LOCATION NOLICHUCKY TN+AL KY VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Nolichucky loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 7 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
BA--7 to 15 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few small quartzite pebbles; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1-15 to 21 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/8) clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; few small quartzite pebbles; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--21 to 32 inches; red (2.5YR 4/8) clay loam; few fine and medium faint strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles on edges of peds; moderate medium subangular and angular blocky structure; friable; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt3--32 to 56 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay loam; moderate medium angular blocky structure; friable; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt4--56 to 75 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; few medium and fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid. (Thickness of the Bt horizon ranges from 50 to more than 80 inches)
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Tennessee; 8 miles southwest of Jonesboro to Limestone, 3.65 miles southeast across the Nolichucky River to New Salem Church, 330 feet southwest of New Salem Church.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum exceeds 60 inches. Reaction in each horizon is strongly acid or very strongly acid except the surface layer where limed. Rock fragment rage from 0 to 30 percent in each horizon. The fragments are mostly rounded sandstone and quartzite pebbles and cobbles.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Severely eroded areas also have hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, and chroma of 6 or 8. Some pedons have A horizons less than 4 inches thick with hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The fine earth fraction of the A and Ap horizons is sandy loam, loam or silt loam. Severely eroded areas are also sandy clay loam.
E horizons, where present, have hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the fine earth is sandy loam, or loam.
Some pedons have a transitional horizon between the A or E horizon and the Bt horizon.
The Bt horizons have hue of 2.5YR and 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 6 to 8. Texture of the fine earth fraction is clay loam, sandy clay loam, or clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Brocket, Claiborne and Trimble series in the same family and the Allen, Brandon, Etowah, Holston, Jefferson, Minvale and Shouns soils. Brocket soils have a clay decrease in the lower part of the Bt horizon and have pockets of uncoated sand grains. Claiborne soils have fragments of chert in the series control section. Trimble soils have hue of 10YR and lack sandstone and quartzite pebbles or cobbles. Allen, Brandon, Etowah, Holston and Minvale soils are thermic. Jefferson soils have hue of 10YR in the B horizon and the solum is less than 60 inches. Shouns soils have less clay in the lower part of the Bt horizon and have mixed mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nolichucky soils are on gently sloping to steep high terraces. Slope ranges from about 2 to 30 percent. These soils formed in moderately fine textured alluvium from watersheds dominated by sandstone, quartzite, limestone and shale. Mean annual air temperature is 56.6 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 44.4 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Jefferson and Dunmore soils. Dunmore soils are clayey.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium on gentle slopes and rapid on steeper slopes. Moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used for pasture, hay crops or tobacco. A small acreage is in forests of oak, hickory, elm, maple, and dogwood.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Appalachian Ridges and Valleys of Tennessee and possibly Kentucky, Missouri and the southwestern part of Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jefferson County, Tennessee; 1935.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon - 15 to 75 inches (Bt horizon).