LOCATION GAUDINEER               WV

Established Series
JWB, CRS/Rev. MDJ
10/2017

GAUDINEER SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, superactive, frigid Typic Haplorthods

TYPICAL PEDON: Gaudineer highly organic very stony silt loam, in a forested area at an elevation of about 1126 meters (3694 feet). (Colors are for moist soil.)

Oi--0 to 3 centimeters (0.0 to 1.2 inches); slightly decomposed leaf litter from red spruce and northern hardwoods; extremely acid (pH 4.0); abrupt broken boundary.

Oe--3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 inches); moderately decomposed leaf litter from red spruce and northern hardwoods; common very fine through very coarse roots; extremely acid (pH 4.0); abrupt broken boundary. (Combined thickness of the O horizon is 1 to 25 cm [0.4 to 10 inches])

A--6 to 15 centimeters (2.4 to 5.9 inches); very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) highly organic very stony silt loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; common very fine, fine, medium, and very coarse roots; 5 percent flat subangular 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone fragments and 5 percent subangular 76 to 250-millimeter sandstone fragments and 30 percent subangular 250 to 600 millimeter sandstone fragments; extremely acid (pH 3.8); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 15 cm [0 to 6 inches] thick)

E/A--15 to 27 centimeters (5.9 to 10.6 inches); 50 percent brown (7.5YR 4/2), 35 percent brown (7.5YR 4/3), and 15 percent very dark brown (7.5YR 2.5/2) very stony silt loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very few very fine and fine roots; 20 percent subangular 250 to 600-millimeter sandstone fragments and 30 percent flat subangular 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone fragments; extremely acid (pH 3.6); clear broken boundary. (0 to 22 cm [0 to 9 inches] thick)

Bs/Bhs--27 to 39 centimeters (10.6 to 15.4 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), brown (7.5YR 4/3), and dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very few very fine and fine roots, and common medium and coarse roots; 10 percent flat subrounded 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone fragments; extremely acid (pH 4.1); clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the spodic materials is 10 to 50 cm [4 to 20 inches])

2Bw--39 to 125 centimeters (15.4 to 49.2 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) extremely stony sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; very few very fine roots; 10 percent subrounded 600 to 2000-millimeter sandstone fragments and 12 percent nonflat subrounded 2 to 76-millimeter sandstone fragments and 40 percent subrounded 250 to 600 millimeter sandstone fragments; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); clear wavy boundary. (10 to 95 cm [4 to 37 inches] thick)

3Cg--125 to 152 centimeters (49.2 to 59.8 inches); dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) very channery silty clay loam; massive; firm, slightly sticky, moderately plastic; 2 percent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) and 15 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron in matrix; 35 percent flat subrounded 2 to 150-millimeter siltstone fragments; very strongly acid (pH 5.0).

TYPE LOCATION:
County: Randolph
State: West Virginia
USGS Quadrangle: Wildell, West Virginia
Latitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): 38.675839
Longitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): -79.848397
Directions to the pedon: In Randolph County, WV, from Highway US-250 south of Huttonsville; at the crest of Cheat Mountain, turn north on Forest Service road FS-92; travel about 5.9 miles from the Highway US-250 intersection then turn east on Forest Service road FS-49 which follows Crouch Run; travel about 2.9 miles on FS-49. The pedon is located about 650 feet south of FS-49.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Spodic: 6 to 57 cm (2 to 22 inches).
Depth to the base of the Spodic: 20 to 85 cm (8 to 33 inches).
Solum Thickness: 72 to 125 cm (28 to 49 inches).
Depth to Bedrock: 100 cm or more (40 inches or more).
Depth Class: Deep or very deep.
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 100 to 200 cm or more (40 to 80 inches or more).
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: 23 to 91 cm (9 to 35 inches) where it occurs.
Rock Fragment content: 0 to 60 percent, by volume, in the O, A, E or transitional horizons horizons; 10 to 70 percent, by volume, in the Bhs, Bs, and Bw horizons; 20 to 90 percent, by volume, in the C horizons. The weighted average of the rock fragments in the control section is greater than 35 percent by volume.
Soil Reaction: Ultra acid to very strongly acid.
Other Soil Features: The upper solum commonly contains mixed or combined horizons and horizons with broken or irregular boundaries. Horizons in the upper solum are rarely homogeneous; therefore the properties described in the range of individual horizons are applied to discrete parts of intermingled horizons. Some pedons may have multiple lithologic discontinuities within the series control section.

Range of Individual Horizons:
A horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 3, and chroma of 1 through 3.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam.
Other features--Some pedons are highly organic.

E horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam or silt loam.
Other features--Some pedons meet the requirements of an albic horizon.

Bh horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 2.5 through 4, and chroma of 2 or 3.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.
Other features--Fine-earth fraction commonly has less than 20 percent clay. Weakly or moderately smeary.

Bhs horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 3, and chroma of 3 through 6, or has a value of 4 and chroma of 3.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.
Other features--Weakly or moderately smeary.

Bs horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 through 8.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.
Other features--Weakly or moderately smeary.

Bw horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 6.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.

C horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.

Cg horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 through 6, and chroma of 1 or 2.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.

COMPETING SERIES:
Gauley soils--have sandstone bedrock ranging from 50 to 100 cm deep.
Blandburg soils--are in a similar family, have a mixed mineralogy, and have more sand and less clay within the particle-size control section.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRA(s): 127 (Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains)
Landscape: Plateau, mountains
Landform: Mountain slope, hillslope
Geomorphic Component: Mountainflank, side slope, nose slope.
Hillslope Profile Position: Shoulder, backslope
Parent Material Origin: Acid interbedded shale, siltstone, and fine-grained sandstone.
Parent Material Kind: Colluvium or colluvium over residuum.
Slope: 3 to 60 percent.
Elevation: 980 to 1340 meters (3215 to 4000 feet).
Frost-free period: 90 to 148 days.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 6.3 to 7.3 degrees C. (43 to 45 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1319 to 1490 mm (52 to 59 inches).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Leatherbark soils--are somewhat poorly drained and do not have a spodic horizon.
Mandy soils--are moderately deep to bedrock, and do not have a spodic horizon.
Simoda soils--are moderately well drained, have a fragipan and spodic horizon.
Snowdog soils--are moderately well drained, have a fragipan, and do not have a spodic horizon.
Wildell soils--are moderately deep to bedrock.
Gauley soils--are moderately deep to bedrock.
Blandburg soils--have more sand and less clay in the fine-earth fraction.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained.
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Thin; deep; common.
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None.
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None.
Index Surface Runoff: Low to high.
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately low to high.
Permeability Class (obsolete): Moderately slow to moderately rapid.
Shrink-swell Potential: Low.

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland
Dominant overstory: Red spruce, red maple, yellow birch, American beech, black cherry.
Dominant understory: Red spruce, American beech, yellow birch, striped maple, service berry.
Dominant ground cover: Ferns, clubmosses and wood sorrels.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: West Virginia, and possibly Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Extent: Small.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Randolph County, West Virginia, 2017.

REMARKS: This series replaces a moist phase of the Dekalb series in areas with long, cold winters and more than 50 inches of annual precipitation in MLRA 127.

Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 27 cm (Oi, Oe, A, E horizons)
Spodic horizon--the zone from 27 to 39 cm (Bs/Bhs horizon)
Skeletal feature--more than 35 percent by volume rock fragments in particle-size control section

The 10/2017 revision changes the series status to Established.

ADDITIONAL DATA: The typical pedon has been sampled for characterization.

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.