LOCATION GULLION VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, siliceous, active, mesic Fluventic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Gullion loam--on a 2 percent concave slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
BA--10 to 23 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) clay loam; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine and medium roots; slightly acid; diffuse smooth boundary.(0 to 15 inches thick.)
Bw--23 to 42 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; neutral; diffuse smooth boundary.(6 to 54 inches thick)
Cg--42 to 62 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay loam; massive; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Wythe County, Virginia; about 2.1 miles east 80 degrees of the junction of Highways VA-680 and VA-666 and 2.2 miles northwest 330 degrees of the junction of Highways US-11 and VA-625.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rounded gravel and cobbles range from 0 to 5 percent in the A, Ap, and Bw horizons and from 0 to 60 percent in the Cg and C horizons. Reaction ranges from moderately acid through mildly alkaline.
The A horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam or silt loam.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loam or silt loam.
The BA horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y or is neutral, value of 2 to 7, and chroma of 0 to 4. It is loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. High and low chroma mottles are present in some pedons. Mottles with chroma of 2 or less are restricted to depths greater than 16 inches. It is loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
The Bg horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 7, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
The Cg horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y or is neutral, value of 2 to 7, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 7, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Broadway and Nomberville series. Broadway and Nomberville soils do not have Bg horizons nor gray mottles in the Bw horizon. Broadway soils also contain free carbonates within 40 inches of the soil surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gullion soils are on flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in alluvium derived from limestones, shales, siltstones, sandstones, and quartzites. Climate is temperate and humid. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 53 to 56 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alonzville, Berks, Botetourt, Broadway, Caverns, Coursey, Derroc, Frederick, Gladehill, Groseclose, Ingledove, Irongate (tentative), Lehew, Moomaw, Newmarc, Nomberville, Shottower, Weikert, and Wolfgap soils. Alonzville, Botetourt, Caverns, Coursey, Ingledove, and Shottower soils have argillic horizons and are on stream terraces. Berks, Lehew, and Weikert soils are shallower to bedrock, contain more rock fragments in the subsoil, and are on uplands. Broadway, Gladehill, Nomberville, and Wolfgap soils are well drained and are on similar landscapes. Derroc soils contain more rock fragments in the subsoil and are on similar landscapes. Frederick and Groseclose soils are well drained, contain more clay in the subsoil, and are on uplands. Irongate soils contain more sand in the subsoil and are on similar landscapes. Moomaw soils have a fragipan and are on stream terraces. Newmarc soils are somewhat poorly drained and are on similar landscapes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate. Subject to flooding.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of these soils are cultivated. Corn, small grain, pasture, and hay are the principal crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Valley and Ridge physiographic province in Virginia, and possibly, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. The area is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wythe County, Virginia, 1989.
REMARKS: Soils now within the range of the Gullion series were previously correlated as Lindside and Lobdell series in published soil surveys.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: 1. Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 23 inches (Ap and BA horizon). 2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 23 to 42 inches (Bw horizon). 3. Fluventic features - irregular decrease in organic matter content with increasing depth. 4. Udic moisture regime.
SIR = VA0286
MLRA = 128, 147
REVISED = 12/2005 JWB and MDJ
The 10/2005 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). CEC class is based on the classification of similar and geographically associated soils. Class placement may be revised in the future when laboratory data are reviewed or become available. Competing series, pedon description (including horizon nomenclature and/or descriptive terms), and other sections on the OSD were not revised.
Previous revision DDR-DAG-WJE