LOCATION RARDEN             OH+AL GA IN KY
Established Series
AR-LAT-JAG-ART
05/1999

RARDEN SERIES


The Rarden series consists of moderately deep, moderately well drained soils formed in residuum from acid clay shale with interbedded siltstone in some areas. These soils are on hills. Permeability is slow. Slope ranges from 2 to 50 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 40 inches, and
mean annual temperature is about 53 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Aquultic Hapludalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Rarden silt loam on a 13 percent northwest-facing convex slope in a meadow. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)

Bt1--6 to 10 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; many fine roots; few faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; 2 percent siltstone and shale fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--10 to 15 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) clay films on faces of peds; common dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) masses of iron and manganese accumulation on faces of peds; few
fine prominent pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 3 percent siltstone and shale fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt3--15 to 22 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) clay films on faces of peds; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) masses of iron and manganese accumulation on faces of peds; common fine
prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 5 percent siltstone and shale fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt4--22 to 29 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very firm; common prominent gray (10YR 6/1) clay depletions and common distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) clay films on faces of peds; common medium prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2)
iron depletions in the matrix; common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 5 percent siltstone and shale fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 15 to 30 inches.)

BC--29 to 34 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; common medium distinct light gray (10YR 7/2) iron depletions in the matrix; few fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 10 percent
siltstone and shale fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)

Cr1--34 to 40 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) thin bedded shale; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) coatings in partings; diffuse wavy boundary.

Cr2--40 to 44 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) thin bedded shale.

TYPE LOCATION: Jackson County, Ohio; Liberty Township; 1,535 feet west and 1,500 feet south of northeast corner of sec. 35, T. 7 N., R. 19 W.; Jackson, Ohio quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 02 minutes 23.4 seconds N. and long. 82 degrees 41 minutes 32.0 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to the paralithic contact, solum thickness, and depth to the base of the argillic horizon range from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments, dominantly siltstone with some shale, range from 0
to 20 percent throughout. Shale pararock fragments are common throughout the solum in many pedons. The particle-size control section averages 40 to 60 percent clay.

Depth to the base of the ochric epipedon ranges from 3 to 10 inches. The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5 (6 or 7 dry), and chroma of 2 to 4. It typically is silt loam and less commonly is silty clay loam where eroded. It is slightly acid to extremely acid unless limed. Some pedons have an A horizon that has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam. It is strongly acid to extremely acid. Some pedons have an E horizon that has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam. It is strongly acid to
extremely acid.

The Bt horizon has dominant hue of 5YR, 2.5YR, or 7.5YR with thin subhorizons of 10YR, value of 3 to 7, and chroma of 4 to 8. Subhorizons in the lower part have variegations and redoximorphic features with chroma of 2 or less and redoximorphic features of higher chroma. It is dominantly silty clay or clay with thin subhorizons of silty clay loam. Subhorizons of channery silty clay are in the lower part in some pedons. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.

Some pedons have a BC or C horizon. The BC horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is silty clay, clay, or silty clay loam. It is strongly acid to extremely acid.

The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is silty clay, clay, silty clay loam, or their channery analogues. It is strongly acid or very strongly acid.

Bedrock consists of soft clay shale with interbedded siltstone in some areas.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Coolville and Lansdowne series. They do not have a paralithic contact within 40 inches.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rarden soils are on interfluves, shoulder slopes, and backslopes on hills in the dissected Allegheny Plateau. They formed in residuum from soft acid clay shale with interbedded siltstone in some areas.
Slope ranges from 2 to 50 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 54 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Coolville soils and the Brownsville, Latham, Rigley, Shelocta, Wharton, Wellston, and Zanesville soils. Latham soils typically have a browner subsoil and are on
similar positions. Brownsville, Rigley, Shelocta, Wellston, Wharton, and Zanesville soils do not have a paralithic contact within 40 inches. Coolville soils have a silt mantle and typically are on broader less sloping summits or on broad benches. Brownsville, Wellston, and Wharton soils are
on similar positions. Rigley soils are on backslopes, benches, footslopes, and fans. Shelocta soils are on backslopes, footslopes, and benches. Zanesville soils are on summits and upper side slopes.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The depth to an intermittent perched water table is 1 to 2 feet between January and April in most years. Permeability is slow. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in woodland or pasture, or are brushy areas that are slowly reverting to woodland. Some areas are cultivated. Corn, hay, and wheat are the main crops. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Ohio, Southern Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia. MLRA's 111, 114, 120, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128. The series is of large extent.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Licking County, Ohio, 1930.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - 0 to 6 inches; argillic horizon - 6 to 29 inches; aquic conditions - 12 to 34 inches; paralithic contact - 34 inches.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory characterization data from The Ohio State University Characterization Laboratory is available for JK-19, the typical pedon.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.