LOCATION GRASSLAND VA+NCTentative Series
MLRA(s): 136
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Deep
Drainage Class (Agricultural): moderately well drained to somewhat poorly drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Thick, shallow, and common
Index Surface Runoff: High to very high
Permeability: Very slow
Landscape: Piedmont, upland
Landform: depressions, drainageways
Hillslope Profile Position: foot slopes, toe slopes
Geomorphic Component: Sideslopes
Parent Material: Sericite schist
Slope: 0 to 15 percent
Elevation (type location): 460 feet
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 58 degrees F.
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 42 inches
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Aquic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Grassland silt loam in a field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated.)
horizon designation--0 to 00 inches; moist matrix color; texture; dry matrix color; mottles; structure; rupture resistance; manner of failure; stickiness; plasticity; penetration resistance; excavation difficulty (if root limiting); roots; pores; masses; nodules; concretions; depletions; concentrations; ped and void surface features; special features; fragments; effervescence; a,a-dipyridyl response; salinity; odor; reaction; boundary. (00 to 00 inches thick or Combined thickness of the XX horizon is 00 to 00 inches)
Ap--0 to 4 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; few fine faint light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
BE--4 to 7 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) silty clay loam; moderate, fine and medium, subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt1--7 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; strong, coarse subangular blocky structure; friable to firm moist, slightly sticky, slightly plastic wet, hard dry; few medium roots; common medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common medium distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3) iron depletions; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; abrupt, irregular boundary.
Bt2--14 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; strong, coarse angular blocky structure; firm moist, slightly sticky, slightly plastic wet, hard dry; few medium roots; common coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulations and common coarse distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions; common prominent clay films on faces of peds; few quartz pebbles; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt3--20 to 28 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm moist, slightly sticky, slightly plastic wet, hard dry; common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulations and common coarse prominent gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; many prominent clay films on faces of peds; few quartz pebbles; very strongly acid; clear, irregular boundary.
BC--28 to 37 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) clay loam; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable common coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and gray to light gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; few quartz pebbles; few fragments of schist; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
C--37 to 51 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy clay loam; massive; friable; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and gray (N 5/0) and light gray (5Y 6/1) iron depletions; 15 percent angular quartz pebbles up to 3 inches in diameter; common fragments of schist; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Cr--51 to 87 inches; gray to light gray (5Y 6/1) and yellowish red (5YR 5/6) weathered schist that crushes to silt loam; firm in place, friable when dug out; many fragments of schist and quartz; gradual, wavy boundary.
R-87 inches; firm to hard schist bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Orange County, Virginia. In a field 1.75 miles east of Nasons, along highway 20.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 2 to 10 inches
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 20 to 40 inches
Depth to the paralithic contact: 40 to 60 inches
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 60 inches
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 12 to 30 inches, December to May
Rock Fragment content: 0 to 25 percent, by volume, in the A and E; 0 to 15 percent in the Be, B, and BC; 0 to 50 percent in the C
Soil Reaction: very strongly acid to strongly acid, except where limed
Other Features: Silt content is more than 40 percent and generally more than 50 percent in the upper part of the solum
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 7, and chroma of 1 through 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown
E horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 1 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-very fine sandy loam, loam, silt loam
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown
BA or BE horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 3 through 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-- loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y (2.5Y limited to thin individual subhorizons), value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 3 through 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-- clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
Btg horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y (2.5Y limited to thin individual subhorizons), value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 0 through 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-- clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown
BC horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 3 through 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-- loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown and iron depletions in shades of brown, yellow, olive, or gray
BCg horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 0 through 2
Texture (fine-earth fraction)-- loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam Redoximorphic features (if they occur)--iron masses in shade of red, yellow, or brown
The C horizon colors are variable and commonly do not have a dominant color. It is very fine sandy loam, silty clay loam, or silt loam saprolite in the fine-earth fraction.
The Cr horizon is weathered, moderately hard, and slightly to moderately fractured sericite schist or other fine grained rock.
COMPETING SERIES:
(Soils in same family queried from MLRAs 136 and 148 only)
Banister soils-very deep, formed in fluvial deposits
Halifax soils-very deep, formed in materials from mafic or felsic high grade metamorphic rocks
Lackstown soils-very deep, formed in Triassic materials
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont, upland
Landform: depressions, drainageways
Hillslope Profile Position: foot slopes, toe slopes
Geomorphic Component: Sideslopes
Parent Material: Sericite schist
Elevation: 400 to 800 feet
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 52 to 59 degrees
Mean Annual Precipitation: 40 to 50 inches
Frost Free Period: 165 to 200 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Littlejoe soils-Well drained
Penhook soils-Very deep, well drained
Strawfield soils-Moderately deep, well drained
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage class (Agricultural): Moderately well drained to somewhat poorly drained
Index Surface Runoff: High to Very high
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Thick, shallow, common
Permeability: Very slow
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Forest, some pasture
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated-corn, soybeans, small grains, hay. Where wooded-- white, black, red and scarlet oaks, red maple, blackgum, dogwood, and loblolly pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Virginia and North Carolina
Extent: Moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES PROPOSED: Orange County, Virginia, 2001.
REMARKS: Grassland soils were previously mapped as Lignum soils. The change from thermic to mesic temperature regime resulted in the Lignum series being moved to due to larger extent in the thermic region. The typical pedon site for Grassland remains as the original site for the Lignum series in Orange County, Virginia.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Ap and BE horizons)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 7 to 28 inches (Bt horizons)
Aquic conditions--the soil has redox depletions and concentrations within the upper 24 inches of the argillic horizon, with periodic saturation and reduction at some time during the year
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 61 inches
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Data Map Unit ID (type location):
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation Grassland 0-15 52-59 165-200 40-50 400-800FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness None 1.0-2.5 Perched Dec-May 40-60 Soft
Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- 0-4 vfsl,l,sil 0-0 75-100 10-25 4-7 l,sil,cl,sicl 0-0 75-100 10-35 7-28 cl,sicl,sic,c 0-0 75-100 27-55 28-37 l,sil,sicl 0-0 75-100 10-35 37-51 vfsl,l,sil 0-0 75-100 10-25 51-87 WB 87 UWB
Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll 0-4 4.5-5.5 .5-2. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW 4-7 4.5-5.5 0-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW 7-28 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.0-0.06 MODERATE 28-37 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.2- 0.6 LOW 37-51 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.2- 0.6 LOW 51-87 87