LOCATION MAURERTOWN VA+PA
Established Series
LWH-JHW/Rev. JCB, CRS, JRT
08/2021
MAURERTOWN SERIES
Soils of the Maurertown series are very deep and poorly drained. They formed in clayey alluvial deposits on low stream terraces and flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Endoaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Maurertown silty clay loam, on a nearly level area in a pasture on the flood plain of the Shenandoah River. (Colors are for moist soil)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam; weak very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; Common fine and few medium discontinuous pores; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Btg1--6 to 13 inches; olive gray (5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; common fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; many fine and medium and common coarse continuous pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Btg2--13 to 27 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) silty clay; many fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine roots; common fine and few medium discontinuous pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine manganese concretions; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btg3--27 to 43 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) silty clay loam; many medium and coarse prominent olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak medium prismatic structure parting to moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine roots; common fine and few medium discontinuous pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine manganese concretions; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btg4--43 to 65 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay; many medium and coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) mottles; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine roots; few fine discontinuous pores; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine manganese concretions; moderately acid. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizon is 20 to 65 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Shenandoah County, Virginia; about .5 mile south of Zion Church at the intersection of VA-645 and VA-654, 2,000 feet east of VA- 645.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock or unconforming substrata is more than 60 inches. The soil ranges from moderately acid through neutral.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.
The BAg horizon, where present, is neutral or has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 2. It is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam.
The Btg horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 0 through 2. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Some pedons have a clay loam texture in the upper part of the Bt horizon.
The C horizon has a range for color and texture the same as that given for the Bt horizon. Gravel or cobble-size rock fragments make up 0 to 15 percent of the C horizon of some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Albano,
Pandora, and
Watchung series in the same family. Albano soils have sola 20 to 40 inches thick. Pandora soils have free carbonates. Watchung soils have moderate to moderately slow permeability and in addition have rock fragments from basic rocks.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Maurertown soils are on low stream terraces and flood plains of slackwater areas along streams and intermittent drainageways. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. The soils formed in clayey alluvial deposits. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 40 inches and mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing
Toms and
Tygart soils, these are the well drained
Berks,
Gilpin, and
Weikert soils on nearby uplands and the
Allegheny,
Cotaco, and
Monongahela soils on adjacent terraces. Except for Tygart and Toms, all of these soils have less clay and less gray colors throughout than Maurertown soils. In addition, Berks and Weikert soils are shallower to bedrock and have more rock fragments, and Monongahela soils have a fragipan.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained with slow runoff. Permeability in the Btg horizon is very slow. An apparent high water table ranges from the surface to a depth of 6 inches from November through June of most years. Flooding ranges from none to common.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in pasture. Native vegetation is mostly red maple, sweetgum, water oak, and yellow-poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia and possibly Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Shenandoah County, Virginia, 1988.
REMARKS: 1. These soils have previously been included in the Purdy series.
2. The major diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to a depth of 6 inches (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 6 to 65 inches (Btg horizon).
SIR = VA0221
MLRA = 147
REVISED = 4/2/93, MHC
ADDITIONAL DATA: Particle size, chemical, and clay mineralogy data from the site location are available from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
8/2021 revision: expands slope gradient range from '0 to 2' percent to '0 to 3'.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.