LOCATION GILLS SC
Established Series
Rev. TRG:JCM
10/2021
GILLS SERIES
The Gills series consists of somewhat poorly drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in material mostly weathered from fine grained schists and gneiss. Slopes commonly are 2 to 6 percent
but range from 0 to 10 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Aquic Fragiudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Gills silt loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--0 to 1 inches; decaying litter from mostly oak leaves and twigs.
A--1 to 2 inch; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
E--2 to 13 inches; pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) silt loam; weak medium granular structure; few weak medium subangular blocky peds; very friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick)
BE--13 to 16 inches; pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bt1--16 to 22 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay; ped faces are pale brown, ped interiors are light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4); few fine faint mottles of light brownish gray (10YR 6/2); moderate medium angular and subangular blocky structure; extremely hard, extremely firm, plastic and sticky; thick prominent continuous clay films on faces of peds; few fine roots; many fine pores; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
Bt2--22 to 32 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay; many medium distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; strong medium and coarse angular blocky and columnar structure; extremely hard, extremely firm, plastic and sticky; thick prominent, continuous, pale brown clay films on faces of all peds; few fine roots that follow faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (8 to 20 inches thick)
Bx--32 to 61 inches; coarsely mottled light gray (10YR 7/2), white (10YR 8/1), and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam, silt loam, and silty clay loam; (gray and white materials are loam and silt loam and yellowish brown is silty clay loam) weak coarse platy structure which parts easily to weak medium subangular blocky; very hard; brittle; few old root channels with thick prominent continuous clay films; gray streaks tend to be vertical; common fine and medium pores; very strongly acid. (15 to 36 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Lancaster County, South Carolina; 9 miles east of Lancaster, South Carolina, in a wooded area 800 feet east of South Carolina Highway 522, 1/2 mile north of South Carolina Secondary Highway 123.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan is 20 to 40 inches. Depth
to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Few gravel and cobbles are on
the surface and throughout the solum in some pedons. The soil is strongly acid or very strongly acid throughout except for the
surface layer in limed areas.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma
of 2 to 8. Texture is silt loam or loam.
The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5
to 7, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4
to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Mottles of chroma 2 or less are in
the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. The Bt horizon is clay, silty clay, or clay loam and contains more than 30 percent silt. Few to common manganese concretions are in the Bt horizon
in some pedons.
The Bx horizon is mottled in shades of gray,
white, and brown. Texture of the Bx horizon is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or fine sandy loam. It is very hard and brittle.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.
Angie, Creedmour,
Colfax,
Helena,
Lignum,
Orange, and
Sedgefield soils are similar series in related familes. Angie, Creedmour, Helena, Lignum, Orange, and Sedgefield soils lack fragipans.
Colfax soils are fine-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gills soils are on smooth lower slopes and low-lying saddles or ridges. The soils formed in material mostly weathered from fine grained schists and gneiss. Near the type location, the average annual precipitation is about 47 inches, the mean annual temperature is about 61 degrees F., and the
freeze-free growing season averages about 205 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the similar
Helena series plus the
Goldston,
Herndon,
Iredell,
Wilkes, and
Winnsboro series. All of these soils lack fragipans.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is
slow to medium. Permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the area has been cultivated in the past, but is now mostly oak, hickory, sweetgum, and shrubs. There are a few shortleaf and loblolly pines. A few areas are in
pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont section of South Carolina. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lancaster County, South Carolina, 1971.
REMARKS: Particle size analysis is on hand for this pedon and Engineering Test Data is on hand for 4 pedons. The soil horizon depths were revised on 10/2021 to ensure the soil description began at the soil surface.
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
SC0093 GILLS 0- 10 60- 62 200-215 45- 49 400- 900
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
SC0093 NONE 2.0-3.0 PERCHED DEC-MAY 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
SC0093 0-16 SIL L SICL 0- 2 80-100 5-35 3- 8
SC0093 16-32 C SIC CL 0- 2 95-100 35-60 6- 15
SC0093 32-61 SIL SICL FSL 0- 2 95-100 15-35 4- 10
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
SC0093 0-16 4.5- 6.0 .5-2. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW
SC0093 16-32 4.5- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.2- 0.6 MODERATE
SC0093 32-61 4.5- 5.5 - 0- 0 0.06- 0.2 LOW
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.