LOCATION ORISKANY VA+MDEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Oriskany very cobbly sandy loam -- on a southeast facing slope of 25 percent in an area of mixed oak and poplar forest. (Colors are for moist soil).
Oi--1 to 0 inches; undecomposed and partially decomposed hardwood leaves and twigs.
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) very cobbly sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine, many fine and medium, and common coarse roots; 40 percent cobbles and gravel sandstone and quartzite; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (1 to 8 inches thick)
E--2 to 9 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very cobbly sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine, and few medium, coarse and very coarse roots; 40 percent cobbles and gravel of sandstone and quartzite; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 34 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) very cobbly sandy clay loam; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; common faint clay films on faces of peds; 42 percent cobbles and gravel of sandstone and quartzite; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--34 to 56 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) extremely cobbly clay loam; moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common very fine and fine, and few medium and coarse roots; few faint clay films on faces of peds; 70 percent cobbles and gravel on sandstone and quartzite; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 35 to 65 inches)
C--56 to 74 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very cobbly sandy clay loam; massive; friable, slightly sticky and nonplastic; common fine and medium roots; 45 percent cobbles and gravel of sandstone and quartzite; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Botetourt County, Virginia; about 2 1/2 miles west of Glen Wilton, 1/2 mile northwest of the end of VA-633, 20 feet north of U.S. Forest Service Road. Elevation 1,440 feet.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rock fragments of sandstone and quartzite range from 15 to 65 percent in the A and E horizons, and 35 to 75 percent in the B and C horizons. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid throughout, unless limed.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 2 through 4. Combinations of value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 2 or 3 are limited to 6 inch or less thickness. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bt horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam in the fine- earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Brushy, Grimsley and Joppa series in the same family. Brushy is moderately deep and rock fragments are chert. Grimsley soils have bedrock between 40 and 60 inches. Joppa soils have solum thickness of 20 to 40 inches and are formed in fluvial outwash on coastal plain terraces. The Brushy and Pocono series may be competitors when they are updated. Brushy soils have a lithic contact between 20 to 40 inches. Pocono soils formed in glacial till and have rock fragments that are glacial erratics. The Bender and Lostcove series are in a closely related family. Bender soils have a lithic contact within 20 to 40 inches of the surface. Lostcove soils have rock fragments from metasedimentary rock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Oriskany soils are in coves and on slightly convex to linear foot slopes and colluvial fans at the base of steeper mountain side slopes. Slope gradients are most commonly 2 to 30 percent slopes, but range from 2 to 60 percent slopes. The soils formed in colluvial materials from acid sandstone, and quartzite, with small amounts of shale in the Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valley MLRA. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 48 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 54 to 57 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berks, Dekalb, Escatawba, Jefferson, Laidig, Lily, Shelocta, and Tumbling soils. Berks, Dekalb, and Lily soils are on surrounding uplands and have bedrock at depths of less than 40 inches. Escatawba, Jefferson, Laidig, Lily, Shelocta, and Tumbling soils are non-skeletal. Escatawba soils have one or more lithologic discontinuities within the series control section. Laidig soils have a fragipan. Shelocta soils have more silt in the subsoil. Tumbling soils have more clay in the subsoil.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Runoff is moderate to moderately rapid to very rapid. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in woodland consisting of northern red oak, scarlet oak, yellow poplar, hickory, white pine, and flowering dogwood. A few areas cleared of stones are used for native pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia and possibly West Virginia and Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Botetourt County, Virginia, 1990.
REMARKS: Oriskany soils have been included in the Jefferson and Nolichucky series in the past.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon, the part from 0 to 9 inches. (A and E horizons)
b. Argillic horizon, the part from 9 to 56 inches. (Bt horizon)
c. Skeletal feature, the rock fragment content of the part of the soil from 9 to 29 inches.
MLRA=128, 147
Prior Revision: 05/2003 JRT-RRD. Revised in order to add Maryland to list of states, expand the range in saturated hydraulic conductivity, and add MLRA 147 to geographic setting.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. (PSA, chemistry and mineralogy)