LOCATION RAMSEY TN+AR GA KY MO NC OH PA VA WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy, siliceous, subactive, mesic Lithic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Ramsey loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 1 inch; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 2 inches thick)
E--1 to 5 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots and pores; about 10 percent by volume of fragments of sandstone; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick)
Bw1--5 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots and pores; 15 percent by volume of fragments of sandstone; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--12 to 18 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) cobbly loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots and pores; 25 percent fragments of sandstone; strongly acid. (Thickness of the Bw horizon ranges from 3 to 15 inches.)
R--18 inches; acid sandstone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: White County, Tennessee; on Cumberland Plateau, 2 miles south of Clarktown and 100 feet northwest of junction of Big Lost Creek and Clarktown-Clifty Road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to sandstone or quartzite bedrock range from 7 to 20 inches. Each horizon contains about 5 percent to 35 percent fragments of sandstone or quartzite except the surface layer can have less. Fragments are mostly less than 3 inches in size in the upper part of the solum but some in the lower part are as much as 10 inches in size. Reaction in each horizon is very strongly acid to slightly acid.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 5 and chroma of 1 to 4. The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. The A and E horizons are loam, sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 3 to 8. The fine earth texture is loam, sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
Some pedons have a BC or C horizon with the same colors as the the Bw horizon. The texture ranges from loam to loamy sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Basehor series in the same family and the Hector series in a closely related family. Basehor soils contain fewer fragments and lower annual precipitation. Hector soils have a thermic temperature regime.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ramsey soils are on the tops and upper side slopes of hills and mountains. Slopes range from 8 to 70 percent. The soils formed in residuum and in some places contain colluvium from sandstone or quartzite. Outcrops of bedrock are common. Near the type location, mean annual temperature is 55.5 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 54 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Alticrest, Berks, Bouldin, Crossville, Dekalb, Grimsley, Hartsells, Jefferson, Lily, and Muskingum series. All of the soils have sola thicker than 20 inches and are more than 20 inches to bedrock. In addition, Bouldin, Grimsley, Hartsell, Jefferson, and Lily soils have argillic horizons.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained; medium to rapid runoff; rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forest but a few are cleared and used chiefly for growing pasture. Forests are of mixed hardwood and pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Cumberland Plateau and mountains of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and possibly West Virginia, and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of large extent, probably more than 500,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Madison County, North Carolina; 1937.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - 0 to 5 inches (A, E horizons)
Cambic horizon - 5 to 18 inches (Bw horizon)