LOCATION PAGEBROOK VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, smectitic, mesic Oxyaquic Hapluderts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pagebrook silty clay loam - on a 3 percent slope in an apple orchard. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silty clay loam; weak medium granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots; 5 percent black and brown Fe-Mn concretions; 2 percent chert gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bss1--8 to 16 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very firm, sticky, plastic; common fine roots; cracks 1/2 inch wide; common slickensides; 7 percent black Fe-Mn concretions; 2 percent chert gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bss2--16 to 26 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay; many medium distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) mottles; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm, sticky, very plastic; common fine roots; cracks 1/2 inch wide: many slickensides; 10 percent black Fe-Mn concretions; 5 percent highly weathered siltstone gravel; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bss3--26 to 57 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) clay; common medium distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) and few medium distinct light gray (10YR 7/1) iron depletions; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very firm, sticky, very plastic; few fine roots; many slickensides; 10 percent black Fe-Mn concretions; 3 percent chert gravel; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bss horizon is 30 to 74 inches)
Bk--57 to 92 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay; many medium distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3), light gray (10YR 7/1) and pale yellow (2.5Y 7/4) iron depletions; massive; firm, sticky, very plastic; common slickensides; 15 percent lime concretions that effervesce with cold 10 percent hydrochloric acid; 3 percent black Fe-Mn concretions; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary.(0 to 44 inches thick)
R--92 inches; hard limestone.
TYPE LOCATION: Clarke County, Virginia; 0.3 miles west-northwest of the junction of U.S. Highway 340 and Taylor Street in Berryville.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is 40 to 80 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. The content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 10 percent in the A and Ap horizon and from 0 to 55 percent in individual subhorizons of the Bss and Bk horizons, but averages less than 35 percent in the particle-size control section. Secondary lime concretions occur in the lower part of the B horizon and in the Bk horizon of some pedons. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly alkaline in the A horizon and in the upper part of the B, and from slightly acid through moderately alkaline in the lower part of the B horizon and in the C horizon.
The A horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
The Bss horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. High chroma mottles and iron concentrations occur in most pedons. Iron depletions with chroma of 2 or less occur in many pedons below 24 inches. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bk horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pagebrook soils are on nearly level to gently sloping, broad alluvial flats, in narrow strips along drainageways, and in depressions. Slopes are commonly 0 to 4 percent but range from 0 to 7 percent. The regolith is local alluvium washed from soils derived from limestone and interbedded limestone, shale, and sandstone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 50 degrees to 55 degrees F and averages about 53 degrees F. Annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 45 inches and averages about 35 inches. Growing season ranges from 155 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Carbo, Endcav, Frederick, Hagerstown, Lodi, Poplimento, Swimley, and Timberville soils. Carbo, Endcav, Frederick, Hagerstown, Lodi, Poplimento, and Swimley soils developed in residuum from limestone or interbedded limestone and shale. All of these soils occur on adjacent uplands and are well drained. Timberville soils occur on similar landscape positions and at the heads of drainageways. However, Timberville soils do not have clayey B horizons within 20 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained; very slow to moderate runoff; slow permeability. A seasonal high water table commonly is within 2 feet from the surface from December through March. These soils are subject to very brief flooding from surface runoff of adjacent uplands, mostly during fall and winter months.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of these soils are used for pasture or cultivated crops. Crops include small grain, corn, and mixed hay. These soils probably developed under a deciduous forest vegetation; however, most of these soils have been cleared at some time in the past.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia, possibly West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clarke County, Virginia, 1980.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included with the Carbo, Hagerstown, and Timberville series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon-zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon-zone from 8 to 57 inches (Bss horizon).
3. Cracks-1/2 inch wide extending below 20 inches and more than 16 inches long.
4. Base saturation-greater than 60 percent between 8 and 30 inches.
5. Many slickensides from 16 to 57 inches (Bss2 and Bss3 horizons).
The 11/2005 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). Classification as a vertisol is based on clay content, the presence of slickensides, and cracks.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Chemical, physical, and mineralogical data for the typical pedon (S69VA22-7-(1-5) by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
SIR = VA0087, VA0336 (RARELY FLOODED)
REVISED = 10/25/05 RE, JWB