LOCATION LAIDIG                  WV+MD OH PA VA

Established Series
ART-WFH-AWD/Rev. JCB, CRS, JRT
10/2021

LAIDIG SERIES


The Laidig series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in colluvium from sandstone, siltstone, and some shale. They are gently sloping to very steep soils on benches and foot slopes. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid above the fragipan and moderately slow or slow in the fragipan. Slope ranges from 0 to 55 percent. Near the type location, the mean annual precipitation is about 34 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 51 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, active, mesic Typic Fragiudults

TYPICAL PEDON: Laidig very channery loam, wooded. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Oe--0 to 1 inch; partially decomposed leaves and roots.

A--1 to 4 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) very channery loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 45 percent sandstone fragments; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)

E--4 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very channery sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 35 percent sandstone fragments; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)

BE--6 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 25 percent sandstone fragments; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)

Bt1--15 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky; common medium roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; 35 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--24 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky; common medium roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; 30 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt3--33 to 37 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery loam; few medium light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky; few medium roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 25 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 42 inches.)

Btx1--37 to 47 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery sandy loam; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy; firm to very firm and brittle; few medium roots along faces of prisms; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay films on faces of prisms; 25 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Btx2--47 to 62 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery sandy loam; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy; very firm and brittle; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay films on faces of prisms; 25 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.(Combined thickness of the Btx horizon 16 to 52 inches.)

C--62 to 73 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very channery loam; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions and yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; massive separating to weak medium plates; firm; 35 percent sandstone fragments; very strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Hardy County, West Virginia; about 30 yards west of Hunkerson Gap Road and 2.3 miles east of its junction with Route 259.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 50 to 80 inches or more. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 30 to 50 inches. The particle-size control section averages less than 35 percent rock fragments. Rock fragments range from 5 to 50 percent in individual subhorizons of the A, E, BE, BA and Bt horizons; 15 to 70 percent in individual subhorizons of the Btx horizon; and 20 to 70 percent in the C horizon. Rock fragments are mostly sandstone but include siltstone and shale. Rock fragments include channers, cobbles, flagstones, and stones. Unlimed soils range from extremely acid through strongly acid throughout.

The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. The Ap horizon, where present, has chroma of 2 to 8. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loamy fine sand, or silt loam.

The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loamy fine sand, and less commonly silt loam.

Some pedons have an AB horizon. It has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam.

The BE horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or silt loam.

Some pedons have a BA horizon. It has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 4. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, or silt loam.

The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Subhorizons immediately above the Btx horizon may have hue of 5YR. It may have redoximorphic features at a depth of 30 inches or more below the soil surface. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or silt loam. The Bt horizon has weak or moderate, fine or medium subangular blocky structure.

The Btx horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It has high and low chroma redoximorphic features. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or silt loam. It has weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to platy or subangular blocky.

The C horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 to 8 and has high and low chroma redoximorphic features. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or silt loam.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Hogcreek and Yelton series in the same family. Hogcreek soils have bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Yelton soils have less than 10 percent rock fragments above the fragipan. Marbie, Moomaw, Neabsco, Tarklin, and Teddy series in a related family.Marbie, Neabsco, and Teddy soils are moderately well drained and have a lithologic discontinuity below the fragipan. Additionally, Neabsco soils formed in fluvio-marine sediments on the Coastal Plain and contain rock fragments of mostly rounded quartz gravel. Moomaw soils have fragipans at a depth of 15 to 30 inches. Tarklin soils are moderately well drained, formed in alluvium or colluvium from limestone and contain chert fragments throughout. Additionally, Tarklin soils do not allow 5YR colors in the fragipan. Marbie, Neabsco, Tarklin, and Teddy soils are all in a semiactive CEC class.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Laidig soils are on middle and lower slopes. Slopes are mostly 8 to 55 percent but range from 0 to 55 percent. Laidig soils formed in loamy colluvium, 6 or more feet thick, derived largely from acid gray sandstone with small amounts of siltstone and shale of the adjacent uplands. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 60 inches; mean annual temperature ranges from 50 to 57 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Andover, Berks, Buchanan, Clymer, Dekalb, Gilpin, Hazleton, Lehew, and Weikert soils. The Andover soils are poorly drained and have a fragipan within 16 to 28 inches of the soil surface. Berks, Dekalb, Lehew, and Weikert soils are on uplands and are loamy-skeletal, have bedrock within 40 inches, and do not have fragipans and argillic horizons. Buchanan soils are on lower parts of the landscape and have low chroma mottles in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Clymer soils do not have a fragipan. Gilpin soils do not have a fragipan and have bedrock within 40 inches. Hazleton soils do not have a fragipan and an argillic horizon and are loamy-skeletal.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to very high. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid above the fragipan and moderately slow or slow in the fragipan.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested. Red, white, and chestnut oaks are the most common trees with some sugar maple, beech, and hemlock. A relatively small acreage of these soils is cleared and used for cropland or pasture.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Appalachian Ridge and Valley areas and Allegheny Plateau in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Huntington County, Pennsylvania, 1940.

REMARKS: 1. These soils were originally included in a mixed mineralogy family. 2. Major diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 15 inches (A, E, and BE horizons).
b. Argillic horizon - the zone from 15 to 62 inches (Bt horizon).
c. Fragipan - the zone from 37 to 62 inches (Btx horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA: A coordinated study between the NENTC and the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia was carried out. All NSSL data analyzed indicated siliceous mineralogy.

8/2021 revision: added loamy fine sand to the A and E horizons.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.