LOCATION HAMBLEN TN+AL GA KYEstablished Series
The Hamblen series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils on flood plains. These soils formed in loamy alluvium from watersheds dominated by limestone, sandstone and shale. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Fluvaquentic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Hamblen silt loam -- cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise
stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; few fine faint light yellowish brown mottles; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; many fine and few medium tubular pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--6 to 20 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine subangular blocky and moderate medium granular structure; very friable; common fine roots; many fine and few medium tubular pores; few medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) redoximorphic depletions, few medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) soft masses of iron accumulation; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.
Bw2--20 to 45 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; common medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) redoximorphic depletions, common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) soft masses of iron accumulation; medium acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw horizon ranges from about 12 to 45 inches)
C--45 to 60 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam; massive; friable; common fine and medium tubular pores; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) redoximorphic depletions, common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/8) soft masses of iron accumulation; 2 percent manganese concretions up to 1/4 inch and common medium distinct very dark grayish brown stains; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Bledsoe County, Tennessee; about 8 miles northeast of Pikeville to Ninemile; 0.7 mile southwest of Ninemile on Alvin C. York Highway; 200 yards east of the highway on the flood plain of Little Creek.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from about 20 to 55 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Content of rock fragments is normally less than 10 percent in the upper 40 inches but ranges from 0 to 15 percent and 0 to 50 percent below 40 inches. The reaction ranges from neutral to strongly acid.
The A horizon has a hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, silt loam or rarely fine sandy loam. Some pedons have a few mottles in shades of brown.
The Bw horizon has a hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 to 6. Mottles in shades of brown or yellow are usually present. Chroma of 2 is also allowed below a depth of 20 inches. Mottles of chroma 2 or less are within 24 inches of the surface. It is dominantly silt loam or loam but includes clay loam, silty clay loam and thin horizons of fine sandy loam.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 0 to 6 or is mottled in shades of brown, gray and red without a dominant color. Texture is the same as the Bw horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: Marietta is the only series in the same family. Marietta soils formed in mixed Coastal Plain and Blackland Prairie sediments. They are void of coarse fragments and typically have a higher sand content. Soils in closely related families are the Chagrin, Hontas, Lindell, Lindside, Lobdell, Monacan, Ocana, Senecaville, Sensabaugh, Sullivan, Tuckahoe and Weaver series. All of these series except Lindell, Monacan, Ocana, Sullivan and Tuckahoe have mixed mineralogy and mesic temperature. Lindell soils have mixed mineralogy. Monacan soils formed in sediments from metamorphic and igneous rocks and have mixed mineralogy. Ocana soils are well drained, have mixed mineralogy and more than 15 percent rock fragments throughout. Sullivan soils are well drained and have no mottles of chroma 2 or less within the upper 24 inches. Tuckahoe are well drained soils that formed in sediments from metamorphic and igneous rocks and have mixed mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hamblen soils are on flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The soil formed in alluvium from watersheds dominated by limestone, shale and sandstone. Average annual temperature is 58 degrees F., and average annual precipitation is 53 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing
Sullivan series and the
Newark,
Humphreys,
Sequatchie and
Whitwell series. The somewhat poorly drained Newark soils are dominantly gray within 20 inches of the surface. The well drained Humphreys and Sequatchie soils and moderately well drained Whitwell soils are on stream terraces and have an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; slow runoff; moderate permeability. Subject to flooding except for areas that are protected.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is cleared and used for crops, hay and pasture. The native vegetation was hardwood forest consisting chiefly of oaks, hickories, maples, elm, yellow-poplar, and sycamore.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Great Appalachian Valley, Highland Rim, and Nashville Basin in Tennessee and in Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Hamblen County, Tennessee; 1940.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 6 inches (Ap horizon)
Cambic horizon - from about 6 to 45 inches (Bw horizon)
SIR = TN0085