LOCATION FIVEBLOCK WV+KY VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, nonacid, mesic Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Fiveblock very channery sandy loam, on a 55 percent slope in a reclaimed, very stony area growing tall fescue, birdsfoot trefoil, and red clover. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very channery sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 50 percent channers, stones, and boulders (90 percent sandstone, 10 percent siltstone); moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
Cl--6 to 25 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very channery sandy loam; common yellow and brown lithochromic mottles; massive; friable; common fine and medium roots; 55 percent channers, stones, and boulders (90 percent sandstone, 10 percent siltstone); neutral; gradual wavy boundary.
C2--25 to 65 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) extremely channery sandy loam; common yellow and brown lithochromic mottles; massive; friable; 70 percent channers, stones, and boulders (80 percent sandstone, 20 percent siltstone); neutral. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is 60 inches or more.)
TYPE LOCATION: Wyoming County, West Virginia; Oceana District; 2.14 miles south (170 degrees) of Lorado near Amherstdale Mine No. 4 access road, just southeast of county line. USGS Lorado Quad; lat. 37 degrees 45 minutes 5 seconds N. and long. 81 degrees 42 minutes 24 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock is greater than 5 feet. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to mildly alkaline for all horizons except for surface layers that were formed by stockpiling natural surficial soil and spreading over the land surface. Fragments of rock range from 15 to 80 percent by volume throughout the profile but average 35 percent or more in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are 65 percent or more gray neutral sandstone. The remaining percent is made up of siltstone, shale, and coal. Rock fragments are mostly channers but stones and boulders are included. The fine earth fraction of the control section averages 5 to 18 percent clay. Most pedons have red, brown, yellow, or gray lithochromic mottles in some or all horizons.
Many pedons that are vegetated have Oe horizons and in some cases, Oi horizons. These horizons range to about 3 inches in thickness.
The fine earth material of the A horizon is sandy loam or loamy sand. It has hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. In some areas, the A horizon is formed in natural surficial soil that is 4 to 20 inches thick, and has sandy loam or loam texture.
The fine earth material of the C horizons is sandy loam with zones of loamy sand. These horizons have hue of 10YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 6.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no known competing series in this family. Series in related families are the Barkcamp, Bethesda, Cedarcreek, Enoch, Fairpoint, Itmann, Janelew, Kaymine, Morristown, Myra and Sewell series and the tentative Laguardia series. Barkcamp and Enoch soils are in siliceous, acid families and are well drained. Bethesda and Cedarcreek soils are in an acid family, contain more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section, and are well drained. Enoch soils contain more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section and have moderately slow permeability. Fairpoint and Kaymine soils contain more than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Sandstone fragments make up less than 65 percent of the total rock fragments in Kaymine soils. Itmann and Sewell soils are in acid families and in Itmann soils, more than 50 percent of the fragments are carbolithic. Janelew, Morristown and Myra soils are in a calcareous family. Laguardia soils formed in a thick mantle of construction debris intermingled with anthrotransported soil materials. The transported construction debris may range in material of pieces of plastic, glass, rubber, bricks, lumber, asphalt, coal ash, unburned coal, gypsum board, concrete, and steel.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fiveblock soils are on nearly level to gently sloping benches, gently sloping to strongly sloping hillslopes, and steep to very steep outslopes. These soils formed in regolith from mountain top removal surface coal mine operations with planned placement of material. The regolith is a mixture of partially weathered fine earth and fragments of bedrock. The fine earth material is from fragments of bedrock which have been crushed by machinery and weathered. Dominant rock fragments are gray neutral sandstone with small amounts of siltstone, shale, and coal. Slopes range from 0 to 80 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 55 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cedarcreek, Itmann, Kaymine, and Sewell soils in related families and the Gilpin, Guyandotte, Lily and Matewan soils. Gilpin and Lily soils are in a fine-loamy family, have an argillic horizon, and formed in residuum on undisturbed uplands. Guyandotte soils have an umbric epipedon, a cambic horizon, and formed in colluvium on undisturbed uplands. Matewan soils have cambic horizons and formed in residuum on undisturbed uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; runoff is slow to medium on bench slopes and rapid to very rapid on outslopes and hillslopes; moderately rapid or rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Land use emphasis is on reclamation of surface mined land. Vegetation consists of grasses, legumes, black locust, and other plants commonly used in surface mine reclamation. Some areas have established stands of naturally seeded yellow-poplar, sourwood, and oaks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and possibly Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The acreage is small.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wyoming County, West Virginia, 1984.
REMARKS: (1) These soils were formerly mapped strip mines. (2) Mineralogy data and other data from West Virginia University studies were used for supporting data. (3) Lithochromic mottles have inherited their colors form rocks. (4) Under the West Virginia proposed classification, these soils would have been classified Plattic Udispolents. (5) In West Virginia, these soils are formed in mine spoil from the Kanawha and lower Allegheny geologic formations. (6) The 8/00 revision updates this series to 8th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards. The CEC activity class placement is based on four pedons sampled and analyzed by West Virginia University, which included three semiactive and one active pedons. Competing series were also updated.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 6 inches (A horizon).
b. Rock fragments of gray neutral sandstone are 65 percent or more of the total rock fragments in the particle-size control section. (10 to 40 inches; C1, C2 horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Additional data is available from West Virginia University (minimum of four pedons). Mineralogy data from West Virginia University indicates that Fiveblock soils have mixed mineralogy.
MLRA: 125, 127
Revised: 2/88-BLW-JWB-LDS; 8/2000-DHK