LOCATION DEWEY TN+AL GA KYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Dewey silt loam--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many roots; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--6 to 17 inches; dark red (2.5YR 3/6) clay, dark red (2.5YR 3/6) dry; strong medium and thin fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; strongly acid; clear irregular boundary.
Bt2--17 to 25 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay, red (2.5YR 5/6) dry; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and common medium distinct dark red (2.5YR 3/6), and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) variegations; strong medium angular and subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 2 percent chert gravel less than 1 inch across; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt3--25 to 50 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay, red (2.5YR 5/6) dry; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and common medium distinct dark red (2.5YR 3/6) and yellowish red (5YR 5/6) variegations; strong fine and medium angular and subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 2 percent chert gravel up to 1 inch across; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt4--50 to 72 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; few medium faint dark red (2.5YR 3/6) variegations; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; common distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 2 percent chert gravel up to 2 inches across; few fine black and reddish brown concretions; strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is more than 50 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: McMinn County, Tennessee; 1 mile west of Niota on highway U. S. 11 E, 100 feet north of highway and 300 feet north of red barn.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to limestone bedrock are more than 60 inches. The soil is strongly acid or very strongly acid unless limed. Rock fragments are mostly gravel size chert and range from 0 to 15 percent in each horizon. Some horizons range up to 25 percent below 40 inches.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. A few undisturbed areas have a thin A horizon with hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. Severely eroded areas also have hue of 2.5YR and chroma of 6. Texure is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam and severely eroded areas range to clay loam, silty clay or clay.
Some pedons have a transitional horizon or E horizon between the A horizon and the Bt horizon.
The Bt horizon has a hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 6 or 8. Moist value is 4 or more in some subhorizon in the upper 40 inches. Variegations are in shades of brown, yellow, and red. The texture is silty clay or clay, except the upper part is silty clay loam or clay loam in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Fullerton, Henderson, Lugoff, Marlboro, Summerton and Waynesboro series. Henderson and Marlboro soils have a higher component of sand and colors dominantly in hue of 10YR or 7.5YR. Fullerton soils have more than 15 percent chert fragments in the particle-size control section. Lugoff soils have rock lithology of quartz. Summerton and Waynesboro soils have a higher sand and lower silt content throughout. Additionally, Waynesboro soils formed entirely in old alluvium.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Dewey soils are on gently sloping to steep uplands of 2 to 40 percent slope. Some areas are pitted with sinks and depressions. The soil formed in one to two feet of old alluvium and the underlying limestone residuum. The mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F. and mean annual precipitation is 53 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Fullerton and Waynesboro series and the Decatur, Emory, Etowah, Staser and Talbott series. Decatur soils are on adjacent stream terraces and are in a Rhodic subgroup. Emory and Staser soils are in depressions and on adjacent flood plains and do not have argillic horizons. Etowah soils are on foot slopes and terraces and are in a fine-loamy family. Talbott soils are less than 40 inches deep over bedrock and have more than 35 percent base saturation.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium or rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used for row crops, small grain, hay, pasture. The native vegetation is mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Appalachian Ridges (MLRA 128) and Valleys and the Highland Rim and Pennyroyal (MLRA 122) in Tennessee, northwest Georgia, and northern Alabama. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cherokee County, Alabama; 1924.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon - from 6 to 72 inches (Bt horizon)
SIR = TN0020