LOCATION PISGAH VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Pisgah silt loam - in a pasture (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 2 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; common fine pores; few black mineral concretions; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
E--2 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable; common fine roots; common fine pores; few black mineral concretions; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
BE--8 to 13 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores; few black mineral concretions, 1 percent gravel of angular chert; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--13 to 37 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; few fine and medium pores; common distinct clay films on ped faces; few to common black mineral concretions;, 1 percent gravel of angular chert and limestone that are easily broken; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--37 to 50 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) clay; few fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and few fine distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) mottles and streaks; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; few medium pores; few faint clay films on ped faces; 4 percent fine black mineral concretions and fragments of brownish yellow chert; black mineral coating on many peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (combined thickness of Bt is 20 to 55 inches)
C--50 to 65 inches; mottled and streaked yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), brown (10YR 5/3), and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; massive; friable, slightly sticky; 4 percent small black mineral concretions and fine fragments of chert; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Tazewell County, Virginia; 1400 feet northwest of Burkes Garden Methodist Church on Highway 623.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches or more. Depth to hard limestone bedrock is more than 72 inches. Few or common fine dark colored oxide concretions or stains are throughout the soil in most pedons. Rock fragments, commonly chert or limestone, range from 0 to 5 percent in the A, E, and BE horizons, and from 0 to 15 percent in the Bt or C horizons. The soil is strongly acid to slightly acid, unless limed.
The A horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam, clay loam or silty clay loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is silt loam, clay loam or silty clay loam.
The BE horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is clay loam or silty clay loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. Mottles or streaks with a hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8 are in the lower part of the Bt horizon in most pedons. The Bt horizon is clay or silty clay. The particle-size control section averages less than 35 percent silt or more than 15 percent sand. Many faces of peds in the Bt horizon have patchy dark colored oxide coatings or patchy yellowish red or red films of clay.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. Mottles or streaks with a hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8 are in most pedons. The BC horizon is clay or silty clay. Many faces of peds in the Bt horizon have patchy dark colored oxide coatings or patchy yellowish red or red films of clay.
The C horizon is mottled or streaked in hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is clay, silty clay, or silty clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Lenberg and Saucon soils. Lenberg soils have soft shale and sola 20 to 40 inches. Saucon soils have more than 15 percent rock fragments of limestone and chert and are reddish in color.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pisgah soils are nearly level to very steep. Slope gradients range from 0 to 65 percent with 7 to 30 percent being dominant. Nonrocky, rocky, and very rocky phases occur. Shallow limestone sinks are common. The Pisgah soils formed in material weathered from limestone bedrock. The mean annual temperature ranges from about 48 to 55 degrees F and mean annual precipitation ranges from about 40 to 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bland, Carbo, Hagerstown, and Westmoreland series. The Bland, Carbo, and Hagerstown soils have greater than 60 percent base saturation. The Westmoreland soils have less than 35 percent clay in the particle size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium to very rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas that are nearly level to moderately steep are used for crops and pasture. The more sloping areas are mainly in woodland. Crops include corn, small grains, burley tobacco and mixed hay. Woodlands mostly consist of oak, hickory, walnut, and ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia and possibly West Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Russell County, Virginia, 1940.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are;
1) Ochric epipedon-the zone from 0 to 8 inches (A and E horizons).
2) Argillic Horizon-zone from 8 to 50 inches (Bt horizons)
3) Base saturation between 35 and 60 percent
SIR = VA0026
MLRA = 125, 128, 130
REVISED = 1/3/90 DDR, MHC
The 12/2005 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). The CEC activity class placement is based on NASIS data from Tazewell County, Virginia. Class placement may be revised in the future when laboratory data are reviewed or become available. In addition, horizon nomenclature and competing series were updated with this revision.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Particle-size analysis (SCS-75-92-129 & 130) by VPI and SU laboratory.