LOCATION EDOM               PA+MD VA WV
Established Series
Rev. GDM-EAW
2/92

EDOM SERIES


The Edom series consists of deep and very deep, well drained soils formed in material weathered from interbedded shaly or platy limestone and calcareous shale. Slopes range from 3 to 45 percent. Permeability is moderately slow to moderate. Mean annual precipitation is 41 inches. Mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Typic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Edom silty clay loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable, sticky, plastic; 5 percent shale fragments; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)

Bt1--8 to 17 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; many faint clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent shale fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)

Bt2--17 to 27 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; many faint clay films on faces of peds; few fine black iron and manganese coatings on fragments; 10 percent shale fragments; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)

BC--27 to 36 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay; weak medium platy structure; firm, sticky, plastic; common faint reddish brown (5YR 5/4) clay films in pores; few fine black iron and manganese coatings on fragments; 10 percent shale fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)

C--36 to 46 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) extremely channery silty clay filling interstices between shale fragments; weak medium platy fragments; 70 percent shale fragments; neutral; abrupt irregular boundary. (5 to 40 inches thick)

R--46 inches; interbedded shale and limestone; beds are nearly vertical.

TYPE LOCATION: Juniata County, Pennsylvania; Fermanagh Township, 0.6 mile east of Mifflintown on Cedar Springs Road.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 40 to 72 inches or more. Rock fragments of shale or limestone range from about 2 to 35 percent in the solum and from 20 to 90 percent in the C horizon and increase with depth in the profile. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to mildly alkaline in the upper part of the solum and from moderately acid to moderately alkaline in the lower part and in the C horizon. Some pedons have free carbonates in the B and C horizons.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some undisturbed pedons have an E horizon.

The B horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. Texture is silty clay or clay with 40 to 60 percent clay in the particle-size control section, except that the upper part may be silty clay loam or clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have thin subhorizons of silty clay loam and clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak to strong, fine or medium, subangular blocky or blocky and occasionally platy in the lower part.

The C horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR. Texture is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction and contains a large amount of weathered, often interbedded shale and limestone fragments.

COMPETING SERIES: The Alexandria, Brushcreek, Lairdsville, Lucas, Millheim, Morley, Pate, Saylesville, Schoharie, and St. Clair series are in the same family. Alexandria and St. Clair soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in any part of the series control section. Lairdsville soils have bedrock within 40 inches. Lucas and Saylesville soils are stratified in the lower part of the series control section and do not have rock fragments. Millheim soils have chroma of 2 in the lower part of the B horizon and in the C horizon. Morley soils have texture of silty clay loam or clay loam in the fine-earth fraction of the lower part of the B horizon. Pate soils have sola greater than 50 inches thick. Schoharie soils have few or no rock fragments above 40 inches.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Edom soils are on gently sloping to steep dissected uplands with dominant slopes of 3 to 45 percent. The soils developed in materials weathered from interbedded shaly or platy limestone and calcareous shale. The climate is temperate and humid with mean annual rainfall of 36 to 46 inches, mean annual air temperature of 48 to 56 degrees F., and a growing season of 150 to 210 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bedington, Duffield, Dunmore, Frankstown, Frederick, Hagerstown, Klinesville, Opequon, and Weikert soils. With the exception of Klinesville, Opequon, and Weikert all of these soils have sola thicker than 40 inches. Klinesville, Opequon, and Weikert soils have bedrock within 40 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderately slow to moderate.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and in general farm crops. Wooded areas are in mixed hardwoods with species of oak common.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. The series is moderately extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, 1940.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: 1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 8 inches (Ap horizon). 2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 8 inches to a depth of about 27 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).

Laboratory Data: S61-PA-014-1; S65-PA-028-3; S67-PA-031-3; S67-PA-031-8 ( < 40 inches deep); S67-PA-031-4 ( high rock fragments, very deep).


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.