LOCATION HERNDON            SC+AL GA NC VA
Established Series
Rev. DJD
11/2007

HERNDON SERIES


The Herndon series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in material mostly weathered from fine-grained metavolcanic rock of the Carolina Slate Belt. Slopes are 2 to 25 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Herndon silt loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)

A--0 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots, few medium and coarse roots; 2 percent quartz gravel; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)

E--3 to 9 inches; pale olive (5Y 6/4) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots, few medium and coarse roots; 2 percent quartz gravel; few fine brown concretions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)

BE--9 to 14 inches; pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine, medium and coarse roots; 1 percent quartz gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)

Bt1--14 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) silty clay; few fine and medium distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/8) mottles, moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few medium and coarse roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bt2--25 to 39 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; few fine prominent reddish yellow (5YR 6/8) and few fine distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) mottles; firm, hard; few medium and coarse roots; few dark brown concretions; few faint clay films on faces of peds; 1 percent fragments of partially weathered rock; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt3--39 to 48 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8) silty clay loam; few fine prominent very pale brown (10YR 7/3), yellowish red (5YR 5/8), and olive yellow (5Y 6/8), and few fine faint strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; few faint clay films mostly on vertical faces of peds; 1 percent quartz gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon ranges from 24 to 48 inches thick)

C--48 to 68 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), yellowish red (5YR 5/8), red (2.5YR 4/6), very pale brown (10YR 7/4), and very pale brown (10YR 8/2) silt loam; 80 percent saprolite that crushes easily; 10 percent slate channers; very strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Saluda County, South Carolina; 8 miles north of Saluda; 1/4 mile south of Coleman's crossroad on west side of South Carolina Secondary Highway 78.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the clayey part of the Bt horizon ranges from 24 to 48 inches. Depth to the bottom of the clayey Bt horizon exceeds 30 inches. Depth to bedrock (R horizon) is more than 60 inches. The soil is very strongly acid to slightly acid in the A and E horizons and extremely acid to strongly acid in the B and C horizons. Content of rock fragments range from 0 to 35 percent in the A and E horizons, and 0 to 10 percent in the Bt and lower horizons.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Horizons with value of 3 are less than 6 inches thick. The A horizon commonly is silt loam, loam, or very fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. In some pedons, the A horizon is silty clay loam or clay loam.

The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is silt loam, loam, or very fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.

The BE horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is silt loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.

The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 4 to 8. Mottles in shades of brown, yellow, or red are in most pedons. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. The lower part of the Bt horizon also allows silt loam, loam, or clay loam. Some pedons have relict mottles in shades of gray or white in lower subhorizons. The particle-size control section averages more than 30 percent silt, or more than 40 percent silt plus very fine sand, or less than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine sand.

The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10 YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 4 to 8, or is mottled in shades of these colors. Mottles in shades of brown, yellow, red, gray, or white may occur. It is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam.

The C horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 8, or is mottled in shades of white, gray, brown, yellow, or red. It is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, silty clay loam saprolite.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Appling, Aragon, Cataula, Cecil, Chestatee, Darley, Georgeville, Hulett, Kolomaki, Mahan, Nanford, Nectar, Neeses, Pacolet, Spotsylvania, Tarrus, and Wedowee series. Appling, Cecil, Hulett, Pacolet, and Wedowee soils have less than 30 percent silt in the control section. Aragon and Nectar soils formed in weathered limestone, sandstone, shale, or siltstone; also, Aragon soils have a Bt horizon that is mottled in the upper part. Cataula and Neeses soils have a layer that is partially dense and brittle. Chestatee soils have more than 15 percent by volume of coarse fragments throughout. Darley soils contain layers of fractured ironstone in the B horizon. Georgeville and Kolomaki soils have a Bt horizon with hue redder than 5YR; also, Kolomaki soils are on terraces on the southern Coastal Plain. Mahan soils formed in coastal plain sediments and have coarse fragments of ironstone. Spotsylvania soils have a lithologic discontinuity.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Herndon soils are on gently sloping to moderately steep Piedmont Uplands. Slope gradients generally are 2 to 15 percent but range to 25 percent. The soil formed in residuum weathered from fine-grained metavolcanic rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt. The mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 66 degrees F., the annual precipitation ranges from 37 to 60 inches, and the frost-free season ranges from 190 to 225 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Georgeville series, these are Alamance, Badin, Goldston, Gundy, Kirksey, Nanford, and Tarrus series. Alamance and Kirksey soils have a fine-silty particle size control section. Goldston soils are loamy-skeletal. Badin and Gundy soils have mixed mineralogy. Nanford and Tarrus soils have a depth to weathered bedrock of 40 to 60 inches.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used primarily for cotton, small grains, corn, tobacco, hay, and pasture. Forested areas are dominantly in loblolly or shortleaf pine with some mixed hardwood.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Statesville Area, North Carolina; 1901

REMARKS: The 1979 revision used the linear relationship between the thickness of the clayey Bt horizon and depth to the bottom of the clayey Bt horizon as series criteria instead of solum thickness.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to 9 inches (A and E horizons)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 48 inches (BE, Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3 horizons)

MLRA = 136 SIR = SC0017

ADDITIONAL DATA:

TABULAR SERIES DATA:

SOI-5  Soil Name   Slope  Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip  Elevation
SC0017 HERNDON     2- 25   59- 66  190-225  37- 60   300-1100 

SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness SC0017 NONE >6.0 - >60

SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- SC0017 0- 9 ST-L ST-SIL ST-VFSL 10- 30 75- 95 5-27 5- 11 SC0017 0- 9 L SIL VFSL 0- 2 85-100 5-27 5- 11 SC0017 0- 9 SICL 0- 2 95-100 27-35 5- 11 SC0017 9-48 SICL SIC C 0- 1 90-100 35-60 8- 12 SC0017 48-68 SIL L FSL 0- 2 85-100 10-27 6- 10

SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll SC0017 0- 9 4.5- 6.5 .5-1. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0017 0- 9 4.5- 6.5 .5-1. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0017 0- 9 4.5- 6.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0017 9-48 3.6- 5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0017 48-68 3.6- 5.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.