LOCATION DRYPOND VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, active, mesic Lithic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Drypond very gravelly sandy loam - on a northwest facing slope in a mixed hardwood-pine forest. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--4 to 0 inches; partially decomposed leaves and twigs.
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very gravelly sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; 45 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
Bw--2 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; 40 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; gradual wavy boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
C--14 to 18 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very gravelly sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; 50 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
R--18 inches; quartzite bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Wythe County, Virginia; about 1.5 miles east (97 degrees) of the junction of US-21 and VA-684 and 1.8 miles south (180 degrees) of the junction of VA-640 and VA-696.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 10 to 18 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 10 to 20 inches. Sandstone and quartzite gravel, channers, and cobbles range from 15 to 75 percent in the A horizon, from 25 to 80 percent in the Bw horizon, and from 45 to 90 percent in the C horizon. Reaction is extremely acid or very strongly acid.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 through 5, and chroma of 1 through 4. It is sandy loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no known series in this family. Soils in similar families are Wallen, Dekalb, Ramsey, Lily, and Jefferson. Wallen and Dekalb soils are 20 to 40 inches to bedrock. Ramsey soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments in the textural control section. Lily soils are 20 to 40 inches to bedrock and have argillic horizons. Jefferson soils are more than 60 inches to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Drypond soils formed in materials weathered from metasediments of sandstone and quartzite. They are on gently sloping ridgetops and very steep convex sideslopes. Slopes range from 2 to 80 percent. The climate is temperate and humid. The mean air temperature ranges from 53 to 56 degrees F. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Cataska, Dekalb, Jefferson, Lily, Matneflat, Sylco, Sylvatus, Tumbling and Wallen series. Cataska, Dekalb, Lily, Sylco and Wallen soils are deeper to bedrock and occur on similar landscape positions. Jefferson, Matneflat and Tumbling soils are deeper to bedrock and occur on colluvial fans and footslopes. Sylvatus soils contain more silt and occur on similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained. Permeability is rapid. Runoff is medium to very rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods and pines.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wythe County, Virginia, 1989.
REMARKS: Soils now within the range of the Drypond series were correlated in Ramsey and Weikert in several published soil surveys. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 2 inches (A horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 2 to 14 inches (Bw horizon).
3. Lithic contact - shallow depth to quartzite bedrock (18 inches).
MLRA=128, 147
SIR=VA0276, VA0335 (Very gravelly)
REVISED=4/2/93, MHC