LOCATION ROCKDELL TNEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, active, thermic Dystric Fluventic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Rockdell gravelly loam on a 1 percent slope in a mixed hardwood forest. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 1 inches; partially decomposed leaves, twigs, and roots.(0 to 2 inches thick)
A--1 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, many fine and few coarse roots; 20 percent chert gravel; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (3 to 12 inches thick)
Bw1--11 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) gravelly loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and few coarse roots; 35 percent chert gravel; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--19 to 30 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) extremely gravelly loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and few medium roots; few manganese coatings on rock fragments; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon ranges from 15 to 50 inches)
C--30 to 42 inches; light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/3) very gravelly loam; few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; massive; friable; few fine roots; 30 percent gravel and 25 percent cobbles of chert; common manganese masses; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 40 inches thick)
2Bt--42 to 61 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) very cobbly clay loam; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few manganese masses; common medium prominent light gray (2.5Y 7/2) iron depletions throughout; moderately acid. (0 to 20 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: McMinn County, Tennessee; 5.5 miles west of Riceville on County Road 100, 600 feet east and 190 feet south of the intersection of County Road 110 near an unnamed tributary of Roger's Creek; Riceville topographic quadrangle; lat. 35 degrees 26 minutes 3 seconds N. and long. 84 degrees 43 minutes 55 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches and depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. A lithologic discontinuity is present below 40 inches in most pedons. Rock fragments are mostly gravel and cobbles of chert with some sandstone and shale and range from 10 to 40 percent in the A horizon and from 15 to 70 percent in the Bw and underlying horizons. The soil ranges from moderately acid to neutral.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam.
The Bw horizon, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, sandy loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, clay loam, sandy loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Mottles are in shades of brown, yellow, red, or gray.
The 2Bt horizon, when present, has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is clay loam, loam, clay, or silty clay. Mottles are in shades of gray, brown, or yellow.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in this family. Similar soils include Ennis, Ocana, and Riverby series. Ennis soils have lower base saturation and fewer rock fragments. Ocana soils have mixed mineralogy and fewer rock fragments. Riverby soils have mixed mineralogy and do not have a cambic horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Rockdell soils are on flood plains with slopes ranging from 0 to 4 percent. The soil formed in alluvium from watersheds dominated by cherty limestone and dolomite. Mean annual precipitation is about 56 inches and the mean annual temperature ranges from 57 degrees.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bodine, Dewey, Fullerton, Minvale, Shack, and Tasso soils. All of these soils have argillic horizons. Bodine, Dewey, and Fullerton soils are on upland ridges and side slopes. Minvale, Shack, and Tasso soils are on lower side slopes and foot slopes. Additionally, Shack and Tasso soils have fragic properties.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; slow runoff; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principle use is woodland and pasture. Woodlands usually consist of mixed hardwoods or pine plantations.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys in Tennessee, and possibly Alabama, and Georgia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: McMinn County, Tennessee; 1999
REMARKS: Rockdell soils were previously included in gravelly phases of the Greendale series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 11 inches (the Oi and A horizons)
Cambic horizon: 11 to 30 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)