LOCATION HELECHAWA KYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Helechawa on an 18 percent south facing slope at an elevation of about 1000 feet with an overstory of mixed hardwood and pine and an understory of mountain laurel, sawbrier and sassafras. (Colors are for moist soils.)
A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
BE--3 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Bw1--12 to 27 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and few medium roots; few faint organic stains on surfaces of peds and in root channels; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--27 to 45 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) sandy loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw is 20 to 47 inches)
BC--45 to 64 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; few faint clay films on surfaces of peds and lining root channels; 5 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid. (0 to 24 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Wolfe County, Kentucky; on wooded south facing side slope between unimproved road and sandstone Rock outcrop east of oil and gas wells at the head of Bee Branch; about .5 mile west of the confluence of Bee Branch and the Middle Fork of Red River; 4.5 miles south of the intersection of Kentucky Highway's 11 and 15 at Slade; USGS Slade Quadrangle; Latitude 37 degrees, 45 minutes, 10 seconds N and Longitude 83 degrees, 40 minutes, 39 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 30 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Rock fragments, mostly sandstone channers, make up 0 to 35 percent of the solum and 5 to 80 percent of the substratum. Some pedons contain highly resistant quartzite gravel weathered from conglomerate. Reaction is commonly extremely to strongly acid throughout, but a few A horizons are moderately or slightly acid.
The A horizon is commonly less than 7 inches thick and has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or rarely silt loam.
The BE horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The BC horizon (where present) has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is commonly sand, loamy sand, sandy loam or loam, but is clay loam or silty clay loam where underlain by soft shale.
COMPETING SERIES: Alticrest and Sharpcrest are are the only competing series. Alticrest and Sharpcrest soils formed in residuum. Alticrest soils are less than 40 inches deep to bedrock while Sharpcrest soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Helechawa soils are on linear side slopes, benches, and foot slopes of hillsides and mountainsides. Slopes are dominantly 18 to 35 percent, but range from 5 to 75 percent. These soils formed in loamy colluvium weathered from Mississippian and Pennsylvanian clastics where siliceous sandstones predominate and are commonly located downslope of sandstone rock outcrops. Elevation ranges from about 600 to 3,800 feet. Near the type location mean annual precipitation is about 53 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 54 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alticrest, Lily, Varilla, Jefferson, Totz, Ramsey and Shelocta soils. Alticrest and Lily soils are moderately deep. Varilla soils are loamy-skeletal. Jefferson and Shelocta soils are fine-loamy. Totz and Ramsey soils are shallow.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Surface runoff is low on benches and medium on foot slopes and side slopes. Permeability is moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in secondary growth forest with mixed stands of eastern hemlock, white oak, yellow-poplar, chestnut oak, American beech, scarlet oak, pitch pine, Virginia pine and hickory. Minor species include red maple, northern red oak, black oak, black gum, sourwood and black cherry. A few of the less sloping areas are used for pasture and as sites for homes and gardens.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 125 in the Allegheny-Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountians of Eastern Kentucky and possibly similar areas in Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The series is estimated to be of moderate extent, about 40,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Harlan County, Kentucky, 1989
REMARKS: Helechawa soils were previously mapped as Jefferson, Rigley, or Tate soils.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 3 inches (A horizon).
Cambic horizon - 3 to 64 inches (BE, Bw1, Bw2 and BC horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization sample S86KY-237-1. Reference samples S84KY-13-3, S84KY-95-2, S85KY-237-1, and S85KY-95-6.