LOCATION RHODHISS NC+VA
Established Series
DTK/MHC/JAK/DTA; Rev. DTA
04/2026
RHODHISS SERIES
MLRA(s): 136 (mesic part)
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Southeast
Depth Class: Very deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Low to high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Piedmont upland
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes Geomorphic Component: Parent Material: Residuum from felsic crystalline rock
Slope: 2 to 95 percent
Elevation (type location): 338 meters (1110 feet)
Frost Free Period (type location): 176 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature (type location): 13 degrees C (56 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation (type location): 1168 millimeters (46 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Rhodhiss sandy loam in an area of Rhodhiss sandy loam, 25 to 45 percent slopes, on a 32 percent west-facing slope, in recently planted pines. (Colors are for moist soil, unless otherwise indicated.)
A--0 to 8 centimeters (0 to 3 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy loam, brown 10YR 5/3, dry; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and common medium roots; few fine mica flakes; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 25 centimeters (2 to 10 inches) thick)
E--8 to 20 centimeters (3 to 8 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; few fine and medium roots; common fine mica flakes; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 30 centimeters (0 to 12 inches) thick)
Bt1--20 to 36 centimeters (8 to 14 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine mica flakes; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--36 to 63 centimeters (14 to 25 inches); yellowish red (5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine mica flakes; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 25 to 102 centimeters (10 to 40 inches)
BC--63 to 76 centimeters (25 to 30 inches); strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 36 centimeters (0 to 14 inches) thick)
C--76 to 152 centimeters (30 to 60 inches); variegated yellow, olive, gray, and brown sandy loam saprolite; massive; very friable; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Burke County, North Carolina; about 3.2 miles north of Morganton on North Carolina Highway 18 from the Catawba River bridge; about 0.1 mile northwest on Secondary Road 1430; about 1.6 miles northwest on Secondary Road 1462; about 1.1 miles southwest on Secondary Road 1435 to farm house at end of road; about 600 feet south on farm road from cabled gate, about 100 feet east on side slope, in forest; USGS Morganton North, North Carolina topographic quadrangle.
Latitude--35.8083
Longitude-- -81.6961
Datum--WGS84
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to top of Argillic horizon: 5 to 51 centimeters (2 to 20 inches)
Depth to base of Argillic horizon: 51 to 152 centimeters or more (20 to 60 inches or more)
Thickness of Argillic horizon: 25 to 102 centimeters (10 to 40 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 35 percent, by volume in the A and E horizon; 0 to 20 percent in the B and C horizons; mostly gravel
Mica content: 0 to 20 percent, by volume, throughout. Some pedons have C horizons, below a depth of 40 inches, that range to 35 percent mica flakes.
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid to slightly acid, unless limed
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 2 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--coarse sandy loam, loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam
E horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 3 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, loamy fine sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam
BA and AB horizon (if they occur):
Color--hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--typically, sandy clay loam or clay loam and includes coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam. Some pedons have thin layers of sandy clay.
Non-redoximorphic mottles (if they occur)--in shades of in brown, red, yellow, or gray
BC horizon or BCt horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam
Mottles (if they occur)--non-redoximorphic mottles in shades of in brown, red, yellow, or gray. The gray and white mottles are commonly highly weathered rock material.
C/B horizon (if it occurs):
C part--same properties as C horizon
B part--same properties as Bt or BC horizon
Mottles (if they occur)--non-redoximorphic mottles in shades of in brown, red, yellow, or gray. The gray and white mottles are commonly highly weathered rock material.
C horizon or Ct horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam
Mottles (if they occur)--non-redoximorphic mottles in shades of in brown, red, yellow, or gray. The gray and white mottles are commonly highly weathered rock material.
COMPETING SERIES:
Drapermill soils--are moderately deep to bedrock and formed in residuum from phyllite and schist
Glenelg soils--formed in residuum from micaceous schist and contain a significantly higher silt content
Hickoryknob soil--are moderately deep and formed in residuum from mica schist and mica gneiss
Tate soils--formed in alluvium and colluvium from felsic to mafic crystalline rocks in MLRA 130
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont upland
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum from felsic crystalline rock
Slope: 2 to 95 percent
Elevation: 122 to 488 meters (400 to 1600 feet)
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 11 to 14 degrees C (52 to 57 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1016 to 1397 millimeters (40 to 55 inches)
Frost Free Period: 160 to 205 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Bannertown soils--are coarse-loamy and moderately deep to bedrock
Clifford soils--are clayey and are red in color
Fairview soils--are clayey and are red in color
Huddleston soil--have higher mica content
Nathalie soils--are clayey
Poplar Forest soils--are clayey and have a higher mica content
Toast soils--are clayey
Westfield soils--are clayey deep to bedrock and have more clay in the argillic horizon; on similar landforms
Woolwine soils--are clayey and moderately deep to bedrock
Yanceyville soils--are coarse-loamy
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland and cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--small grain, hay, and pasture. Where wooded--pine and mixed hardwoods.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: North Carolina and Virginia
Extent: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Burke County, North Carolina; 2003.
REMARKS: The Rhodhiss series was previously mapped with the Rion series. The April 1997 relocation of the mesic/thermic line in North Carolina and Virginia necessitated the establishment of the Rhodhiss series as a mesic counterpart to the Rion series. The April 2026 revision changed the format. No data was changed.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 20 centimeters (0 to 8 inches) (A and E horizons)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 20 to 63 centimeters (8 to 25 inches) (Bt horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory Data: No laboratory data available.
Database Information:
Typical Pedon Data Mapunit ID--84454
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
RHODHISS 2-60 52-57 160-205 40-55 400-1600
FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
None >60 -- - >60 --
Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
0-3 LCOS SL FSL L 0 80-100 5-27
3-8 LCOS SL FSL L 0 80-100 5-27
8-25 SCL CL 0 80-100 20-40
25-30 SL L SCL CL 0 80-100 10-35
30-60 LS SL FSL SCL 0 80-100 5-27
Depth -pH- -O.M.- Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
0-3 4.5-6.5 0.5-2.0 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
3-8 4.5-6.5 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
8-60 4.5-6.5 0.0-0.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.