LOCATION RONDA NCEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, mesic Typic Udipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Ronda loamy sand--field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak medium granular structure; very friable; common fine and medium roots; common fine flakes of mica; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
C1--8 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) loamy sand; massive; very friable; common fine roots; common fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
C2--18 to 60 inches; very pale brown (10YR 7/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sand that has common lenses of dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loamy sand; massive; very friable; few fine roots; common fine flakes of mica; moderately acid. (Combined thickness of the C horizons is 0 to 60 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Wilkes County, North Carolina; about 0.3 mile south of the community of Roaring River on Secondary Road 2327; about 100 feet west of road and 150 feet northwest of bridge; in a field. USGS Roaring River topographic quadrangle; lat. 36 degrees, 12 minutes, 05 seconds N and long. 81 degrees, 00 minutes, 23 seconds W. Elevation is 936 feet.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to hard bedrock is more than 10 feet. Layers of gravel and cobbles are in the substrata of some pedons below a depth of 40 inches. Few to many mica flakes are present throughout the profile. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid. The A and C horizons to a depth of 40 inches are sand, loamy sand, or loamy fine sand. In addition, The C horizon may be fine sand within a depth of 40 inches. Below a depth of 40 inches, textures of the C horizon range from sand to loam or are stratified.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. Some pedons have an Ab horizon below a depth of 40 inches that has the same color and texture range of the A horizon.
The Bw horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 8, and chroma of 3 to 8. Chroma 2 or less mottles are in some pedons below a depth of 40 inches but are not iron depletions associated with wetness.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Biltmore and Spessard series. Biltmore soils are located in the Southern Blue Ridge MLRA 130. Spessard soils are located int he Alleghany mountains in Virginia and possibly Kentucky and Tennessee.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ronda soils are on nearly level to gently sloping flood plains in the mesic Piedmont, usually adjacent to stream channels. Slopes range from 0 to 6 percent. The soil formed in sandy alluvium. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 52 to 59 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation ranges from 37 to 69 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Codorus, Comus, Dan River, and Hatboro series. All of these soils are loamy. Codorus and Hatboro soils are also wetter, and have mottles or matrix colors of 2 or lower chroma.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; very slow runoff; rapid and very rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: More than one-half of the soil has been cleared and is used for growing pasture or crops. A few areas are in loblolly, longleaf, or shortleaf pines. Natural vegetation consists mainly of hardwoods such as sweetgum, oaks, birch, elm, ash, hickory, yellow- poplar, sycamore, and willow trees.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: North Carolina and possibly Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES PROPOSED: Wilkes County, North Carolina; 2008.
REMARKS: Ronda soils were formerly included with the Buncombe series. Due to the establishment of a mesic/thermic line in MLRA 136, Ronda is proposed as a mesic replacement for Buncombe.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric Epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 8 inches (Ap horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA:
SIR = MLRA's = 136 (mesic)
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation RONDA 0-6 52-59 180-250 37-69 300-700FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness RARE FREQ >6.0 - >60
Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC- 0-8 LS LFS S 0-0 98-100 3-12 2-10 8-60 LS LFS S 0-0 98-100 3-12 1-10
Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll 0-8 4.5-6.5 .5-1. 0-0 6.0-20 LOW 8-60 4.5-6.5 0.-.5 0-0 6.0-20 LOW