LOCATION PACOLET SC+AL GA NC VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Pacolet sandy loam - forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 3 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) sandy loam; few fine distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--3 to 23 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine and medium roots; common very fine pores; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--23 to 29 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; common fine prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; common very fine pores; few fine flakes of mica; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 12 to 26 inches)
BC--29 to 37 inches; red (2.5YR 4/6) clay loam; many medium prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8) mottles; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick)
C1--37 to 52 inches; mottled red (2.5YR 4/6) and reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8) clay loam saprolite; massive; friable; thin discontinuous distinct clay seams in cracks; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
C2--52 to 80 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam saprolite; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; massive; friable; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Chester County, South Carolina; 3.4 miles south of Chester in Chester County; 1.3 miles south of junction of State Highways 16 and 350; 3,700 feet northeast of junction of State Highways 16 and 171; 0.9 mile northeast of junction of unpaved State Highway 394 and unmarked county road and unpaved private road leading north; 35 feet northeast of unpaved private road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The Bt horizon is at least 10 to 24 inches thick and extends to a depth of 18 to 30 inches. Depth to a lithic contact is more than 60 inches. The soil is very strongly acid to slightly acid in the A horizon, and very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout the rest of the profile. Content of rock fragments, dominantly gravel, ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the A and E horizons, and 0 to 15 percent in the Bt horizon. Most pedons have few to
common flakes of mica in the solum, and few to many in the C horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 6. In eroded areas, hue ranges to 2.5YR and chroma ranges to 8. The A horizon commonly is sandy loam, but ranges to loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, fine sandy loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. In eroded areas, it is clay loam or sandy clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It commonly is sandy loam, but ranges to loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, fine sandy loam, loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The BA or BE horizon, where present, and the upper part of the Bt in most pedons, has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, or loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10R or 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6 or 8. Mottles in shades of red, yellow, or brown are in the upper part of the Bt horizon in some pedons and in the lower part of the Bt horizon in most pedons. Texture is clay, sandy clay, or clay loam.
The BC horizon has hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6 or 8 commonly with mottles in shades of red, yellow, or brown. The BC horizon of some pedons is mottled in shades of red, yellow, or brown. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, loam, or sandy loam.
The C horizon has hue of 10R to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8 commonly with mottles in shades of red, yellow, or brown or is multicolored. Texture is loamy saprolite weathered from felsic crystalline rock.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Appling, Bethlehem, Cecil, Georgeville, Herndon, Lloyd, Madison, Nanford, Nankin, Saw, Tarrus, and Wedowee series. Appling and Cecil soils have a thicker clayey Bt horizon. Bethlehem soils have a paralithic contact within 20 to 40 inches of the surface. Georgeville, Herndon, Nanford, and Tarrus soils formed from Carolina slate and have more than 30 percent silt. Lloyd soils have value of 3 in at least part of the Bt horizon. Madison soils contain more mica. Nankin soils formed from marine sediments. Saw soils have a lithic contact within 20 to 40 inches of the surface. Wedowee soils have Bt horizons with hue of 5YR or yellower.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pacolet soils are on gently sloping to very steep Piedmont uplands. Slopes commonly are 15 to 25 percent but range from 2 to 60 percent. The soils formed in material weathered mostly from felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks. The mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 66 degrees F, the frost-free season ranges from 190 to 240 days, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 37 to 60 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing
Appling,
Bethlehem,
Cecil,
Lloyd,
Madison,
Saw, and
Wedowee series, these are the
Cataula,
Lockhart,
Louisburg,
Rion, and
Wateree series. Cataula soils have a perched water table at 2 to 4 feet. Lockhart soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Louisburg, Rion, and Wateree soils have less than 35 percent clay in the particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; runoff is medium to rapid; permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forests of pine and mixed hardwoods. Cleared areas are used for small grain, hay, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of large extent
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Catawba County, North Carolina, 1969.
REMARKS: The December 1987 revision recognized the low activity clay property of this soil and reclassification to Kanhapludults. Pacolet soils were formerly mapped as a thin solum phase of the Cecil series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 3 inches (A horizon).
Argillic and Kandic horizon - the zone from 3 to 29 inches below the surface (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
MLRA=136
ADDITIONAL DATA:
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
SC0015 PACOLET 2-60 59-66 190-240 37-60 200-900
SC0107 PACOLET 2-60 59-66 190-240 37-60 200-900
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness SC0015 NONE >6.0 - >60 SC0107 NONE >6.0 - >60SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- SC0015 0-3 SL FSL L 0-2 80-100 8-20 4-7 SC0015 0-3 CL SCL 0-1 90-100 20-35 4-10 SC0015 0-3 LS LCOS 0-3 70-100 4-15 2-5 SC0015 3-29 SC CL C 0-1 80-100 35-65 6-18 SC0015 29-52 CL SCL SL 0-2 70-100 15-30 5-12 SC0015 52-80 SL FSL L 0-2 70-100 10-25 4-10
SC0107 0-3 GR-LS GR-LCOS 0-3 65-85 4-15 2-5 SC0107 0-3 GR-SL GR-FSL 0-3 70-85 8-20 4-7 SC0107 0-3 GR-CL GR-SCL 0-3 70-90 27-35 4-10 SC0107 3-29 SC CL C 0-1 80-100 35-65 6-18 SC0107 29-52 CL SCL SL 0-2 70-100 15-30 5-12 SC0107 52-80 SL FSL L 0-2 70-100 10-25 4-10
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll SC0015 0-3 4.5-6.5 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW SC0015 0-3 4.5-6.5 .5-1. 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0015 0-3 4.5-6.5 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW SC0015 3-29 4.5-6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0015 29-52 4.5-6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0015 52-80 4.5-6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
SC0107 0-3 4.5-6.5 .5-2. - 2.0-6.0 LOW SC0107 0-3 4.5-6.5 .5-2. 0-0 2.0-6.0 LOW SC0107 0-3 4.5-6.0 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0107 3-29 4.5-6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0107 29-52 4.5-6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW SC0107 52-80 4.5-6.0 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW