LOCATION RELAY MD+DEEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Relay silt loam - wooded (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; undecomposed to partially decomposed hardwood leaf litter.
A--2 to 6 inches, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 4 inches thick)
E--6 to 10 inches, olive gray (5Y 5/2) silt loam; moderate medium and coarse granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bt1--10 to 17 inches, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silty clay loam; strong medium and coarse blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; common roots; distinct olive (5Y 5/3) clay films; few fine rock fragments; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--17 to 25 inches, olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) clay loam; very strong medium blocky structure; very firm, sticky, plastic; few roots; prominent olive gray (5Y 5/2) clay films; few specks of red and light green; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--25 to 29 inches, olive (5Y 5/4) light clay loam; moderate fine and medium blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; very few roots; prominent olive gray (5Y 5/2) clay films; many fine specks of olive green; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt is 9 to 30 inches)
C1--29 to 35 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) light clay loam; massive; firm, sticky, plastic; very few roots; 15 percent fine rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
C2--35 to 46 inches, olive gray (5Y 5/2) silt loam, massive; friable, sticky, slightly plastic; 10 percent coarse fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (9 to 17 inches thick)
C3--46 to 62 inches, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; massive; very friable, 15 percent coarse fragments; slightly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (13 to 23 inches thick)
R--62 inches, hard unweathered gabbro.
TYPE LOCATION: Howard County, Maryland off College Avenue in Ilchester.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 20 to 34 inches and depth to bedrock from 4 to 7 feet. The soil, unless limed, ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid in the A and B horizons and is slightly acid of neutral in the C horizon. Rock fragments ranging in size from gravel to boulders occupy from 3 to 20 percent of individual horizons throughout the soil.
The A horizon has hues of 2.5Y or 5Y, values of 3 to 5, and the chroma of 2 or 3. The A horizon is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The E horizon, if present, has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is silt loam.
The Bt horizon has hues of 2.5Y to 5GY, values of 4 or 5, and the chroma of 3 to 6. It has subhorizons of clay loam, silty clay loam, clay, silt loam, or loam with weighted average clay content of 27 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section.
The C horizon has hues of 2.5Y to 5G, values of 3 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 6. Abrupt differences in texture are common in the C horizon which ranges from silt loam to sandy loam. The red and greenish mineral specks in various parts of the pedon appear to be characteristic of the series.
COMPETING SERIES: The Amanda, Belmont, Belmore, Chenault, Chili, Coggon, Conestoga, Douds, El Dara, Gallman, Grellton, Hayden, Hebron, Hickory, High Gap, Hollinger, Kalamazoo, Kanawha, Kendallville, Kidder, Kosciusko, Leroy, Letort, Lindley, Mandeville, Martinsville, McHenry, Miami, Mifflin, Military, Nodine, Norden, Ockley, Owosso, Pecatonica, Princeton, Rainsville, Rawson, Renova, Richland, Riddles, Sisson, Skelton, Strawn, Summitville, Theresa, Wawasee, Westville, Whalan, Woodbine and Wykoff series are in the same family.
Amanda, Kosciusko, Miami, Military, Ockley, Owosso, Pecatonica, Rainsville, Rawson, Wawasee, and Wykoff soils all have formed in glacial landscapes. Belmont, Belmore, Chili, Coggon, Conestoga, Douds, El Dara, Gallman, Grellton, Hayden, Hebron, Hickory, High Gap, Hollinger, Kalamazoo, Kanawha, Kendallville, Kidder, Leroy, Lindley, Mandeville, Martinsville, McHenry, Riddles, Sisson, Strawn, Summitville, Theresa, Westville, Whalan, and Woodbine soils lack coarse fragments dominated by gabbro, granodiorite or metagabbro and have hues of 10YR or redder in the B horizons. Chenault soils formed in alluvium over limestone in Karst topography. Letort soils have sola thicker than 40 inches and coarse fragments dominated by quartz, chert, limestone and phyllite. Mifflin, Nodine, Princeton, Renova, Richland and Skelton soils have thicker sola. Norden soils have glauconitic sandstone bedrock within 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Relay soils are on uplands near the eastern margin of the northern Piedmont Plateau. Slopes range from 3 to 60 percent. Topography is dominated by rounded steep hills and deeply incised ravines that are commonly rough and stony, with broken complex slopes. The soil formed in residuum from coarsely crystalline magnesium-rich basic rocks such as gabbro, metagabbro and granodiorite. The climate is temperate and humid, with a mean annual temperature of 50 to 57 degrees F. and mean annual precipitation of 35 to 45 inches. Frost-free days range from 160 to 200.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the well drained Legore, Montalto and Neshaminy soils that have lower base saturation in the C horizon, the moderately well drained Aldino and Conowingo soils, the somewhat poorly drained Kelly soils and the poorly drained Calvert and Watchung soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Permeability is moderate throughout and runoff is medium to high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in woodland, with native vegetation of mixed hardwoods. Large areas are in parks. Some gentler nonstony slopes are used for growing general crops and for nonfarm uses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Maryland. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Howard County, Maryland, 1965.
REMARKS: Previously revised by WDC in 1990. The 03/2004 revision places this soil into an active cation-exchange activity class and the series changed to very deep to bedrock rather than allowing deep and very deep. Also, all layer depths moved down by two inches to switch the Oi depths of 2 to 0 inches to 0 to 2 inches instead.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric Epipedon -- The zone from the soil surface to a depth of approximately 10 inches (Oi, A, and E horizons)
b. Albic Horizon -- The zone from 6 to 10 inches (E horizon)
c. Argillic horizon -- The zone from approximately 10 to 29 inches (Bt1, Bt2 and Bt3 horizons)