LOCATION PIPESTEM WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Dystric Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Pipestem silt loam, on a 60 percent slope, in a forested area (colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated).
A--0 to 11 cm (0 to 4 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) channery silty clay loam; brown (7.5YR 5/3) dry; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine to very coarse roots; 10 percent siltstone channers; 5 percent sandstone flagstones; strongly acid (pH 5.5); clear wavy boundary. (3 to 24 cm thick)
BA--11 to 30 cm (4 to 12 inches); 80 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/3) and 20 percent dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) stony silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many very fine to very coarse roots; 5 percent sandstone stones, 5 percent sandstone flagstones, 10 percent siltstone channers; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear wavy boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick)
Bw1--30 to 61 cm (15 to 24 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/3) stony silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine through very coarse roots; 5 percent sandstone stones, 5 percent sandstone flagstones, 10 percent siltstone channers; moderately acid (pH 5.6); gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2--61 to 98 cm (24 to 39 inches); 50 percent dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3) and 50 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/3) flaggy silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 5 percent sandstone stones, 10 percent sandstone flagstones, 10 percent siltstone channers; strongly acid (pH 5.3); gradual wavy boundary.
Bw3--98 to 137 cm (39 to 54 inches); dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3) flaggy silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 5 percent sandstone stones, 10 percent sandstone flagstones, 10 percent siltstone channers; strongly acid (pH 5.1); gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 60 to 145 cm)
BC--137 to 160 cm (54 to 63 inches); dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/3) very stony silty clay loam; weak medium prismatic structure; friable; common fine roots; 10 percent sandstone stones, 10 percent sandstone flagstones, 15 percent siltstone channers; strongly acid (pH 5.1).
TYPE LOCATION: Raleigh County, West Virginia; about 3.4 miles by road east-south east of the junction of Glade Creek Road and WV Route 41; USGS Prince, West Virginia topographic quadrangle; latitude 37 degrees 49 minutes 54.3 seconds N and longitude 81 degrees 2 minutes 58.3 seconds W, NAD 83. Elevation: 1360 feet.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Cambic: 3 to 23 cm (1 to 9 inches)
Depth to the base of the Cambic: 83 to 200 cm (33 to 79 inches)
Solum Thickness: 83 to 200 cm (33 to 79 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 cm (60 inches)
Rock Fragment content: 5 to 35 percent, by volume, in the A horizon; 5 to 60 percent in subhorizons of the B horizon; 15 to 75 percent in the C horizon, where present. Rock fragments consist of a mixture of channers, gravels, flagstones, and stones of siltstone, shale, fine-grained sandstone, and occasionally limestone. The volume and size of the rock fragments generally increases with depth.
Soil Reaction: Strongly acid to neutral.
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5YR, value of 2.5 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam or silty clay loam
Bw horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4.
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay. The clay content in the B horizon ranges from 25 to 45 percent. The weighted average in the control section is more than 35 percent.
C horizon (if it occurs):
Colors and textures similar to the B horizon.
COMPETING SERIES:
There are no other members in this taxonomic family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Hills and mountains
Landform: Hillslope, mountain slope, and cove
Hillslope Profile Position: Backslope and footslope
Geomorphic Component: Sideslope, baseslope, mountainflank, and mountainbase
Parent Material: Colluvium derived predominantly from Mississippian age shale and siltstone which is interbedded with fine-grained sandstone and thin beds of limestone. In West Virginia, this includes members of the Mauch Chunk and possibly the Greenbrier series geologic formations. The surface of the soil is often covered with stones and boulders from the Pennsylvanian-age Pottsville Formation.
Slope: 3 to 80 percent
Elevation: 305 to 1067 meters (1000 to 3500 feet)
Frost-free period: 140 to 180 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 9 to 13 degrees C. (48 to 55 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 889 to 1143 mm (35 to 45 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Cateache soils--are formed in residuum and are less than 152 cm deep
Albrights soils--have fragipans and are moderately well and somewhat poorly drained
Hustontown soils--have fragipans and are moderately well drained
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: None
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff Class: Moderate to very high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: High
Permeability Class: Moderately rapid
Shrink-swell Potential Class: Medium
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Most areas are in woodland.
Dominant Vegetation: Mixed mesophytic forests; dominant overstory species include; American beech, basswood, black cherry, black locust, black oak, black walnut, buckeye, cucumber magnolia, sugar maple, northern red oak, tulip poplar, white ash. Common forest floor species include; blue cohosh, black cohosh, white baneberry, maidenhair fern, wood nettle.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: The anticipated distribution includes the Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains (MLRA 127) and the Northern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys (MLRA 147) regions of West Virginia, and possibly Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Extent: Moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Raleigh County, West Virginia, 2008.
REMARKS: Pipestem soils were previously mapped as members of the Shouns, Jefferson, and Meckesville series. Data from pedons sampled in MLRA 127 indicate a need to establish a series to reflect the genesis of these soils found on landforms of Mauch Chunk lithology.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 30 cm (A and BA horizons)
Cambic horizon--the zone from 11 to 160 cm (BA, Bw, and BC horizons)
Base saturation--this pedon has a base saturation of 100 percent (by NH4OAC) at a depth of 30 cm.
Free carbonates--There are no free carbonates within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface.
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 200 cm
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data from the NSSL is available for this pedon. Lab Pedon Number: 04N0121. NASIS User Pedon ID: S03WV081001. Other reference pedons available from the NSSL: 04N0124, 04N0132, 04N0128, 04N0129.