LOCATION FLETCHER TN+NC VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Fletcher silt loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 1 inch; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots and pores; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
A2--1 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots and pores; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
BA--7 to 11 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots and pores; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--11 to 18 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots and pores; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Bt2--18 to 32 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots and pores; thin patchy clay films on faces of peds; about 5 percent by volume of thin fragments of phyllite; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
C--32 to 44 inches; weak red (10YR 4/3) soft phyllite; massive; friable, crushes easily to a silt loam having a greasy feel; few fine pores; about 10 percent by volume fragments of moderately hard phyllite rock; strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (5 to 20 inches thick)
R--44 inches; hard phyllite rock.
TYPE LOCATION: Monroe County, Tennessee; in Cherokee National Forest; 15 miles northeast of Tellico Plains in Indian Boundary Recreation Area; 50 feet north of the sewage disposal field.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum most commonly is 28 to 40 inches, and ranges from 20 to 48 inches. Depth to hard rock is dominantly 40 to 45 inches, and ranges from 40 to 65 inches. In some pedons, few to 15 percent by volume of thin phyllite chips are in some horizons of the solum. The soil is strongly acid or very strongly acid.
The A1 horizon, where present, is dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) or very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam. It is lacking in many pedons. The A2 horizon, or Ap in the few cultivated areas, is brown (10YR 4/3, 5/3; 7.5YR 4/4) or rarely yellowish brown (10YR 5/4). It is silt loam, channery silt loam, or very channery silt loam.
The Bt horizon most commonly is yellowish red (5YR 4/6, 4/8, 5/6, 5/8), and the range includes strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, 5/8) and rarely red (2.5YR 4/6, 4/8, 5/6, 5/8). Texture is silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. Average weighted clay content of the Bt horizon ranges from 22 to 35 percent. Sand content is low--generally less than 10 percent.
The C horizon, which is dominantly soft phyllite, is weak red (10R 4/2, 4/3, 4/4, 5/3; 2.5YR 5/8) which, in some pedons, is mottled with shades of red, yellow, and brown. It crushes easily to a silt loam having a greasy feel. The C horizon has few to many thin fragments of phyllite.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Agnos, Chillum, Edneyville, Fairfax, Fannin, Gilpin, Matapeake, Sequoia, Talleyville, Tate, Watauga, and Whitley series. Agnos and Sequoia soils have silty clay or clay B horizons. Chillum soils have thick gravelly sandy loam C horizons. Edneyville, Fannin, Gilpin, Tate, and Watauga soils have more than 15 percent fine and coarser sand in the control section. In addition, Fannin and Watauga soils have common or many flakes of mica in each horizon, and Tate soils have B horizons in hue of 10YR or 2.5Y and depth to rock of 4 to 12 feet. Fairfax soils have yellowish brown to strong brown B horizons, and varying amounts of subangular fragments of quartz especially in the lower part of the solum. Matapeake soils have sandy loam or loamy sand C horizons and lack bedrock within 60 inches. Talleyville soils lack bedrock within 60 inches, have solum thickness of 4 to 6 feet, and have 2B and 2C horizons of red silty clay loam, clay, or sandy clay. Whitley soils have brownish Bt horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Fletcher soils are on broad mountaintops and side slopes generally above 1500 feet elevation. Slope gradients range from about 3 to 30 percent. The soils formed in residuum weathered from phyllite and slate. In the area of occurrence of these soils, mean annual air temperature ranges from 53 to 57 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 45 to 54 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Citico and Ranger series. Citico soils are in the coves and lack argillic horizons. Ranger soils are on steep mountainsides and have discontinuous argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used largely for pasture and small patches of corn and garden crops. About four-fifths of the acreage is in forest of white oak, red oak, black oak, chestnut oak, red maple, sourwood, and Virginia and shortleaf pines. Huckleberry and dogwood are common in the understory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Outliers of the Unaka Mountain range in Tennessee and in North Carolina. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clay County, North Carolina; 1935.