LOCATION LAWSHE OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Aquertic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Lawshe silty clay loam - on a 15 percent north-facing foot slope having considerable micro-relief in an old cultivated field reverting to woodland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).
Ap--0 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay loam, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many roots; 1 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) limestone fragments; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
AB--6 to 12 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) dry; moderate very fine and fine angular blocky structure; firm, plastic, sticky; many faint very dark gray (10YR 3/1) organic coatings on faces of peds; common roots; 1 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) limestone fragments; mildly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--12 to 16 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay; common medium dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) mottles; moderate fine angular blocky structure; firm, plastic, sticky; common distinct dark gray (10YR 4/1) organic coatings on faces of peds; few roots; 5 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) limestone fragments; mildly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--16 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay; common medium distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm, plastic, sticky; common distinct dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) coatings on vertical faces of peds; few roots; 10 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) limestone fragments; slight effervescence; mildly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bw3--22 to 25 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silty clay; common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and gray (N 6/0) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, plastic, sticky; common distinct dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) coatings on vertical faces of peds; few roots; 10 percent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) limestone fragments; slight effervescence, moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 6 to 20 inches).
BC--25 to 37 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silty clay; many fine distinct light olive gray (5Y 6/2) and common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) mottles; weak coarse prismatic structure; very firm; many distinct light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) coatings on vertical faces of peds; few medium very pale brown (10YR 7/3) soft accumulations (calcium carbonate); strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
C--37 to 50 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) silty clay; common medium prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) mottles; massive; firm, plastic; few medium black (10YR 2/1) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); 2 percent platy shale fragments; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cr--50 to 60 inches; olive (5Y 5/3) and light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) calcareous soft shale with thin strata of limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Adams County, Ohio; Bratton Township, about 2.7 miles east-northeast of Tranquility, Ohio; 1100 feet north and 265 feet east of the intersection of Township Road 124 B and County Road 100.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the mollic epipedon is 7 to 16 inches, but is less than 10 only where thickness of the solum is less than 30 inches. Depth to the paralithic contact ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Rock fragments (dominantly limestone) range from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the Ap horizon and the upper part of the Bw horizon and from 0 to 15 percent in the lower part of the Bw and C horizons. Some pedons have free carbonates throughout the solum.
The Ap and AB horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3 (4 or 5 dry), and chroma of 1 to 3. The Ap horizon is silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay; and the AB horizon is silty clay or clay. Flaggy analogs of these textures are permitted. The Ap and AB horizons are neutral or mildly alkaline.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y; value of 4 to 6; chroma of 2 to 6; and low chroma mottles within a depth of 16 inches (hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, and chroma of 2 or 3 is not common in the upper part). It commonly is silty clay or clay, but flaggy analogues of these textures are permitted in the upper part. It is neutral to moderately alkaline in the upper part, and mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the lower part. Some pedons have a 2Bw horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, 5Y, or 5G; value of 5 or 6; chroma of 1 to 4; and few to many mottles. It is clay or silty clay.
Bedrock is calcareous soft shale with thin strata of limestone. It commonly occurs in shades of gray, olive, or green.
COMPETING SERIES: Snead is the only other series in the family. Snead soils have a paralithic contact between depths of 20 to 40 inches and do not have a high proportion of interstratified clay minerals. Corydon, Fairmount, Gasconade, Millsdale, Otway, Sees, and Woolper series are in related families. All except Sees and Woolper have bedrock at a depth of 40 inches or less. Sees soils have a dark surface of insufficient thickness to qualify for a mollic epipedon, have a thicker solum and have an argillic horizon. Woolper soils have a thicker solum and have an argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lawshe soils are on gently sloping to steep uplands. They are on long foot slopes that have a plane or concave surface and are below steep areas with hard limestone bedrock. Slope gradients range from 2 to 25 percent. The soils formed in clayey colluvium and residuum weathered from interbedded calcareous Ordovician shale and some thin layers of limestone. Seep spots occur in some places, often at the head of drainageways. Average annual precipitation is about 40 to 45 inches, and average annual temperature is about 53 to 55 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Aaron, Bratton, Eden, Faywood, Nicholson, and Opequon soils, all of which have an ochric epipedon; in addition, Bratton soils are moderately deep to limestone, and Nicholson soils are fine-silty and have a fragipan. Aaron, Bratton, and Nicholson soils are on broad summits. Brushcreek soils are on similar landscapes, and in some places are in a complex with Lawshe soils. Eden and Faywood soils are on steeper side slopes, shoulders, or narrow ridge crests and are moderately deep to shale and limestone. Opequon soils are on sloping to steep side slopes above Lawshe soils and are shallow to limestone.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is very slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Lawshe are in pasture, hayland, and woodland. Some areas are in cropland. Principal crops are corn, winter wheat, and tobacco. Cedar trees are common in many places. Native vegetation was tall prairie grass.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Ohio and possibly northern Kentucky. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Highland County, Ohio, 1973.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: mollic epipedon - from the surface to a depth of about 12 inches; cambic horizon - the zone from about 12 inches to 37 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for the Lawshe series in Ohio is available for profile AD-S25.