LOCATION NEWBERN            VA+KY MD
Established Series
Rev. DFW,RRD
10/98

NEWBERN SERIES


Soils of the Newbern Series are shallow and excessively and somewhat excessively drained with moderate permeability. They formed in the weathered products of shale, interbedded with thin beds of limestone on uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 99 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 38 inches and mean annual temperature is about 55 degrees E.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, mixed, active, mesic Lithic Eutrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Newbern silt loam - under bluegrass, orchardgrass, and white clover pasture on a SSW-facing 12 percent backslope. Elevation is 2000 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 5 inches; yellowish brown (1OYR 5/4) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common fine roots; few fine pores; 14 percent angular shale and semi-rounded sandstone fragments less than 1 inch across; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)

Bw--5 to 13 inches; brownish yellow (1OYR 6/6) channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; few fine roots; few fine pores; 25 percent angular shale fragments less than 1 inch across; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)

Cr--13 to 18 inches; brownish yellow (1OYR 6/8) partially weathered shale with brownish yellow (1OYR 6/8) silt loam material in cracks and crevices; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)

R--18 inches; shale.

TYPE LOCATION: Pulaski County, Virginia; approximately .3 miles west of intersection of US-11 and VA 645, 400 feet northwest of pond.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum thickness is 10 to 20 inches and depth to a lithic contact is 10 to 20 inches. Angular shale rock fragments range from 5 to 80 percent in individual horizons, but average less than 35 percent in the control section. Shale rock fragment content generally increases with depth. Soil reaction is moderately acid through neutral throughout.

The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is silt loam or loam in the fine earth fraction.

The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is loam or silt loam in the fine earth fraction. Mottles in shades of yellow or brown occur in some pedons.

The C horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 6 through 8. It is loam or silt loam in the fine earth fraction.

The Cr horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 6 through 8. It is partially weathered shale with loam or silt loam soil material in cracks and crevices.

COMPETING SERIES: Farmington is the only series in the same family. Farmington soils contain igneous rock fragments rounded by glacial action and more than 2 percent organic matter in the surface layer.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Newbern soils are commonly on smooth summits and sideslopes, but include areas of escarpment in complex with rock outcrop. Slopes are dominantly 8 to 30 percent but range from 0 to 99 percent. The soils derived from interbedded shale, siltstone, and limestone. The climate is humid and cool temperate; mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 44 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 49 to 57 degrees F. The growing season is 160 to 200 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Carbo, Faywood, Lowell, and Wurno soils. The Carbo, Lowell, and Faywood soils have a clayey particle-size control section. The Wurno soil is greater than 20 inches to bedrock.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively and somewhat excessively drained; moderate to very rapid runoff; moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly cleared and used for hay, pasture, and corn. A very small portion is wooded.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ridge and valley area of Virginia and possibly of Kentucky and Tennessee. This series is of small extent.

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

SERIES PROPOSED: Pulaski County, Virginia, 1979.

REMARKS: This soil has been included in the Litz series in the past.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric Epipedon, surface to 5 inches (A horizon)
Cambic horizon between 5 and 13 inches (Bw horizon)
Lithic contact at 18 inches.

SIR = VA0154
MLRA = 128
REVISED = 4/11/97 RRD


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.