LOCATION FRANKSTOWN WV+KY MD PA TN VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Frankstown on a convex 6 percent slope in a pasture at an elevation of 2280 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated)
A--0 to 1 inch; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; moderate, medium, granular structure; friable; many, very fine and fine roots, throughout; 5 percent siltstone gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
E--1 to 2 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) silt loam; moderate, fine, subangular blocky structure; friable; common, very fine and fine roots, throughout; common, medium, dark brown (10YR 3/3) krotovinas; 5 percent siltstone gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
BE--2 to 4 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; moderate, fine and medium, subangular blocky structure; friable to firm; few, fine roots, throughout; common, medium, dark brown (10YR 3/3) krotovinas; 5 percent siltstone gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 3 inches thick)
Bt1--4 to 12 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) silt loam; moderate, fine and medium, subangular blocky structure; friable; few, very fine and fine roots, throughout; few, medium, dark brown (10YR 3/3) krotovinas; few, faint, clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 5 percent siltstone gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--12 to 19 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) channery silty clay loam; moderate, medium, subangular blocky structure; friable to firm; few, very fine and fine roots, throughout; few, medium, dark brown (10YR 3/3) krotovinas; common, distinct, clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 15 percent siltstone gravels and sandstone channers; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--19 to 31 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) channery silty clay loam; moderate, medium and coarse, subangular blocky structure; friable; many, prominent, clay films on faces of peds and in pores; few, medium, distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), light reddish brown (2.5YR 6/4) and light reddish brown (2.5YR 7/3) highly weathered rock fragments; 25 percent siltstone gravels and sandstone and shale channers; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 10 to 30 inches thick)
BC--31 to 35 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) very channery silt loam; moderate, medium, subangular blocky structure; friable; common, fine, distinct light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) highly weathered rock fragments; 35 percent siltstone gravels and sandstone and shale channers; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
C--35 to 45 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) very channery silt loam with thin streaks of reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) silty clay loam; massive; friable; common, medium, brown (7.5YR 5/4) and common, fine and medium, pale brown (10YR 6/3) highly weathered rock fragments; 40 percent siltstone gravels and sandstone and shale channers; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cr--45 inches; weathered strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) siltstone. Excavation difficulty is moderate. Excavation by tile spade requires impact energy or foot pressure; arm pressure is insufficient.
TYPE LOCATION: Greenbrier County, West Virginia; approximately 0.6 mile east of Frankford; about 0.1 mile north-northwest of intersection of State Routes 21 and 15. U.S.G.S. Anthony topographic quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees, 55 minutes, 10 seconds N and longitude 80 degrees, 22 minutes, 27 seconds W; NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The depth to the top of the argillic horizon ranges from 1 to 8 inches and depth to bedrock is 40 to more than 60 inches. The particle size control section averages 25 to 35 percent clay and less than 35 percent coarse fragments. Percent coarse fragment content of limestone, siltstone, shale, sandstone or chert ranges from 0 to 25 percent, by volume, in the A and E horizons, 0 to 40 percent, by volume, in the BE, Bt and BC horizons, and 20 to 50 percent, by volume, in the C horizon. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. Cultivated areas have an Ap horizon with hue of 10YR or 2.5 Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam or loam.
The BE horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is silt loam or loam.
The Bt and BC horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Some pedons have lithochromic mottles in shades of brown, white, gray, yellow and red. It is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 6 to 8. It is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay or clay, and may be stratified with different colors and textures.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Allegheny, Allenwood, Cades (T), Chetwynd, Drapermill (T), Gilwood, Glenelg, Grosstown (T), Leck Kill, Lonon, Murrill, Queponco (T), Reybold (T), Rhodhiss (T), Shouns, Tate, Ungers, and Whitford series in the same family. Allegheny soils have water-worn rock fragments within the control section. Allenwoood, Chetwynd, Leck Kill, Shouns, Ungers and Whitford soils have hues of 5YR or redder either throughout or in some part of the control section. Drapermill (T) and Gilwood soils have bedrock within a depth of 40 inches. Glenelg soils have rock fragments of quartzite, gneiss and schist and have highly micaceous C horizons within a depth of 40 inches. Lonon soils formed from weathered metasedimentary rock. Murrill soils have a thicker sola and have rock fragments dominated by sandstone. Tate soils have mica flakes within the control section and contains pebbles or cobbles of quartz granite. Cades (T) formed in old alluvium derived from metasedimentary rock. Queponco (T) and Reybold (T) are derived from fluvial and eolian deposits underlain by fluviomarine sediments. Rhodhiss (T) soils formed in acid crystalline rock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Frankstown soils formed in residuum weathered from siliceous limestone and interbedded limy shale, siltstone, sandstone or chert and are on gently sloping to steep uplands in limestone valleys. Slope gradients range from 2 to 35 percent. Climate is humid continental. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 47 to 56 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45inches, frost free days range from 120 to 180 days, and elevation ranges from 950 feet to 2,500 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Benevola, Caneyville, Duffield, Elliber, Frederick, Hagerstown, Lawrence and Sees soils. Benevola, Caneyville and Hagerstown soils are 5YR or redder in the Bt horizon, have a higher base saturation and more than 35 percent clay in the control section. Duffield soils have a base saturation greater than 35 percent. Elliber soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. Frederick soils have a thicker sola and more than 35 percent clay in the control section. Lawrence and Sees soils have low chroma iron depletions and higher base saturation. Sees soils also have more than 35 percent clay in the control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff potential is medium to high. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are used to crops, hay or pasture. Native vegetation is forest consisting mainly of oaks, hickory, ash, elm, maple, black walnut and flowering dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Johnstown Area, Pennsylvania, 1907.
REMARKS: Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this pedon include:
a. Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 2 inches (A and E horizons).
b. Argillic horizon - The zone from 4 to 31 inches (Bt horizons).
Note: The type location was changed to Greenbrier County, West Virginia from Berkeley County, West Virginia. Berkeley County was recently updated and the Frankstown series was not correlated there. Lab data supported another series.
ADDITIONAL DATA: CEC activity class was based on data available from Pennsylvania.