LOCATION HUNTINGTON WV+AL IL IN KY MD MI OH PA TN VA
Established Series
Rev. DJB-JRT
04/2021
HUNTINGTON SERIES
The Huntington series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in alluvium derived from shale, sandstone, and limestone on river valley flood plains. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent but are mainly 0 to 5 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1300 mm, and mean annual temperature is about 14 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Fluventic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Huntington silt loam, occasionally flooded on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted)
Ap--0 to 28 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many medium roots and many fine roots; slightly acid, pH 6.3; clear wavy boundary. (25 to 36 centimeters thick)
Bw1--28 to 56 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; neutral, pH 7.0; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--56 to 79 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common faint dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt coats on faces of peds; moderately acid, pH 5.8; clear wavy boundary.
Bw3--79 to 112 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt coats on faces of peds; moderately acid, pH 5.8; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw4--112 to 152 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common medium pores; common medium worm casts; moderately acid, pH 5.8; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw horizons is 25 to 150 centimeters)
C--152 to 165 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; massive; friable; thin lenses of fine sandy loam and loamy fine sand; neutral, pH 7.0.
TYPE LOCATION: Mason County, West Virginia; about 5 miles southwest of the intersection of highways US-35 and WV-2 and 0.5 mile west of WV-2; Gallipolis, Ohio USGS topographic quadrangle; lat. 38 degrees 47 minutes 16 seconds N. and long. 82 degrees 12 minutes 51 seconds W., WGS84.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 100 to 175 cm. Depth to the top of the cambic horizon is 25 to 67 cm. Coarse fragment content is less than 3 percent in the solum and from 0 to 14 percent in the C horizon. Reaction is moderately acid to moderately alkaline throughout.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3 (5 or less dry), and chroma of 1 through 3. It is most commonly silt loam, but the range includes silty clay loam and loam.
The AB or BA horizon (where present) has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3 in ped interiors. Ped surface colors are similar to the matrix colors of the A or Ap horizon.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Ped coatings commonly have value of 3 but range from 2 through 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. Clay content averages less than 30 percent.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Ped coatings commonly have value of 3 but range from 2 through 4. It is fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, silt loam, and silty clay loam, and can include thin lenses of fine sand and loamy fine sand. It can be stratified. The C horizon typically contains more sand than the Bw horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the
Dapue series. Dapue soils have a thicker solum and do not have moderately alkaline or slightly alkaline reaction.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Huntington soils are on nearly level flood plains of river valleys. Slope gradient is dominantly 0 to 5 percent but ranges up to 15 percent. These soils formed in silty alluvium derived from shale, sandstone, and limestone. Elevations are 50 to 550 meters. Mean annual temperature ranges from 8 to 15 degrees C., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 890 to 1400 mm.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Allegheny,
Ashton,
Chagrin,
Dunning,
Gallipolis,
Kanawha,
Lindside,
Melvin,
Monongahela,
Newark,
Sciotoville and
Wheeling soils. The Allegheny, Gallipolis, Monongahela, Sciotoville, and Wheeling soils have argillic horizons and are on stream terraces above flood plain elevations. Ashton and Kanawha soils have argillic horizons and are on low stream terraces or high flood plains. Occupying similar flood plain levels as the Huntington soils are the poorly drained Dunning and Melvin soils, the moderately well drained Lindside soils, and the somewhat poorly drained Newark soils. The well drained Chagrin soils also occupy similar floodplain levels but have more sand in the subsoil than the Huntington soils and lack a mollic epipedon.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high. Flooding frequency is rare to occasional with brief duration, and typically occurs in winter and/or spring. It is not subject to ponding.
USE AND VEGETATION: Huntington soils are mostly used for crops or pasture. Principle crops are corn and soybeans. Native vegetation consisted of flood-tolerant hardwood species such as eastern cottonwood, American sycamore, silver maple, and black willow.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series concept was developed in MLRA 126, but it also occurs in MLRAs 111A, 114A, 114B, 115A, 120A, 120B, 120C, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 128, 147, and 148. These soils are extensive, with about 290,000 acres of the series mapped. Most areas in Alabama and Tennessee mapped as Huntington were correlated in pre-Soil Taxonomy soil surveys and the series extent will decrease as these areas are updated utilizing thermic series.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wheeling area, West Virginia, 1906.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Mollic epipedon--the zone from 0 to 28 cm (Ap horizon)
Cambic horizon--the zone from 28 to 152 cm (Bw1, Bw2, Bw3, and Bw4 horizons)
The 3/2021 revision relocates the type location (previous type location was disturbed due to urbanization), updates the competing series section, and converts units from English to metric.
Previous revisions: 12/1999-LDS, WFH; 02/2009-MDJ
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.