LOCATION MIREROCK VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Mirerock loam on a 3 percent slope in a loblolly pine plantation (Colors are for moist soil)
A--0 to 1 inch; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine, medium, and coarse roots; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
E--1 to 5 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) fine sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; common fine continuous tubular pores; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt--5 to 30 inches; variegated, 60 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) an 40 percent pale brown (10YR 6/3) silty clay; strong fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; very sticky, very plastic; common fine and medium roots; common slickensides and many distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine black nodules; neutral acid; clear smooth boundary.
Cr--30 to 60 inches; slightly weathered, chlorite-amphibole schist.
TYPE LOCATION: Amherst County, Virginia. 1.5 miles north 6 degrees of the junction of VA-613 and VA-624, 2.1 mils south 203 degrees of the junction of VA-600 and US-60; 37-31-57 north latitude, 78-59-45 west longitude.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to soft bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is more than 40 inches. Rock fragments of gravel and cobbles range from 0 to 35 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly alkaline throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. It is silt loam or loam. In eroded areas, it is clay loam or silty clay loam.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is fine sandy loam, silt loam or loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is silty clay loam, clay loam, silty clay, or clay. Black to dark browm nodules, concretions, or soft masses are few to many.
The C horizon, where present, is multicolored in shades of brown, yellow, green, black, and white. It is fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam saprolite.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ainsworth, Brevator, Clinton, Hatton, Haymarket, Lunt, and Welda series. The Ainsworth, Clinton, Hatton, and Welda soils dominantly formed in loess and do not have rock fragments of hornblende gneiss, gabbro, diorite, greenstone, or chlorite-amphibole schist. Bonnefemme soils formed in a thin layer of loess and underlying residuum weathered from limestone. Brevator soils formed in local pedisediment and glacial till and have a lithologic discontinuity. Haymarket soils are very deep to bedrock. Lunt soils have rock fragments of quartz.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mirerock soils are on Piedmont or Blue Ridge uplands. Slope gradients range from 0 to 25 percent. These soils formed in residuum from intrusives such as hornblende gneiss, gabbro, diorite, greenstone, or chlorite-amphibole schist. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 48 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 57 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Haymarket soils, and Jackland, Minnieville, Orenda, and Spriggs soils. Jackland soils have iron depletions in the Bt horizon. Minnieville soils are very deep, not as plastic, and have less than 35 percent base saturation. Orenda soils are very deep and have less montmorillonitic clays. Spriggs soils have less clay and are not as plastic.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; permeability is moderately slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mainly in mixed hardwood and pine forest. Some areas are used for pasture. Native vegetation is oak-hickory, yellow poplar, willow oak, white oak, and Virginia pine. Loblolly pine is in plantations.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia, and possibly Maryland and Pennsylvania. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, Virginia, 1995. Name is coined.
REMARKS: The Mirerock soils have been mapped previously as the Haymarket series. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon-zone from 0 to 1 inches (A horizon)
2. Argillic horizon-zone from 5 to 30 inches
3. Paralithic contact at 30 inches.
4. Very sticky and very plastic in the Bt horizon.
SIR=VA0400
MLRA=148, 136
REVISED=MHC, 06/22/95; DTA, 04/08 MO14 took over responsibilities for this series