LOCATION GLADEVILLE TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey-skeletal, mixed, active, thermic Lithic Haprendolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Gladeville flaggy silty clay loam--in a sparsely forested area of 10 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A1--0 to 4 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2), flaggy silty clay loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many roots; thin flat fragments of limestone mostly 1 to 10 inches along the longer axis take up about 35 percent of the volume, a few slabs on the soil surface are as much as 3 feet long and 3 inches thick; mildly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (3 to 12 inches thick)
A2--4 to 8 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) very flaggy silty clay loam; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common roots; about 50 percent by volume of thin flat fragments of limestone mostly 1 to 10 inches long, though a few are larger; moderately alkaline; soil effervescence; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
C--8 to 10 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) very flaggy clay; massive; firm; coatings of calcium carbonate on fragments of rock; 60 percent by volume of limestone fragments. (0 to 3 inches thick)
R--10 inches; hard, thin bedded, flaggy limestone. Some of the bedrock has thin clayey or shaly seams between the layers of limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Davidson County, Tennessee; two miles south of Percy Priest Dam; 100 yards south of exit to Anderson Road Park.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock ranges from about 3 to 12 inches. In most places, the mollic epipedon extends to bedrock. In a few places, a 2 to 3 inch thick layer next to the rock could be interpreted to be a cambic horizon because it has slightly higher chroma and some evidence of blocky structure. Most commonly the soil has free calcium carbonate in the lower 1 to 4 inches. The soil is frequently interrupted by large ledges of bare rock that extend only a few inches above the surface of the soil. Some of these ledges have a thin smear of soil on them. The soil is neutral through moderately alkaline. Fragments of limestone average 35 to 65 percent but subhorizons in some pedons contain as little as 25 percent. These fragments are mostly thin flat slabs but some are nodular-like.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value 3, chroma 1 to 3; hue 7.5YR, value 3, chroma 2. The fine-earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay except that the upper 2 or 3 inches ranges to silt loam.
The C horizon, where present, has hues of 7.5YR or 10YR, value 4, chroma 3 or 4. The fine-earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Thin seams of soil similar to that of the A horizon are between some of the slabs and a few roots are in these seams. Vertical joints common to the massive limestones are lacking.
COMPETING SERIES: Gladeville is the only series in this family. Barfield soils are in an associated family. Barfield soils are 10 to 20 inches deep over bedrock and contain less than 35 percent rock fragments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gladeville soils are on gently sloping to steep areas. Areas in which these soils occur contain a large number of rock outcrops. Slope gradients range from about 2 to 35 percent. These soils formed in residuum weathered from thin-bedded, flaggy limestone. At the type location mean annual temperature is 60 degrees F. and mean annual precipitation is 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Barfield series and the Carbo, Colbert, and Talbott series. Barfield soils are on similar adjacent positions. Carbo, Colbert, and Talbott soils are on similar positions and lie alongside each other. These soils have an argillic horizon. Also, Carbo and Talbott soils are more than 20 inches to bedrock. Carbo soils are more than 40 inches to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Gladeville soils are well drained. Runoff is rapid and permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forest consisting chiefly of redcedar and a few scattered hackberry, hickory, ash, sumac, and winged elm. Prickly pears and lichens are common on most areas with grasses in openings. Some areas are used for pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Nashville Basin and Great Valley regions in Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Rutherford County, Tennessee; 1974.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon - 0 to 8 inches (A1 and A2 horizons)