LOCATION MINVALE TN+AL GA
Established Series
Rev. NTH/MKC/JLN
04/2011
MINVALE SERIES
The Minvale series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in colluvium and the underlying residuum from cherty limestone. These soils are in coves and on foot slopes, benches, fans, and the colluvial portions of side slopes. Permeability is moderate. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, subactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Minvale cherty silt loam--pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many roots; 15 percent by volume fragments of chert up to 2 inches in size; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
BE--8 to 13 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; 15 percent by volume fragments of chert up to 2 inches in size; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--13 to 30 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; few fine roots; 15 percent by volume fragments of chert up to 3 inches in size; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--30 to 60 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay loam; few fine pale brown mottles in lower 15 inches; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; thin continuous clay films on faces of peds; 18 percent fragments of chert up to 3 inches in size; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt3--60 to 72 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay loam; many fine to coarse distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6), light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium and coarse subangular and angular blocky structure; friable discontinuous clay films on faces of peds; 35 percent fragments of chert up to 3 inches across; strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 45 to more than 60 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Meigs County, Tennessee; from Courthouse in Decatur 4.3 miles north on State Highway 58 to a graveled road which is 0.2 mile beyond Fairview School, then 1.8 miles on graveled road to an abandoned house, then 100 yards north of this house site.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock are more than 60 inches. Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid in each horizon except the surface layer is less acid where limed. Amount of fragments of chert in each horizon typically ranges from 15 to 35 percent to a depth of 40 inches, and up to 50 percent below 40 inches. The A horizon ranges as low as 10 percent in some pedons.
The A horizon has hues of 10YR or 7.5YR, value 4 or 5, chroma 2 to 4; or hue 10YR, value of 6, chroma of 4. Texture of the fine earth is silt loam, loam, or rarely silty clay loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture of the fine earth is loam or silt loam.
Some pedons have a transitional horizon between the A or E horizon and the Bt horizon.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR 5YR value of 4 to 5, chroma of 4 to 8. The fine earth textures are silty clay loam, silt loam, or rarely clay loam or loam to a depth of 40 inches. Below 40 inches the range also includes silty clay or clay. Mottles in shades of brown, yellow, gray, or red are present in the lower part of many pedons. The amount of fine and coarser sand in the Bt horizon is less than 20 percent but this fraction plus coarse fragments exceed 15 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: Soils in the same family are the
Addielou,
Avilla,
Bama,
Ironcity,
Leesburg,
Lytle,
Nella,
Noboco,
Octavia, and
Pikeville series. The
Allen,
Dubach,
Etowah,
Holston,
Ruston,
Sailes,
Silsbee, and
Warnock series are in a closely related family. Addielou and Ruston soils lack coarse fragments and have more than 15 percent fine and coarser sand in the argillic horizon. Allen soils have more than 20 percent fine and coarser sand in the argillic horizon. Avilla, Bama, and Nella soils have less than 15 percent coarse fragments in the argillic horizons. Etowah soils typically have Ap horizons with value of 3 and have less than 15 percent coarse fragments in the control section. Holston soils have argillic horizons that have 10YR hue and contain more than 20 percent sand. Ironcity soils formed in a silty mantle 2 to 3 feet thick containing fragments of chert, and including rounded gravel from marine deposits, and in the underlying residuum from cherty limestone. Leesburg soils have more sand and have rounded gravel in the argillic horizon. Lytle soils formed in a mantle of loess about 2 to 3 feet thick and in underlying loamy and clayey Coastal Plain sediments. Nella soils formed in loamy alluvium or colluvium and in residuum of limestone, sandstone and shale. Noboco soils have redox depletions and accumulations associated with seasonal wetness within 30 to 48 inches of the surface. Octavia soils formed in loamy colluvium and the underlying part formed in material weathered from shale of Pennsylvanian age. Pikeville soils have more fine and coarser sand in the fine-earth fraction of the argillic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Minvale soils are in coves and on foot slopes, benches, fans, and colluvial portions of side slopes. Slopes range from 2 to 45 percent. These soils formed in colluvium and the underlying residuum from cherty limestone. Near the type location, mean annual temperature is 59.5 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Bodine,
Ennis,
Fullerton,
Humphreys, and
Lobelville series. Bodine soils are on adjacent hills and ridges and contain more than 35 percent coarse fragments. Ennis and Lobelville soils are on adjacent flood plains and do not have argillic horizons. Fullerton soils are above Minvale soils and have a clayey control section. Humphreys soils are on slightly lower lying terraces and have a thinner argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Minvale soils are well drained. Runoff is medium and permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the soil is cleared and used for growing hay, pasture, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, and small grains. The native vegetation was mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Highland Rim and Southern Appalachian Valley in Tennessee, northern Alabama, and northwestern Georgia, and possibly Arkansas and Oklahoma. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Houston County, Tennessee; 1950.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon - from about 13 to 72 inches (Bt horizons)
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.