LOCATION RION SC+GA NC VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Rion loamy sand on a 20 percent slope with a southern aspect; recently planted pines. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 3 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and few medium roots; 5 percent quartz gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
E--3 to 7 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; common fine and few medium roots; 5 percent quartz gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1--7 to 12 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; common fine and very fine pores; 2 percent quartz gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--12 to 17 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; many very fine and few fine pores; 5 percent quartz gravel; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bt3--17 to 26 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent red (2.5YR 4/6) and common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; weak medium angular blocky structure; friable; common faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; many very fine and few fine pores; 5 percent quartz gravel; 2 percent feldspar gravel; grayish brown mottles are relic weathered rock material and are not due to wetness; very strongly acid; clear
smooth boundary.
Bt4--26 to 31 inches; reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/8) sandy clay loam; common medium prominent very pale brown (10YR 7/4) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; 5 percent quartz gravel; 5 percent feldspar gravel; pockets of white clay; light brownish gray mottles and pockets of white clay are relic weathered rock material and are not due to wetness; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
BC--31 to 38 inches; mottled white (10YR 8/1), brownish yellow (10YR 6/8), light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) sandy clay loam; massive; friable; 5 percent feldspar gravel; 5 percent quartz gravel; white and light brownish gray mottles are relic weathered rock material and are not due to wetness; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
C--38 to 60 inches; mottled white, gray, and brownish yellow sandy loam; massive; friable; few pockets of gray clay; 90 percent granite saprolite; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Fairfield County, South Carolina; 6.2 miles southeast of Winnsboro; 1.4 miles northwest of junction of U.S. Highway and State Secondary Highway 21 to Good Hope Church; 200 feet south of South Carolina Secondary 21.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is from 20 to 50 inches. Depth to a lithic contact is more than 60 inches. The soil is very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout. Content of mica flakes typically ranges from none to common. In some pedons, the C horizon below a depth of 40 inches has many flakes of mica. Content of rock fragments commonly is 0 to 12 percent. Some pedons have stones or boulders on the surface.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. The A horizon is loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. It is loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Brownish, reddish, yellowish, or grayish mottles range from none to common. It commonly is sandy clay loam but includes coarse sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam or clay loam. Thin layers of sandy clay are in some pedons.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8, with mottles in shades of red, brown, yellow, gray, or white; or it is mottled in shades of the above. The gray and white mottles in the B horizon are relic weathered rock material and are not due to wetness. The BC horizon is loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8, with mottles in shades of red, brown, yellow, gray, or white, or is mottled in shades of red, brown, yellow, or white. It is loamy sand, coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy clay loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Buckhead, Cheaha, Fruithurst, Montonia, Rawlings, Rome, Shady, Sherless, Sherwood, State, Sugargrove, Tidings, and Wickham series of the same family. Buckhead soils have more that 15 percent rock fragments throughout. Cheaha and Rawlings soils have bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Fruithurst, Montonia and Sherless soils have a paralithic contact at depths of 20 to 40 inches. Rome, Shady, State, and Wickham soils have a solum thickness of more than 40 inches, formed in alluvium and are on low stream terraces. Sherwood soils have bedrock at depths of 30 to 60 inches. Sugargrove and Tidings soils have a paralithic contact at a depth of 40 to 60 inches, and in addition have a Cr horizon of weathered sedimentary rock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rion soils are on gently sloping to very steep Piedmont uplands. Slopes commonly are 15 to 25 percent but range from 2 to 60 percent. The soil formed in material mostly weathered from acid crystalline rocks. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 46 to 60 inches, the mean annual temperature ranges from 59 to 66 degrees F., and the frost-free season ranges from 200 to 230 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ashlar, Cecil, Lloyd, Louisburg, Madison, Pacolet, Rawlings (tentative), Rion, Saw, Wateree, and Wedowee soils. Ashlar, Louisburg, and Wateree soils are Dystrochrepts, in addition, Ashlar and Wateree soils have bedrock within a depth of 40 inches. Cecil, Lloyd, Madison, Pacolet, Saw, and Wedowee soils are in fine families. Saw soils have bedrock within a depth of 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in forests of pine and mixed hardwoods. Cleared areas are primarily used for small grain, hay, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Piedmont of South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fairfield County, South Carolina; 1977.
REMARKS: The Rion series was formerly included with the Wedowee and Pacolet series. 2006 revision narrows reaction throughout profile to very strongly acid to moderately acid and allows chroma 2 in the E horizon. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to 7 inches (A and E horizons)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 7 to 31 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, and Bt4 horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Grain count by South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station is: 78 percent Quartz, 19.3 percent Feldspar, and 2.7 percent opaques and heavy minerals.
MLRA = 136
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation SC0090 RION 2- 60 59- 66 200-230 46- 60 200-1400 SC0136 RION 2- 40 59- 66 200-230 46- 60 200-1400SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness SC0090 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 60-60 SC0136 NONE 6.0-6.0 - 60-60
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- SC0090 0- 7 LS LCOS 0- 2 70-100 2-15 2- 5 SC0090 0- 7 SL FSL L 0- 2 85-100 5-20 4- 7 SC0090 0- 7 SCL CL 0- 2 90-100 18-35 5- 10 SC0090 7-38 SL SCL CL 0- 2 85-100 18-35 4- 10 SC0090 38-60 SL SCL LS 0- 2 80-100 2-20 2- 8 SC0136 0- 7 BYV-LS 0- 5 70- 85 2-15 2- 5 SC0136 0- 7 BYV-SL BYV-FSL 0- 5 70- 85 5-20 4- 7 SC0136 7-38 SL SCL CL 0- 3 85-100 18-33 4- 10 SC0136 38-60 SL SCL LS 0- 2 80-100 2-20 2- 8
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll SC0090 0- 7 4.5- 6.5 .5-2. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0090 0- 7 4.5- 6.5 .5-2. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0090 0- 7 4.5- 6.5 .5-2. 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0090 7-38 4.5- 6.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0090 38-60 4.5- 6.5 0.-.5 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0136 0- 7 4.5- 6.5 .5-2. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0136 0- 7 4.5- 6.5 .5-2. 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW SC0136 7-38 4.5- 6.5 0.-.5 0- 0 0.6- 2.0 LOW SC0136 38-60 4.5- 6.5 0.-.5 0- 0 2.0- 6.0 LOW