly sandy clay loam or sandy loam with a color range similar to that of the B2 horizon.
The Cg horizon is noncalcareous, gravelly or very gravelly loam to loamy sand or sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Kosmos and Ruark series. Similar soils are the Ginat, Jimtown, Minoa, Quinn, Red Hook, and Sebring series in related families. Kosmos soils have a different climate. Ruark soils have less gravel in the B2 and C horizons. Ginat soils have fragipan horizons. Jimtown soils lack dominant chroma of 2 or less in all subhorizons between the Ap horizon and 30 inches. Minoa and Red Hook soils lack argillic horizons. Quinn soils have a thicker solum, coarse fragments dominantly of shale and are coarse-loamy. Sebring soils are fine-silty.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Damascus soils are on nearly level or depressional areas of stream terraces and outwash plains. The soils are developed in water-sorted material derived largely from noncalcareous sandstone and shale and smaller amounts of quartz pebbles. The climate is humid, continental. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 40 inches. Mean annual air temperature is about 51 degrees F, and mean summer air temperature is about 72 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Damascus soils are in a drainage sequence with the well drained Chili, moderately well drained Bogart, somewhat poorly drained Jimtown, and very poorly drained Olmsted soils. Glenford, Fitchville, and Sebring soils are on silty deposits. On glacial till of the same region are Canfield, Rittman, Wadsworth, Ellsworth, and Mahoning soils and their associates. Orrville and Holly soils are on adjacent stream flood plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate in the solum and rapid or very rapid in the substrata.
USE AND VEGETATION: About half of the Damascus soils have been cleared, but due to wetness most areas are no longer cultivated. Corn, oats, and mixed hay are grown on some areas. The main tree species in wooded areas are elm, swamp white oak, pin oak, and red maple.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Ohio. The series is of moderate extent with a total of about 12,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Columbiana County, Ohio, 1965.
REMARKS: Classification was adjusted to agree with ST Issue #17 on 23 Sept 94 by CLG.
An estimated CEC activity class was added based one pedon of lab data. It agreed with a catena associate that more modern data. This work was done at NSSC request. No further work was done on the OSD in 2/2006. This OSD is an orphan since Damascus was not recorrelated in the update of Columbiana County, OH. Damascus remains an active series since it is used in 5 other counties. The last true update of the series was 8/87.