LOCATION SHELMADINE         PA
Established Series
Rev.GDM-JRH
11/2005

SHELMADINE SERIES


The Shelmadine series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils formed in glacial or periglacial material. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. Permeability is slow. Mean annual precipitation is 41 inches. Mean annual temperature is 49 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiaquults

TYPICAL PEDON: Shelmadine silt loam - cropland. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 9 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)

Btg--9 to 22 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silty clay loam; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and gray (10YR 5/1) mottles; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm, sticky, plastic; continuous faint clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.(7 to 24 inches thick)

Bxg1--22 to 38 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silty clay loam,grayish brown (10YR 5/2) coatings on peds; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium platy; brittle, firm and very firm, slightly sticky, plastic; many prominent clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common faint iron and manganese coatings and concretions; 15 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.(10 to 20 inches thick)

Bxg2--38 to 46 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) channery loam; many medium distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) and gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak thick platy; brittle, firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few faint clay films in pores; common distinct iron and manganese coatings and concretions; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 14 inches thick)

C--46 to 64 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) channery loam; common distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) and gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; massive; friable and firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common dark coatings; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Carbon County, Pennsylvania; Franklin Township, 2 miles northeast of Lehighton.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 to 53 degrees F. Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 60 inches and depth to the fragipan ranges from 18 to 30 inches; bedrock is below 5 feet. Rock fragments of shale, angular or subrounded sandstone or quartzite, up to 5 inches in diameter, range from 5 to 25 percent
in the solum and 15 to 80 percent in the C horizon. The soil ranges from extremely acid through strongly acid throughout, where unlimed. The most common clay mineral is illite but the soils contain significant amounts of vermiculite and kaolinite.

The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 1 or 2.Some pedons have an A horizon with value of 2 through 4, and an E horizon with value of 4 through 7. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.

The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 6, and chroma of 1 through 4 with common to many high chroma mottles. Faces of peds have coatings with chroma of 2 or less. The Bt horizon is silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction and contains 22 to 35 percent clay and 45 to 65 percent silt in the particle-size control section. It has weak or moderate fine to coarse subangular or angular blocky structure of medium or coarse prismatic structure parting to subangular blocky. Some pedons have a BA or BE horizon. The Bx horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. Mottles and coatings on faces of peds are similar to the Bt horizon. Texture is silt loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has moderate
very coarse prismatic structure parting to thick or medium platy or medium blocky structure. It is firm or very firm and brittle.

The C horizon ranges from gray to brown and contains few to many gray and strong brown mottles. It is silt loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction and is massive or has weak medium platy structure.

COMPETING SERIES: The Cokesbury series is in the same family. Cokesbury soils have gneiss and schist rock fragments.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Nearly level to moderately sloping soils on upland flats, depressions, drainageways and stream heads. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. The soil formed in pre-Wisconsin age glacial or periglacial material derived from shale, siltstone, and sandstone. The climate is humid temperate; mean annual precipitation ranges from
34 to 48 inches, mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F., and the frost-free season from ranges 130 to 170 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Shelmadine soils are a member of the drainage sequence which includes the well drained Allenwood and Hanover soils, moderately well drained Titusville and Watson soils, and somewhat poorly drained Alvira and Gresham soils. The well drained Berks or Gilpin soils and moderately well drained Comly soils are on nearby uplands.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Shelmadine soils are poorly drained and have slow permeability. The potential for surface runoff is high to very high.

USE AND VEGETATION: About 40 percent is cleared and in cropland and pasture. Woodland is mainly mixed northern hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated portions of Northern Appalachian Ridges in Eastern Pennsylvania and fringes of Glaciated Allegheny Plateau in western Pennsylvania. The series is of moderate extent, estimated to be 60,000 acres.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 1939.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 9 to 22 inches (Btg horizon). 3. Fragipan - the zone
from 22 to 46 inches (Bxg horizon).

The 10/2005 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). The CEC activity class placement is based on laboratory data. Class placement may be revised in the future when laboratory data are reviewed or become available.

Competing series, pedon description (including horizon nomenclature and/or descriptive terms, redoximorphic features, etc), and other sections on the OSD were not revised.Previous revision dates: 8/86


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.