LOCATION IRONCITY           TN
Established Series
Rev. DFC-DEL:RPS
01/2004

IRONCITY SERIES


The Ironcity series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on uplands. These soils formed in a silty mantle 2 to 3 feet thick containing fragments of chert and rounded gravel and in the underlying residuum from cherty limestone. Slopes range from 2 to 35 percent. The average annual temperature is about 61 degrees F and the average annual precipitation is about 55 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic Typic Paleudults

TYPICAL PEDON: Ironcity gravelly silt loam--on a slightly convex slope of 10 percent in an oak-hickory woodland at an elevation of 840 feet. (Colors are for moist soil)

A-- 0 to 1 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; many fine pores; 18 percent by volume fragments of chert; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)

E-- 1 to 7 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots, and few coarse roots; many fine pores; 10 percent by volume fragments of chert 0.5 to 3 inches in diameter, 5 percent by volume fragments of chert 3 to 6 inches in diameter; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 11 inches thick)

Bt1-- 7 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR5/6) gravelly silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots, and few coarse roots; many fine pores; 20 percent by volume fragments of chert 0.5 to 2 inches in diameter; few faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2-- 14 to 36 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; about 20 percent by volume light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) slightly brittle pockets surrounding fragments of chert; common fine and medium roots, and few coarse roots; common fine pores; 15 percent by volume fragments of chert 0.5 to 3 inches in diameter, 15 percent by volume fragments of chert 3 to 12 inches in diameter; common faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 17 to 35 inches)

2Bt3-- 36 to 52 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), and red (2.5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay; moderate medium angular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent by volume fragments of chert 0.5 to 3 inches in diameter, 5 percent by volume fragments of chert 3 to 6 inches in diameter; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

2Bt4-- 52 to 60 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6), strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly silty clay; weak medium angular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 45 percent by volume fragments of chert 0.5 to 3 inches in diameter, 5 percent by volume fragments of chert 3 to 6 inches in diameter; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (combined thickness of the 2Bt ranges from 30 to 60 or more inches)

TYPE LOCATION: Wayne County, Tennessee. 8.0 miles east of Collinwood on California Branch Road; 0.95 miles northwest on Johnson Hollow Road; 20 feet south of road; Latitude-35 deg., 09 min., 50 sec. N, Longitude-87 deg., 36 min., 12 sec., W.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to the 2Bt horizon commonly ranges from about 24 to 40 inches but is as deep as 45 inches in some pedons. Fragments of chert 0.25 to 3 inches across range from 16 to 25 percent in A and E horizons, from 16 to 35 percent in the Bt horizon, and from 16 to 50 percent in the 2Bt horizon. Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid, except the surface layer is less acid where limed.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. In some cultivated pedons the A and E horizons have been mixed to form an Ap horizon, 4 to 10 inches thick, that has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. The fine earth fraction is silt loam.

The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. The fine earth fraction is silt loam.

The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 6 to 8. The fine earth fraction is silt loam or silty clay loam. The clay content is commonly about 30 percent but ranges from 25 to 35 percent. The sand content is less than 20 percent and the silt content is more than 45 percent. In most pedons, near the base of the Bt horizon, there are peds or pockets that exhibits some brittleness in up to 40 percent of the horizon. The brittle areas are commonly yellowish brown, light yellowish brown, or pale brown.

The 2Bt horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 6 or 8, or it is mottled in shades of brown and red. The fine earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay, clay loam, or clay. Clay content is commonly about 40 percent but ranges from 35 to 50 percent.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Addielou, Allen, Avilla, Bama, Etowah, Holston, Leesburg, Minvale, Nella, Noboco, Octavia, Orangeburg, Pikeville, Ruston and Warnock series. Addielou, Bama, Orangeburg, and Ruston soils do not have coarse fragments and have more than 15 percent fine and coarser sand in the argillic horizon. Allen, Leesburg, Minvale, Nella and Pikeville soils do not have lithologic discontinuities within the solum. Avilla, Etowah and Holston soils formed in loamy allivium or colluvium and do not have lithologic discontinuities within the solum. Noboco, Octavia and Warnock soils have seasonal high water tables within 60 inches of the soil surface.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ironcity soils are on slightly convex ridgetops and side slopes. The slope gradient commonly ranges from 5 to 12 percent but the complete range is 5 to 20 percent. The soils formed in a silty mantle 2 to 3 feet thick containing fragments of chert, and including rounded gravel from marine deposits, and in the underlying residuum from cherty limestone.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Bodine and Mountview soils. Bodine soils are on more convex steeper landscapes commonly below Ironcity soils. Mountview soils are on more linear gently sloping landscapes commonly above Ironcity soils.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to high and permeability is moderately slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil are used for pasture and woodland. Some areas are used to produce corn and hay. The native vegetation was mixed hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Highland Rim of Tennessee and possibly northern Alabama. It is of moderate extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wayne County, Tennessee; 1989.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon -- 0 to 7 inches (A and E horizons)

Argillic horizon -- 7 to 60 inches (Bt and 2Bt horizons)

Lithologic discontinuity at a depth of 36 inches

This series was formerly mapped as cherty and shallow phases of the Mountview series.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.