LOCATION NONABURG TN
Established Series
NTH-RLL-MKC
12/2021
NONABURG SERIES
The Nonaburg series consist of shallow, well drained soils on uplands. They formed in residuum from calcareous shale that has some thin interbeds of limestone. Permeability is moderately slow or slow. These soils are on sloping to very steep ridge tops, shoulder slopes, and back slopes. Slopes range from 5 to 80 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Clayey, mixed, active, thermic, shallow Inceptic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Nonaburg silty clay loam - forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--0 to 1 inches; partially decomposed hardwood litter and twigs.
A--1 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silty clay loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 5 percent shale channers; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 7 inches thick)
Bt--3 to 11 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; sticky; plastic; common medium roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 10 percent shale channers; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 14 inches thick)
Cr--11 to 40 inches; soft, brownish, fractured, tilted calcareous shale. (12 to more than 40 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: McMinn County, Tennessee; 2.4 miles east of Englewood on State Route 39 to the intersection with County Road 477, 0.1 mile southwest on County Road 477, 0.25 mile southeast of County Road 477 to the lower portion of side slope in a mixed forest; Englewood topographic quadrangle; lat. 35 degrees 24 minutes 8 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 27 minutes 23 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to soft bedrock ranges from 8 to 20 inches. Depth to hard bedrock is greater than 40 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral. Rock fragments are mostly channers and gravel of shale and shaly limestone and range from 2 to 45 percent in individual horizons.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. The E horizon, where present, has hue 10YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The Bt horizons have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 to 8. When present, mottles are in shades of red, brown, or yellow. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay or clay.
The BC horizon and C horizons, where present, have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 4 to 8. When present, mottles are shades of red, brown, yellow, and gray. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay or clay.
The Cr horizon is brownish, yellowish, or olive calcareous shale that is tilted. This horizon sometimes contains 10 to 30 percent fine-earth fraction with colors and textures similar to the BC and C horizons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Series in closely related families are the
Bays,
Bub,
Conasauga,
Dandridge, and
Needmore series. Bays soils have a loamy particle-size control section and a discontinuous argillic horizon. Bub soils have hues of 10R to 5YR and formed in glauconitic materials. Conasauga soils are moderately deep and moderately well drained. Dandridge soils have a clayey-skeletal particle-size control section, are in a mesic family, and have a discontinuous argillic horizon. Needmore soils are moderately deep and are in a mesic family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nonaburg soils are on dissected uplands. Slopes range from 5 to 80 percent. These soils formed in residuum from calcareous shale that has thin strata of limestone in some places. Mean annual temperature is about 57 degrees F and mean annual precipitation is about 56 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Bays,
Conasauga, and
Loyston series in similar positions, the
Tellico and
Red Hills series on nearby uplands, and the
Hamblen,
Pettyjon, and
Steadman series in adjacent flood plains and drainageways. Bays soils are in a fine-loamy family, and lack a continuous argillic horizon. Conasauga soils are deeper than 20 inches to weathered bedrock. Loyston soils have hard bedrock at a depth shallower than 20 inches. Tellico soils are very deep, are in a clayey family, and have redder hues. Red Hills soils are moderately deep, are in a fine-loamy family, and have redder hues. Hamblen soils are moderately well drained and in a fine-loamy family. Pettyjon soils are well drained and in a fine-loamy family. Steadman soils are moderately well drained and in a fine-silty family.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate runoff; moderately slow or slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in mixed forest or pasture. Some areas that were once cleared have been abandoned. Common trees are red oak, chestnut oak, Virginia pine, Eastern redcedar, yellow poplar, and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128) in Tennessee, and possibly Georgia and Alabama. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McMinn County, Tennessee; 1999.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 2 inches (A horizon)
Argillic horizon: 2 to 10 inches (Bt horizon)
Paralithic Contact: 10 to 40 inches (Cr horizon
Inceptic subgroup feature: Argillic horizon less than 14 inches
thick (35 cm).
12/2021 revision: Oi had 1 to 0 inch depths, corrected to be 0 to 1 in horizon depths then added 1 inch to all horizon depths throughout the typical pedon. WJN
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.