LOCATION PAILO TN+GAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Pailo very gravelly silt loam on a 35 percent lope--woodland. (Colors are for moist soils)
O--0 to 1 inch; partially decomposed and undecomposed hardwood leaves,pine needles and twigs.
A--1 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (l0YR3/2) very gravelly silt loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 35 percent subangular fragments of chert 1/4 inch to l inch across; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick)
BE--3 to 17 inches; yellowish brown (l0YR5/6) very gravelly silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common medium and coarse and few fine roots; many fine and medium tubular pores; 35 percent subangular fragments of chert 1/4 inch to 3 inches across; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 15 inches thick)
Btl--17 to 35 inches; yellowish brown (l0YR5/6) extremely gravelly silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common medium and few fine roots; many fine and medium tubular pores; few fine faint patchy dark yellowish brown (10YR4/4) clay films on fragments and in pores; 80 percent subangular fragments of chert 1/4 inch to 6 inches across; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--35 to 45 inches; yellowish red (5YR5/8) extremely gravelly silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine and medium tubular pores; common, distinct patchy reddish brown (5YR5/4) clay films on ped faces; 60 percent angular fragments of chert 1/4 inch to 3 inches across; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 20 to 60 inches)
2Bt3--45 to 53 inches; yellowish red (5YR5/8) clay; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many, distinct continuous reddish brown (5YR5/4)clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent angular fragments of chert 1/4 inch to l inch across; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
2Bt4--53 to 73 inches; yellowish red (5YR5/8) clay; common medium prominent yellow (l0YR7/8) and brownish yellow (l0YR6/6) mottles; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many distinct continuous reddish brown (5YR5/4) clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent angular fragments of chert 1/4 inch to 1 inch across; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Bledsoe County, Tennessee from intersection of College Station Cross Road and Ridge Road go 1.2 miles on Ridge Road left 3000 feet on private road, 100 feet northwest of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to bedrock is greater than 72 inches. Fragments of chert 1/4 inch to 4 inches across range from 25 to 50 percent in the A and BE horizons. Fragments of chert 1/2 inch to 6 inches across range from 35 to 90 percent in the Bt horizon.Reaction is strongly acid or very strongly acid.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 2.5Y to 7.5YR value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam.
The BE or E horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5Y to 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 4 or 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5Y to 5YR, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture of the fine earth fraction is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Below a depth of 30 inches, most commonly below 40 inches the fine earth fraction includes clay.
The 2Bt horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 6 or 8. Some pedons have mottles in shades of brown, yellow, or red. Texture is clay.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bodine and Caston series. Bodine soils do not allow clay textures in the lower profile. Caston soils are colluvium from interbedded sandstone and shale.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pailo soils are on sloping to very steep upland ridgetops and hillsides. Slopes range from 5 to 70 percent. These soils formed in residuum from cherty limestone, the uppermost layers are often affected by soil creep. The mean annual temperature is about 58.3 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is 52.3 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Barger, Fullerton, Bodine, and Minvale series. The Barger soils on adjacent ridgetops have a fragipan in the subsoil. The Fullerton soils, on adjacent sideslopes and ridgetops, are clayey and have less than 35 percent chert fragments. Bodine soils are on similar landscapes and do not have clay in the lower subsoil. Minvale soils, on footslopes and benches, formed in loamy colluvium and have less than 35 percent chert fragments.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; Medium to rapid runoff; rapid permeability in the upper part and slow or very slow in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Pailo soils are in second growth timber. Principal kinds of trees are oaks, hickories, and Virginia pines. A few areas have been cleared and are used for pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys and The Highland Rim in Tennessee and possibly in Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bledsoe County, Tennessee - 1985.
REMARKS: Pailo soils were formerly included in the Bodine series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 17 inches (A, BE horizons)
Argillic horizon - 17 to 73 inches (Btl to 2Bt4 horizons)
Lithologic discontinuity - at approximately 45 inches