LOCATION PETTYJON TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, thermic Dystric Fluventic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pettyjon loam--cultivated (colors are for moist soil)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
BA--6 to 13 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; few fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--13 to 30 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; many fine and common medium tubular pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--30 to 44 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine tubular pores; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (combined thickness of the Bw horizons ranges from 30 to 50 inches)
C1--44 to 57 inches; dark brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; neutral; clear smooth boundary.
C2--57 to 64 inches; mottled brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Sullivan County, Tennessee. From intersection of Highway 93 and Murrill Road, go 1625 feet north 23 degrees west. Latitude: 36 degrees, 26 minutes, 49 seconds north. Longitude: 82 degrees 37 minutes, 17 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is greater than 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 5 percent throughout. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to mildly alkaline. Mottles and/or redoximorphic features in shades of gray or brown occur in some pedons below 40 inches.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam, loam or fine sandy loam.
The BA horizon, where present, and the Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or fine sandy loam.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4, or is profusely mottled with redoximorphic features in shades of yellow, brown, and gray. Texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, sandy loam, loam or fine sandy loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ocana and Tuckahoe soils. Hannahatchee and Sullivan soils are in a related family. Ocana soils contain 15 to 35 percent by volume of chert fragments throughout the solum. Tuckahoe soils formed in alluvium from Piedmont and Upper Coastal Plain Material and have less than 45 percent sand in the B horizon. The Hannahatchee and Sullivan soils have siliceous mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pettyjon soils are on nearly level flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. These soils formed in loamy alluvium from shales and limestone. Mean annual air temperature is 62 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 44 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bays, Bellamy, Bloomingdale and Steadman soils. Bays soils, on adjacent uplands, are less than 20 inches deep to bedrock. Bellamy soils, on adjacent terraces, are moderately well drained and have a brittle layer in the subsoil. Bloomingdale soils, on flood plains, are poorly drained. Steadman soils, on flood plains, are moderately well drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly all areas of this soil are cleared. Most are used for row crops but some small areas are in pasture or hay. Wooded areas consist of upland oaks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 128) of Tennessee and possibly Georgia and Alabama. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, Tennessee: 1991.
REMARKS: These soils were formerly included in the Staser series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the soil surface to approximately 13 inches. (Ap and BA horizons)
Cambic horizon - The zone from approximately 13 to 44 inches. (Bw horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory Data - Characterization of the type location by the National Soil Survey Laboratory. Pedon No. 87P0143