LOCATION ELKINS WV+MD PA TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, acid, mesic Fluvaquentic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Elkins silt loam, drained, in a nearly level hay field. (Colors are for moist soil except where otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam, grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick.)
Bg1--8 to 18 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam; few distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium angular blocky; friable; few fine roots; common small iron and manganese concretions and accumulations; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bg2--18 to 36 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) silt loam; many distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; common small iron and manganese concretions and accumulations; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizon is 15 to 30 inches.)
Cg1--36 to 56 inches; light gray (10YR 6/1) silt loam; common distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; massive; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Cg2--56 to 65 inches; light gray (10YR 6/1) fine sandy loam; massive; nonsticky, nonplastic; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Nicholas County, West Virginia; about 400 feet west of County Road 3 and 0.1 mile south of the confluence of Lick Fork and Big Beaver Creek.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 25 to 50 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Where unlimed, reaction is very strongly acid or extremely acid. Some pedons contain small amounts of gravel in individual horizons.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 through 2. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The Bg horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 2. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Structure is weak or moderate, medium through coarse subangular blocky or prismatic. Mottles are few to many and have higher chroma.
The BC horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 8. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The C or 2C horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 8. Texture is silt loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. The C horizon of some pedons are underlain by organic deposits (peat) below 45 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Atkins, Holly, Melvin, and Orrville soils are in related families. These soils have ochric epipedons that do not have the umbric intergrade features.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Elkins soils are on flood plains. These soils formed in acid alluvium washed from upland soils that formed in shale, sandstone, and siltstone. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 55 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 59 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Buchanan, Dekalb, Gilpin, Lily, Monongahela, Purdy, and Tygart soils. Buchanan and Monongahela soils are on terraces and footslopes and have argillic horizons and fragipans. Dekalb, Gilpin, and Lily soils are on uplands and formed in residuum. Purdy and Tygart soils are on terraces and have argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly or very poorly drained. Runoff and permeability is slow or very slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Where drained, Elkins soils are cleared and used mostly for pasture or hayland. Where ponded, these soils are in marsh grasses and sedges. Native vegetation is assumed to be water tolerant hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia, and possibly Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Randolph County, West Virginia, 1939.
REMARKS: The Elkins series was made inactive on February 15, 1979. It was proposed for reactivation in Nicholas County, West Virginia in 1985. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are: 1. Ochric epipedon (umbric intergrade) - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon). 2. Aquic feature - the zone from 8 to 36 inches has chroma of 2 or less (Bg horizon).