LOCATION IRONGATE VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, siliceous, active, mesic Fluvaquentic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Irongate on a 2 percent slope in a fescue pasture at an elevation of 950 feet. (Colors are for moist soil, unless otherwise stated)
Ap1--0 to 6 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable, non sticky and non plastic; many very fine and fine, and few medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Ap2--6 to 13 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable, non sticky and non plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon ranges from 10 to 24 inches)
Bw1--13 to 19 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and non plastic; few very fine and fine roots; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--19 to 29 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions and few fine faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) redox concentrations; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw3--29 to 41 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and non plastic; few very fine and fine roots; few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions and few fine faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) redox concentrations; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. Combined thickness of the B horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches)
C1--41 to 49 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; massive; very friable, non sticky and non plastic; few very fine roots; many fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
C2--49 to 65 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; massive; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; many fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) redox concentrations; few medium charcoal fragments; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Botetourt County, Virginia; about 3 miles northwest of Eagle Rock, 3/4 mile southeast of the intersection of VA-685 and VA-818, 330 feet northeast of VA-685.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 50 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rounded gravel and cobbles of sandstone, chert, and quartzite range from 0 to 15 percent in the A and Ap horizons, and from 0 to 35 percent in the Bw and C horizons. Reaction is moderately acid to mildly alkaline throughout.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is fine sandy loam, loam or silt loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Redoximorphic features are in shades of gray and brown. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or silt loam.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6. Redoximorphic features are in shades of gray and brown. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam or silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: The Gladehill series is the only other soil in this family. Gladehill soils do not have redoximorphic depletions with chroma of 2 or less within 30 inches of the mineral soil surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Irongate soils formed in alluvial materials from limestone, sandstone, siltstone, shale and quartzite of Cambrian, Ordivician, Silurian, and Devonian ages and are on flood plains along the major rivers and their tributaries. Slope gradients range from 0 to 4 percent. Climate is temperate and humid. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 54 to 57 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 48 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Gladehill soils, are the Berks, Botetourt, Carbo, Dekalb, Derroc, Frederick, Shottower, and Wolfgap soils. The Botetourt soils are on low terraces and second bottoms, and have an argillic horizon. The Berks, Carbo, and Dekalb soils are well drained, shallower to bedrock, and are on uplands. Derroc soils are loamy-skeletal and are well-drained. The Frederick and Shottower soils are well drained, have redder more clayey subsoils, and are on uplands. The Wolfgap soils do not have redoximorphic depletions with chroma of 2 or less within 30 inches of the mineral soil surface; in addition they are fine-loamy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff potential is negligible to very low. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately rapid in the substratum. In undisturbed areas the depth to an apparent seasonal high water table ranges from 16 to 30 inches for two to four weeks following heavy rains or snow melt during the winter months.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for row crops, hay and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 128; Virginia and possibly West Virginia. The soils are of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Botetourt County, Virginia, 1990.
REMARKS: Irongate soils have been included in the Philo and Lobdell series in the past.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Mollic epipedon, the part from 0 to 13 inches. (Ap horizon)
b. Cambic horizon, the part from 13 to 41 inches. (Bw horizon)
c. Irregular decrease in organic carbon with increasing depth.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. (PSA, chemistry and mineralogy)