LOCATION POPLIMENTO VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, subactive, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Poplimento silt loam - on a 4 percent slope in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; many fine and medium pores; 3 percent dark oxide concretions; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--9 to 17 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; common medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) mottles; moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; common fine roots; many fine and medium pores; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 2 percent dark oxide concretions; 2 percent shale and siltstone fragments; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bt2--17 to 36 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay; many medium distinct brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; few fine roots; many fine and medium pores; continuous distinct clay films on faces of peds; common 1 to 2 inches slickensides; 10 percent shale and siltstone fragments; moderately acid; diffuse smooth boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
Bt3--36 to 58 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) channery silty clay; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; many fine and medium pores; continuous distinct clay films on faces of peds; common 1 to 2 inches slickensides; common black coatings; 25 percent shale and siltstone fragments; slightly acid; diffuse smooth boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
C--58 to 73 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very channery silty clay; massive; firm, sticky, plastic; many fine and medium pores; 45 percent shale and siltstone fragments; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Clarke County, Virginia; about 0.17 miles north of the junction of Highways 609 and 612 and 200 feet east of Highway 612.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 70 inches. Depth to hard limestone, shale, or siltstone bedrock is greater than 60 inches and varies greatly over short horizontal distances. The content of rock fragments ranges from 0 to 55 percent in the A and BA horizons, 0 to 15 percent in the upper part of the Bt horizon, and from 0 to 55 percent in the lower part of the Bt and the C horizons. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid throughout.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 6. Horizons with value of 3 and chroma of 2 or 3 are less than 7 inches thick. The Ap or A horizon is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The BA horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. It is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay 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. The Bt horizon is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction. The particle size control section averages more than 35 percent silt and less than 15 percent sand.
The BC (where present) and C horizon have colors similar to those of the Bt horizon. In some pedons, the C horizon is dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) or reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4, 5/4), (5YR 4/3). They are silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Ebal, Fauquier, Lenberg, Montalto, Needmore, Norton, and Pisgah series. Ebal soils contain more than 15 percent rock fragments in the upper part of the B horizon and have a lithologic discontinuity within the solum. The Fauquier, Montalto, and Norton soils have hue of 10R or 2.5YR in some part of the Bt horizon. In addition, Fauquier soils have a solum 20 to 40 inches thick and Montalto soils contain basic igneous rock fragments. Lenburg soils have a paralithic contact to soft shale within a depth of 40 inches. Needmore soils have a solum less than 40 inches. Pisgah soils have less than 35 percent silt or more than 15 percent sand in the particle size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Poplimento soils are on gently sloping to very steep uplands in the Shenandoah Valley. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent, but are most commonly 3 to 15 percent. Nonrocky, rocky, and very rocky phases occur in some areas. These soils formed in material weathered from a mixture of shales, limestone, siltstones, and fine sandstones. Mean annual temperature is about 53 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is about 35 inches near the type location. The growing season ranges from 155 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Duffield, Frederick, Groseclose, Hagerstown, Nicholson, Timberville, and Webbtown soils on similar landscapes. Duffield soils are fine- loamy. Nicholson soils have a fragipan. Hagerstown soils have a redder subsoil. Frederick and Groseclose soils have less than 35 percent base saturation. Timberville soils occur in slight depressions and at the heads of drains and have thicker surface layers. Webbtown soils are loamy-skeletal.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow to very rapid runoff; moderately slow permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in cropland or pasture. Major crops include apple and peach orchards, small grains, corn, and mixed hay. A few areas are in woodland mainly consisting of upland oaks, hickory, yellow-poplar, walnut, and ash.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Virginia. 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 Duffield, Frederick, Groseclose, or Hagerstown series.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 9 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 58 inches (Bt horizon).
SIR numbers: VA0124, VA0291
ADDITIONAL DATA: Chemical, engineering, and particle size analysis of samples (S70VA22-49-(1-5) from the typical pedon (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University laboratory).