LOCATION FLAIRMONT VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Flairmont very flaggy loam - in a mixed hardwood forest (Colors are for moist soil)
Oa---0 to 4 inches; partially decomposed black organic matter.
A----4 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very flaggy loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine and fine roots; 20 percent flagstones, 10 percent channers and 10 percent gravels; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
E---8 to 18 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) very flaggy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable non-sticky and non-plastic; many fine and medium roots; 35 percent flagstones, 10 percent channers and 15 percent gravels; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt--18 to 34 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) very flaggy sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; many fine and medium roots; 30% flagstones, 10% channers and 5% gravels; common medium faint clay films on ped faces; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
Bx1--34 to 48 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) very flaggy sandy loam; common medium distinct pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) iron depletions; weak medium platy structure; brittle, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; 30 percent flagstones, 10 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravels: very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bx2--48 to 61 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) extremely flaggy sandy loam; common large, prominent pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) iron depletions; weak coarse platy structure; brittle, nonsticky and nonplastic; 30 percent flagstones, 10 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravels; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (combined thickness of Bx horizon is 15 to 40 inches)
2C--61 to 139 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) very channery clay loam; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) iron depletions; massive; firm, sticky and plastic; 35 percent channers, 5 percent cobbles and 5 percent stones; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Loudoun County, Virginia. Located in an area of Flairmont very flaggy loam, 7 to 15 percent slopes approximately 2.5 miles past the end of state maintenance on VA Route 713. VA grid coordinates N.556,000; E.2,199,000.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 60 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is more than 60 inches. Depth to the top of the fragipan ranges from 16 to 40 inches. Rock fragments of rounded to angular (flat and nonflat) quartzite, schist and phyllite range from channer to boulder size and occupy 35 to 50 percent of the surface, subsurface, and upper subsoil, and 35 to 70 percent in the lower subsoil and substratum. An O horizon is commonly present in varying stages of decomposition and thicknesses that range from 1 to 12 inches or more. In many pedons, flakes of mica are few to common. Surface stoniness ranges from 0.01 to 60 percent or more. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid, unless limed.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Textures are loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction. Some areas of the horizon are thin and discontinuous.
The E and/or BE horizon (where present) have a hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Textures are loam or sandy loam in the fine earth fraction.
The Bt horizon has a hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6 and chroma of 4 to 8. Textures are sandy loam, loam, clay loam or sandy clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Redoximorphic features, where present, are similar to the matrix colors but include chromas of 1 or 2.
The Btx or Bx horizons (where present) have a hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8 . Textures are loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam and clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Redoximorphic features are similar in color to the matrix, but may include a hue of 5YR and chromas of 1 or 2.
The C or 2C horizon commonly is variegated with hues of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 1 to 8. Some pedons have 2C horizons, mainly in footslope positions. Textures are dominantly sandy loam, loamy sand and loam, but can include sandy clay loam or clay loam in the fine earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: The Killarney soils formed in slope alluvium mixed with loess and the underlying slope alluvium or residuum derived from rhyolite or granite rocks.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Flairmont soils are in mountain drainageways and concave sideslopes and backslopes in the Blue Ridge. Slopes range from 0 to 50 percent but are commonly 3 to 25 percent. They formed in colluvial or debris flow materials weathered from quartzite, schist and phyllite. Mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 57 degrees F and mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 44 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Soils include the Airmont, Bagtown, Braddock, Dekalb, Edgemont, Gunstock, Hazel, Stumptown, Sylvatus, Thurmont, Weverton, and Whiteford series and the competing Killarney series. The Airmont soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section and have a water table closer to the soil surface. The Weverton soils are 40 to 60 inches to bedrock and average more than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. The Dekalb, Hazel, Gunstock, and Stumptown soils are 20 to 40 inches to bedrock and are well drained. Braddock soils are well drained and average more than 35 percent clay in the particle size control section. Thurmont soils are well drained and are on footslopes, fans and terraces of the Blue Ridge. Bagtown soils average less than 18 percent clay in the particle size control section. Edgemont soils are well drained and occupy mountain ridges and backslopes. Gunnstock and Whiteford soils are well drained and formed in residuum from phyllite and/or slate. Sylvatus soils are less than 20 inches to bedrock and formed from phyllite.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Slow to very rapid runoff. Permeability is moderately rapid above the fragipan and slow to very slow in the fragipan. The top of a saturated zone usually occurs between 25 and 40 inches and extends down into the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are in mixed hardwood forest. A small acreage is in pasture or urban use. Woodland vegetation is mostly chestnut oaks, sycamore and tulip poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Loudoun County, Virginia 2005.
REMARKS: The Flairmont series replaces a previous loamy-skeletal, moderately well drained concept of the Airmont series (now made fine-loamy and somewhat poorly drained in 2004 by MAV). The name originated out of "flaggy Airmont" or Flairmont.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 18 inches (Oa, A and E horizons)
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 18 to 34 inches (Bt horizon)
3. Fragipan - the zone from 34 to 61 inches (Bx1 and Bx2 horizons)
4.) Lithologic discontinuity - at 61 inches (2C horizon)