LOCATION FENWICK WV
Established Series
Rev. JWB-SGC-ART
03/2022
FENWICK SERIES
The Fenwick series consists of moderately deep, moderately well drained soils with moderately slow permeability. These soils formed in material weathered from acid sandstone or interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Fenwick soils are on broad mountain ridgetops and benches. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 47 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Fenwick silt loam - on a 3 percent, east-facing slope in a wooded area.
Oe--0 to 1 inches; partially decomposed hardwood leaf litter.
A--1 to 3 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 10 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick)
AB--3 to 9 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 10 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine and medium roots; 10 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bt2--19 to 26 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam; many medium light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; few fine roots; 10 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
BC--26 to 34 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam; many medium light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; 5 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
C--34 to 39 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) and light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) loam; massive; firm; 5 percent
sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
R--39 inches; hard yellowish gray sandstone and soft gray shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Nicholas County, West Virginia; south east of Nettie and approximately 1.3 miles east of WV Route 20 and 1.5 miles south of WV Route 39.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock are 20 to 40 inches. Sandstone fragments range from 0 to 15 percent by volume in the A, AB, BA, and Bt horizons and from 5 to 35 percent in the BC and C horizons. Fragments are commonly of channer and flagstone size. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through neutral in the A horizons and is very strongly acid or strongly acid in the Bt, BC, and C horizons.
The A and AB horizons have hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is silt loam or loam. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have a BA horizon, 0 to 6 inches thick, with hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam or loam. Consistence is friable.
The Bt horizon has matrix hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. The lower part has red, brown, and gray mottles. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, silt loam, or clay loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse subangular blocky. Consistence is friable in the upper part and friable to firm in the lower part.
Most pedons have a BC horizon with color and texture similar to the Bt horizon. Structure is weak subangular blocky or platy. Consistence is firm or very firm. Part of the BC horizon may have brittle characteristics.
Many pedons have a C horizon that has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y; value of 4 to 7; and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is sandy loam, loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Adelphia,
Blairton,
Brumbaugh,
Cana,
Cotaco,
Delanco,
Dillard,
Holmdel,
Mattapex,
Tuscarawas,
Wharton, and
Woodstown series. The
Cookport series in a related family. Adelphia and Holmdel soils contain glauconite. Blairton soils have up to 70 percent shale fragments in the lower part of the solum. Cana soils are silty and developed in loess. Bedrock under Brumbaugh, Cookport, Cotaco, Delanco, Tuscarawas, Wharton, and Woodstown soils is at depths greater than 40 inches. Cookport soils have a fragipan. Dillard soils contain a noticeable amount of mica and have gray clay or clay loam 2B horizons. Mattapex soils formed in coastal plains material and do not have rock fragments in the solum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fenwick soils are on broad ridgetops and benches on sandstone-capped mountains. Slope is dominantly 3 to 8 percent but ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Fenwick soils formed in acid material weathered from acid sandstone or interbedded sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 42 to 52 inches and mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 53 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Buchanan,
Cedarcreek,
Clymer,
Dekalb,
Gilpin,
Kaymine,
Lily, and
Rayne soils. Buchanan soils have a fragipan and are at lower positions on the landscape. Clymer, Dekalb, Gilpin, Lily, and Rayne soils are well drained and are generally at higher positions on the landscape. Cedarcreek and Kaymine soils are formed in regolith from the surface mining of coal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate in the Bt horizon and moderately slow in the BC and C horizons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Fenwick soils are mostly in mixed hardwood forest. Many areas have been cleared for corn or hay crops or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia and possibly Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and western Virginia. The acreage is small.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Nicholas County, West Virginia, 1987. The name is from a town in Nicholas County.
REMARKS: These soils were previously mapped as Variants of the Cookport series. In West Virginia, they are associated with the Kanawha and New River Formations of the Pottsville group. It is not clear whether these soils formed in sandstone residuum or from extremely old sediments deposited on the sandstone.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 1 to 9 inches (A and AB horizons).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 26 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
3. Aquic feature - the zone from 19 to 26 inches (Bt2 horizon).
The 10/2005 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). CEC class is based on NASIS data from Webster County, West Virginia. Competing series, pedon description (including horizon nomenclature and/or descriptive terms), and other sections on the OSD were not revised.
03/2022 revision - Oi layer was removed from the typical pedon description because /freshly fallen, or undecomposed leaf litter or similar undecomposed material should not be included as a surface layer in the soil description. The typical pedon originally had a top layer described as undecomposed leaf material or similar undecomposed material. Oe had 1 to 0 inch depths, corrected to be 0 to 1 in horizon depths then added 1 inch to all horizon depths throughout the typical pedon. WJN
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.