LOCATION LOYSTON TN+GA
Established Series
NTH, JYM/Rev. MDJ
12/2014
LOYSTON SERIES
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, active, thermic Lithic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Loyston flaggy clay loam, in an area of Loyston-Nonaburg-Rock outcrop complex, 35 to 80 percent slopes, flaggy. Colors are for moist soil.
A--0 to 3 cm (0 to 1 inch); brown (10YR 4/3) flaggy clay loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; few very fine and fine roots; 20 percent flagstones and channers; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 4 inches thick)
BA--3 to 7 cm (1 to 3) inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine, medium, and coarse roots; 20 percent channers; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
Bt--7 to 25 cm (3 to 10 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery clay; moderate fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine, medium, and coarse roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; 30 percent channers and flagstones; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 18 inches thick)
Cr--25 to 38 cm (10 to 15 inches); weathered shaly limestone. (0 to 5 inches thick)
R--38 to 50 cm (15 to 20) inches; hard shaly limestone
TYPE LOCATION:
County: Knox
State: Tennessee
USGS Quadrangle: Big Ridge Park
Latitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): 36.153056
Longitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): -83.933889
Directions to the pedon: From the intersection of Highways 441 (Broadway) and 33 (Maynardville Pike), take Highway 33 north 5.7 miles and turn left on Loyston Road. Go 0.9 mile and turn left on Thomas Weaver Road. From the intersection, go 1.1 miles to where the power line crosses the road. The site is 2,200 feet south 75 degrees east of where the power line crosses the road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness: 20 to 50 cm (8 to 20 inches)
Depth to Lithic Contact: 20 to 50 cm (8 to 20 inches)
Depth Class: shallow
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: more than 180 cm (6 feet)
Rock Fragment Content: Channers, gravels, flagstones, or cobbles range from 0 to 50 percent in the surface layer, and from about 5 to 35 percent in the subsoil
Soil Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline
Range of Individual Horizons:
A horizon:
Color -- hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4
Texture (fine earth fraction) - clay loam, silty clay loam, or silt loam
Some pedons have a BA or other transition horizon described. Features are similar to adjacent horizons.
Bt horizon:
Color -- hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine earth fraction) -- clay, silty clay, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Mottles (where present) -- shades of brown, red, olive, or gray
Cr horizon (where present):
Weathered bedrock that can be removed with hand tools
R layer:
Hard, relatively un-weathered bedrock
Transitional horizons occur in some pedons that have properties and features similar to adjacent horizons.
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no other series in this family. Series in closely related families include:
Nonaburg soils -- residuum from interbedded shale and limestone; lack a lithic contact within 20 inches
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRA(s) using this series: 128 (Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys)
Landscape: river valleys
Landform: ridges
Geomorphic Component: crests, sideslopes, nose slopes
Hillslope Profile Position: summits, shoulders, and backslopes
Parent Material Origin: residuum
Parent Material Kind: interbedded shale and limestone or calcareous siltstone, shale, or mudstone
Slope: 6 to 80 percent
Elevation: 225 to 650 meters
Frost-free period: 175 to 200 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 8.3 to 21.7 degrees C
Mean Annual Precipitation: 765 to 1999 mm
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Nonaburg soils -- similar landscape positions; have weathered shale (paralithic) rather than hard bedrock at depths shallower than 20 inches
Townley soils -- similar landscape positions; have weathered shale bedrock (paralithic) at depths between 20 and 40 inches
Rock outcrops occur in many areas of Loyston soils
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): well drained
Index Surface Runoff: medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: very low
Permeability Class (obsolete): moderately slow
Shrink-Swell Class: low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: Many areas are in woodland; some areas are cleared and used as pasture
Where wooded: vegetation is mixed conifers and hardwoods
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128) in Tennessee, and possibly Georgia and Alabama
Extent: the series is of moderate extent
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Knox County, Tennessee, 2005
REMARKS:
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 cm (0 to 3 inches) (A and BA horizons)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 7 to 25 cm (3 to 10 inches) (Bt horizon)
Paralithic feature - weathered bedrock between 25 and 38 cm (10 and 15 inches) (Cr layer)
Lithic feature - hard bedrock at 38 cm (15 inches) (R layer)
These soils were previously mapped in the Armuchee and Bland series in an older soil survey of Knox County.
This edit adopts the semitabular format, updates the series from Tentative to Established, updates the geographic setting, and includes some minor editorial changes.
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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.