LOCATION LOSTCOVE NCEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, active, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Lostcove very cobbly sandy loam, in a 30 percent south-facing benched mountain cove, elevation 3,880 feet--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 2 inches; partially decomposed deciduous leaves, twigs and roots. (0 to 3 inches thick)
A--2 to 6 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) very cobbly sandy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) dry; weak coarse subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine and coarse roots; many very fine or fine tubular pores; 10 percent by volume stones, 20 percent cobbles, and 10 percent gravel; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 8 inches thick)
BA--6 to 15 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) cobbly loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to moderate medium granular; friable; common very fine or medium roots; many very fine and common medium tubular pores; 10 percent by volume cobbles and 10 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bt--15 to 54 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) extremely cobbly loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; common very fine and medium tubular pores; common faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds; 35 percent by volume cobbles and 40 percent gravel; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (20 to 50 inches thick)
BC--54 to 76 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) extremely gravelly sandy loam; common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and few fine prominent yellowish red (5YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine or fine roots; common very fine or fine tubular pores; common distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay films on lower surfaces of peds and rock fragments; few prominent black (10YR 2/1) iron and manganese stains on rock fragments; 60 percent by volume gravel and 5 percent cobbles; strongly acid. (0 to 35 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Yancey County, North Carolina; about 10.5 miles northwest of Burnsville on U.S. Highway 19W to Ramseytown; 7.9 miles west on U.S. Highway 19W to Spivey Gap and U.S. Forest Service Road 278; 1.5 miles west on FS-278 to wildlife clearing and 0.4 mile on FS-278 to Flattop Mountain Branch; the site is above the road adjacent to the creek; Chestoa USGS Quadrangle, lat. 36 degrees 02 minutes 42 seconds N., and long. 82 degrees 25 minutes 24 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to more than 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Content of mica flakes is none or few throughout. Rock fragments range from 15 to 60 percent by volume in the A, AB, BA, or BE horizons and from 35 to 80 percent in the Bt, BC, CB, or C horizons. Fragments range from gravel to boulder size. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid throughout, except where surface layers have been limed.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 6 and chroma of 1 to 4. Some pedons have an AB horizon that has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. Soil materials in this horizon have value of 4 or more when mixed to a depth of 7 inches. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The E, EB, or BE horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The BA horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y value of 4 to 7 and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, and clay loam.
Some pedons have a 2Bt horizon that has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, and sandy clay loam.
The BC, 2BC, CB, or 2CB horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma 2 to 8. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is sandy clay loam, loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or coarse sandy loam.
The C or 2C horizon, where present, is multicolored or it has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 8 and chroma of 1 to 8 and may be mixed or mottled in shades of these colors. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, and loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bendavis and Bender series in the same family, and the Brushy (T), Grimsley, Joppa, Oriskany and Pocono soils in closely related families. Bendavis, Bender, and Brushy soils have lithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Grimsley soils have lithic or paralithic contact at depths of 40 to 60 inches. Joppa soils have 20 to 40 inch sola and are formed in fluvial outwash on coastal plain terraces. Oriskany soils formed in colluvium from sedimentary rocks and contain fragments of those rocks. Pocono soils contain less than 20 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lostcove soils are in coves, or on benches, foot slopes, toe slopes, and colluvial fans that have a concave surface. Slopes are dominantly 15 to 40 percent, but range from 2 to 95 percent. Elevation ranges from about 1,400 to 3,500 feet. Lostcove soils formed in colluvium derived from materials weathered from low-grade metasedimentary rocks that are low in weatherable minerals. The mean annual air temperature ranges from about 46 to 57 degrees F., the frost free season ranges from about 100 to 150 days, and the average annual rainfall ranges from about 48 to 64 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chestoa, Cataska, Ditney, Harmiller, Jeffrey, Keener, Shinbone, Spivey, Soco, Sylco, Unicoi, and Whiteoak soils. Chestoa, Cataska, Harmiller, Jeffrey, Shinbone, Soco, Sylco, and Unicoi soils formed in residuum on nearby ridges and side slopes. Additionally Cataska and Unicoi soils are in a shallow family and Chestoa, Ditney, Harmiller, Jeffrey, Soco and Sylco soils are moderately deep to lithic or paralithic contact. Keener and Whiteoak soils occur on similar landforms with Lostcove soils but have less rock fragments in the upper layers. Spivey soils are on similar landforms and have an umbric epipedon and mixed mineralogy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very slow or slow runoff where forest litter has not been disturbed, and medium to rapid runoff where litter is significantly disturbed or removed; moderate permeability. These soils receive surface and subsurface water from surrounding uplands, and seeps and springs are common.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Lostcove soils are forested. Common trees are northern red oak, yellow-poplar, red maple, sugar maple, Canadian and Carolina hemlock, eastern white pine, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, white oak, and fraser magnolia.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Carolina, and possibly Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Mitchell County, North Carolina; 1993.
REMARKS: Soils now included with the Lostcove series were previously mapped with Northcove or Spivey soils. Northcove and Spivey soils have a cambic horizon, and in addition, Spivey soils have an umbric epipedon. The total silt content of Lostcove soils ranges from about 35 to 50 percent, the fine silt content is commonly more than 30 percent and the very fine silt content, according to engineering index data, is about 10 to 20 percent.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 15 inches (Oe, A, BA horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 15 to 54 inches (Bt horizon)
Loamy-skeletal feature - average content of more than 35 percent by volume rock fragments in the upper 20 inches of the argillic horizon (Bt horizon)
SIR = NC0246 MLRA = 130
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE; pedon number S88NC-199-011.