LOCATION SEWELL WV+KY OH PA VA
Established Series
DJB-SLH/Rev. MDJ
12/2012
SEWELL SERIES
MLRAs: 124 (Western Allegheny Plateau), 125 (Cumberland Plateau and Mountains), 126 (Central Allegheny Plateau), 127 (Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains) and 128 (Southern Appalachian Ridges and Valleys)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, acid, mesic Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Sewell channery sandy loam, very stony, on a 3 percent slope in an idle field. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 10 cm (0 to 4 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 30 percent channers, stones and boulders (90 percent micaceous sandstone and 10 percent siltstone); very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 25 cm thick)
C1--10 to 23 cm (4 to 9 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) very channery sandy loam; common red, yellow and gray lithochromic mottles; massive; friable; common fine roots; 50 percent channers, stones and boulders (95 percent micaceous sandstone and 5 percent siltstone); strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
C2--23 to 74 cm (9 to 29 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely channery sandy loam; common red, yellow and gray lithochromic mottles; massive; friable; few fine and medium roots; 65 percent channers, stones and boulders (90 percent micaceous sandstone and 10 percent siltstone); strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
C3--74 to 165 cm (29 to 65 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely channery sandy loam; common red, yellow and gray lithochromic mottles; massive; friable; 75 percent channers, stones and boulders (90 percent micaceous sandstone and 10 percent siltstone); strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is 152 cm or more.)
TYPE LOCATION:
State: West Virginia
County: Wyoming
USGS Topographic Quadrangle: Rhodell, West Virginia
Latitude: 37.548056N NAD 83
Longitude: 81.346389 W NAD 83
Directions: Barkers Ridge District, about 3,000 yards south-southeast (155 degrees) of Corrine and 700 yards southwest of Sand Gap.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 152 cm (60 inches)
Depth Class: Very deep, somewhat excessively
Rock Fragment Content: 15 to 80 percent, by volume, throughout the profile, but averages 35 percent or more in the particle-size control section
Rock Fragment Size: 2 mm to 25 cm, but can include stones and boulders
Rock Fragment Type: Brown sandstone, siltstone, shale and coal. The percentage of brown sandstone is 65 to 100 percent of the total rock fragments in the control section.
Fine-Earth Fraction: 5 to 18 percent clay in the control section
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid through strongly acid, except where limed
Range of Individual Horizons:
A horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam or loam
C horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--sandy loam or loam, but thin layers or pockets of loamy sand are included
COMPETING SERIES:
Itmann soils--Itmann soils must have 50 percent or more carbolithic rock fragments in the particle-size control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Hills and mountains
Landform: Hillslope, mountain and mountain slope
Anthropogenic Features: Surface mine, spoil bank, spoil pile and reclaimed land
Hillslope Profile Position: Summits, shoulders, backslopes, footslopes and toeslopes
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve, side slope, head slope, nose slope, free face, base slope,
mountaintop, mountainflank and mountainbase
Parent Material: Coal extraction mine spoil derived from acid regolith, mainly sandstone with small amounts of siltstone and shale
Slope: 0 to 90 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 11 to 13 degrees C. (52 to 56 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1016 to 1270 mm (40 to 50 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Cedarcreek soils--occur on similar landscape positions derived from acid surface mine overburden
Kaymine soils--occur on similar landscape positions derived from nonacid surface mine overburden
Fiveblock soils--occur on similar landscape positions derived from nonacid surface mine overburden
Itmann soils--occur on mine dumps, spoil piles and valley fills derived from waste carbolithic rock from mining
Berks soils--formed in residuum from shale, siltstone and fine-grained sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Gilpin soils--formed in residuum from shale, siltstone and sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Lily soils--formed in residuum from sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Matewan soils--formed in residuum from sandstone on undisturbed uplands
Pineville soils--formed in colluvium from sandstone, shale and siltstone on undisturbed uplands
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: None
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Very high
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Low through moderately high in the upper part, and very low through moderately high in the lower part
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Wildlife habitat and recreational areas. The rough topography and coarse fragment content of unreclaimed areas make it impractical for agriculture and difficult for standard forest harvesting practices. A few reclaimed areas are used for hay or pasture, and increasingly, are also used for homesites. Reclaimed areas typically exhibit higher bulk densities, much lower saturated hydraulic conductivities and low organic matter in the surface horizon, making establishment of most vegetation difficult.
Dominant Vegetation: Unreclaimed areas are naturally seeded deciduous forests with some barren areas. Reclaimed areas are usually open grassland, including some legumes. A few reclaimed areas have been planted to trees, but mortality is high because of soil compaction.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia
Extent: Moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wyoming County, West Virginia, 1984
REMARKS: (1) Sewell soils were previously mapped as a variety of strip mine spoil and udorthents units. (2) Mineralogy data and other West Virginia University studies were used for supporting data. (3) In West Virginia, these soils are formed by mine spoil from the New River geologic formation.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 10 cm (A horizon)
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 200 cm
Brown sandstone rock fragments make up 65 percent or more of the total rock fragment content in the particle-size control section.
The 8/00 revision updates this series to the 8th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards. The CEC activity class placement is based on similar soils such as Fiveblock. The COMPETING SERIES section was also updated.
Previous revisions: 2/88-BLW,JWB, LDS; 8/00-DHK
ADDITIONAL DATA: Additional data is available from West Virginia University.
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.