LOCATION MAYMEAD                 TN+NC

Established Series
MSH, BPS/ Rev. MDJ
11/2013

MAYMEAD SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Maymead loam, on the lower part of a mountain slope--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated.)

Oi--0 to 10 cm (0 to 4 inches); slightly decomposed organic mat of hardwood and rhododendron leaves.

A1--10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 inch); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; about 10 percent feldspathic quartzite fragments by volume, across; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary

A2--13 to 23 cm (5 to 9 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; about 10 percent feldspathic quartzite fragments by volume, strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizons ranges from 2 to 38 cm, 1 to 15 inches thick)

BA--23 to 38 cm (9 to 15 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 10 percent feldspathic quartzite fragments by volume, strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 15 cm, 0 to 6 inches thick)

Bw1--38 to 122 cm (15 to 48 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) cobbly loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; about 20 percent feldspathic quartzite fragments by volume, strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bw2--122 to 167 cm (48 to 66 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) cobbly loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; about 35 percent feldspathic quartzite fragments by volume, strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons ranges from 76 to 152 cm, 30 to 60 inches)

R--167 cm (66 inches); unweathered, hard feldspathic quartzite bedrock; thin seams of yellowish brown sandy loam material in cracks.

TYPE LOCATION:
County: Unicoi
State: Tennessee
USGS Quadrangle: Huntdale
Latitude: 36.111558 N (NAD 27)
Longitude: 82.368397 W (NAD 27)
Directions to the pedon: 0.64 km (.4 mile) northwest of Indian Grave Gap; 15 m (50 feet) south of road.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum Thickness: 102 to 178 cm (40 to 70 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 102 cm (40 inches), typically more than 152 cm (60 inches) to weathered (paralithic) or unweathered bedrock (lithic).
Depth Class: Very deep.
Rock Fragment content: 5 to 35 percent, by volume, in the A horizon(s), typically 15 to 35 percent throughout the control section, but ranges up to 50 percent.
Soil Reaction: Strongly acid or very strongly acid, except where limed.
Content of Mica: None or few throughout.

Range of Individual Horizons:
A or Ap horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 4. Where value and chroma is 3 or less, surface horizons are less than 18 cm (7 inches) thick.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam.

BA or E horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam.

Bw or BC horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 8.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam. Some pedons have thin lenses of sandy clay loam or clay loam.

C horizon (where it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 4 to 8; or is multicolored in shades of yellow, brown, or gray.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or coarse sandy loam.
Non-redoximorphic mottles (if they occur)--shades of brown, yellow, or gray mottles of relic rock material are in some pedons.

R horizon (Where it occurs):
Bedrock kind--unweathered low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as feldspathic quartzite
Bedrock hardness--Very strongly cemented to indurated
Fracture interval--greater than 10 cm (4 inches)
Excavation difficulty--Very high or extremely high

COMPETING SERIES:
Bannertown soils--are found in the Piedmont, MLRA 136.
Cheshire soils--form is glacial till.
Devotion soils--are found in the Piedmont, MLRA 136.
Ditney soils--have lithic contact, depths of 51 to 102 cm, (20 to 40 inches).
Fedscreek--form from Pennsylvanian age shale, siltstone, and sandstone.
Marrowbone soils--form from Pennsylvanian age shale and sandstone.
Mine Run soils--are residuum from gneiss in the Piedmont, MLRA 136.
Tipsaw soils-are residuum from siltstone and shale in southern Indiana.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRA using this series: Southern Blue Ridge--130B.
Landscape: Low and intermediate mountains and intermountain hills.
Landform: Coves, colluvial fans, and sloping drainageways.
Geomorphic Component: Mountain flank, mountainbase, and base slope.
Hillslope Profile Position: Foot slope and toe slope.
Parent Material Origin: Low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as feldspathic quartzite, greywacke, metasandstone, and phyllite.
Parent Material Kind: Colluvium.
Slope: 8 to 50 percent.
Elevation: 366 to 1402 meters; (1,200 to 4,600 feet).
Frost-free period: 130 to 210 days.
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 8 to 14 degrees C (46 to 57 degrees F).
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1,372 millimeters (54 inches) near the Type Location.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Brookshire soils--are on related landforms and positions and have a darker surface layer.
Lonon soils--are on related landforms and positions and have an argillic horizon.
Santeetlah soils--are on related landforms and positions and have thicker, darker surface layers.
Spivey soils--are on related landforms and positions and are loamy-skeletal with thicker, darker surface layers.
Brasstown soils--are on ridges and side slopes.
Cataska, soils--are on ridges and side slopes and are moderately deep to bedrock
Chestoa soils--are on ridges and side slopes and have thicker, darker surface layers and occur on ridges and side slopes of cool, north to east facing aspects.
Ditney soils--are on ridges and side slopes moderately deep to bedrock
Jeffrey soils--are on ridges and side slopes and have thicker, darker surface layers and occur on ridges and side slopes of cool, north to east facing aspects.
Junaluska soils--are on ridges and side slopes moderately deep to bedrock
Northcove soils--are on related landscapes and are loamy-skeletal.
Snowbird soils--are on ridges and side slopes has an argillic horizon and have thicker, darker surface layers and occur on ridges and side slopes of cool, north to east facing aspects.
Soco soils--are on ridges and side slopes moderately deep (100 to 150 cm) to bedrock
Stecoah soils--are on ridges and side slopes and are deep (100 to 150 cm) to bedrock.
Sylco soils--are on ridges and side slopes moderately deep to bedrock
Tsali soils--are on ridges and side slopes and are shallow to bedrock.
Unicoi soils--are on ridges and side slopes and are shallow.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class: Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep
Index Surface Runoff: Low runoff where forest litter has not been disturbed or only partially removed; low or medium runoff where litter has been removed.
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: High
Permeability Class (obsolete): Moderate rapid
Shrink-swell Class: Low
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None

USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland, less often wildlife plots, pasture, hayland, and rarely cultivated crops
Dominant Vegetation: Where wooded--Yellow-poplar, eastern hemlock, eastern white pine, northern red oak, sweet birch, black cherry, red maple, Fraser magnolia, Cucumbertree, and ash. Elevations above 1,200 meters (4,000 feet), yellow birch replaces yellow-poplar as a common tree. Common understory plants include rhododendron, striped maple, serviceberry, Carolina silverbell, trillium, Solomon's seal, dog hobble, hay scented fern, yellow mandarin, woodfern, and New York fern.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Southern Blue Ridge (MLRA 130-B), dominantly the Unaka Mountain Range of Tennessee and North Carolina; possibly Virginia.
Extent: Moderate--between 10,000 and 100,000 acres.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Unicoi County, Tennessee; 1980.

REMARKS:
The 2/99 revision updates the classification to the 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy. This soil is placed in the semiactive CEC activity class based on comparison with associated soils such as Ditney. 11/13 revision verifies classification--11th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy changes format to semitab, and minor changes to Range in Characteristics.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon--the zone from 10 to 38 cm, 4 to 15 inches (A1 and A2 horizons)
b. Cambic horizon--the zone from 38 to 167cm, 15 to 66 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
c. Lithic contact--the contact with unweathered rock at 167 cm, 66 inches (upper boundary of the R horizon).

ADDITIONAL DATA:
Soil Characterization Data is available from the Kellogg Soil Survey Laboratory (KSSL) website: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/querypage.aspx

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.