LOCATION FAIRMOUNT KY+IN OH TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, active, mesic Lithic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Fairmount flaggy silty clay on a smooth straight south facing 18 percent slope in second growth woods.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 11 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) flaggy silty clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots; 30 percent this flat limestone fragments 6 to 15 inches long; continuous black ped coatings; mildly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
Bw--11 to 17 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) flaggy clay; moderate fine and medium angular blocky structure; very firm; common fine roots; few fine pores; 30 percent thin flat limestone fragments 6 to 15 inches long; nearly continuous dark brown ped coatings; mildly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 8 inches thick)
R--17 inches; hard gray limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Woodford County, Kentucky; 500 yards south of house at the end of lane, which is 1/4 mile south of a blacktop road at a pint 1 1/2 miles southwest of KY 33 from an intersection 3 miles north of Troy, and about 7 miles south of Versailles.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock range from 10 to 20 inches. Reaction rages from neutral to moderately alkaline and is calcareous in some pedons. This flat limestone fragments from 1 to 15 inches long range from 5 to 35 percent. Some pedons have a few small brown or black concretions.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is silty clay loam or silty clay. It has moderate or strong, very fine to medium, angular blocky, subangular blocky, or granular structure.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5 Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. It has moderate or strong, medium to very fine angular blocky or subangular blocky structure, and is firm or very firm. Some pedons have few to common mottles in shades of brown, gray, or olive, and some lack darker ped coatings.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the only member of the family. Members of closely related families are Barfield, Corydon, and Cynthiana series. Barfield soils are thermic. Corydon soils have argillic horizons. Cynthiana soils lack mollic epipedons, and have argillic horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC setting: Fairmount soils are on hillsides and narrow ridge with slopes ranging from 2 to 60 percent. The soil formed in residuum from limestone with this interbedded layers of calcareous shales. Rock outcrops and rock escarpments are common, particularly on steep slopes. Some ridge areas and upper side slopes have karst topography. The average precipitation ranges from 44 to 48 inches, and the average annual temperature from 50 to 57 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Cynthiana series, and Eden Faywood, Lowell, and McAfee series. Eden, Faywood, and Lowell soils lack mollic epipedons, and have argillic horizons. Eden soils have paralithic contact at 20 to 40 inches, and Faywood soils have lithic contact at 20 to 40 inches. Lowell soils are more than 40 inches to bedrock. McAfee soils have argillic horizons with redder hue and lithic contact at 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; rapid runoff; slow or moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Steep slopes are in woods. Some ridges and upper slopes are used for pasture, but many are in second growth woods or brush. Woodlands have elm, hackberry, redbud, black and honey locust, red oak, and red cedar at the dominate species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, southern Indiana, and possibility southwest Ohio. The extent is large.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hamilton County, Ohio: 1915.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon: 0 to 11 inches (A).
Cambic horizon: 11 to 17 inches (Bw).