LOCATION RHODHISS NC+VA
Established Series
DTK/MHC/JAK/DTA; Rev. DTA
06/2026
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
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
Devotion soils--are coarse-loamy and moderately deep to bedrock
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. The June 2026 revision added the soil Devotion to geographically associated soils.
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.