LOCATION MILLHEIM PA+MDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Millheim silt loam, on a 3 percent northwest facing slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; dark grayish brown (10HR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine and medium blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 17 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) silty clay; moderate fine and medium blocky structure; firm, sticky and plastic; few faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 13 inches thick)
Bt2--17 to 34 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay; strong medium blocky structure; firm, sticky and plastic; common prominent clay films on faces of peds and in pores; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (9 to 25 inches thick)
BC--34 to 42 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) and very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silty clay; moderate medium blocky structure; friable, sticky and plastic; common distinct clay films in root channels and very few faint clay films in pores; moderately acid; 10 percent rock fragments. (0 to 14 inches thick)
Cr--42 to 46 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) calcareous shale bedrock, with some soil materials in rock partings.
TYPE LOCATION: Centre County, Pennsylvania; Gregg Township, 1/2 mile south of PA route 45 on LR 14043, 200 feet northwest of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 50 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 3 1/2 to 5 feet. Rock fragments of shale or thin bedded limestone range from 0 to 25 percent in the upper part of the solum, from 5 to 35 percent in the lower part of the solum and from 10 to 60 percent in the C horizon. Reaction in the unlimed soil is very strongly acid and moderately acid in the upper part of the solum, and moderately acid to neutral in the lower part of the solum and the C horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. Dry color value is 6 or 7. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR. The Bt1 horizon has value and chroma of 4. The Bt2 and BC horizons have value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2. Fine-earth textures are silty clay loam, silty clay and clay.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 4 and chroma of 2. Fine-earth texture is silty clay loam, silty clay or clay.
COMPETING SERIES: Alexandria, Edom, Jessup, Lairdsville, Lucus, Morley, Pate, Saylesville, Schoharie and St. Clair soils are in the same family. Alexandria, Jessup, Lucus, Morley, Saylesville, and St. Clair soils formed in glacial till or lacustrine materials and are deeper than 60 inches to bedrock. Edom soils have chroma of more than 2 in the lower part of the B horizon. Lairdsville soils have bedrock between 20 and 40 inches. Pate soils have sola thicker than 50 inches. Schoharie have hues redder than 7.5YR.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Millheim soils are on nearly level to moderately steep convex upland slopes. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Millheim soils formed in residuum from dark colored calcareous carbonaceous shale interbedded with some limestone. Climate is temperate and humid. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 42 inches; mean annual air temperature ranges from 48 to 55 degrees F.; and the frost free season ranges from 150 to 170 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Berks, Clarksburg, Opequon, Penlaw as well as the competing Edom and closely related Hagerstown and Hublersburg soils are on nearby uplands. Berks soils do not have argillic horizons and have bedrock at a depth of between 20 and 40 inches. Clarksburg and Penlaw soils have fragipans. Hagerstown soils have mixed minerology. Hublersburg soils have less than 35 percent base saturation. Opequan soils have bedrock at a depth of 10 to 20 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow to very rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 70 percent of Millheim soils are in cropland, and the remainder is in woodland, pasture and non-farm uses. Wooded area are composed mostly of mixed hardwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Valley and Ridge section of Pennsylvania and Maryland. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Center County, Pennsylvania, 1985.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 9 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 34 inches (Bt horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: The mineralogy family of illitic is based on laboratory data from two pedons (S630PA-14-3 and S63-PA-14-4) sampled in Centre County.