LOCATION SHELOCTA KY+MD NC OH PA TN VA WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Shelocta silt loam--on a 25 percent concave slope in pasture. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; 5 percent rock fragments; many roots; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (7 to 11 inches thick).
Bt1--10 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; 10 percent rock fragments; common clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common roots; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bt2--20 to 32 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; 15 percent rock fragments; many clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 20 inches thick)
Bt3--32 to 46 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; 45 percent rock fragments; common clay films on faces of peds and in pores; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (12 to 30 inches thick)
C--46 to 60 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery silt loam; 60 percent rock fragments coated by silts; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: McCreary County, Kentucky; along Rock Creek by gravel road, 2.5 miles southwest of hamlet of Bell Farm, Kentucky.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS; Solum thickness ranges from 40 to to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 40 inches. Content of rock fragments ranges from 2 to 35 percent in the A horizon, from 5 to 50 percent in the individual B horizons, and from 15 to 70 percent in the 2B or C horizons. Reaction of the unlimed soils is strongly acid to extremely acid. Some pedons have A horizons that are medium acid or slightly acid.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. A horizons 1 to 5 inches thick have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. E horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is silt loam,loam, or the channery, or gravelly analogues.
Some pedons have a BA, BE or Bw horizon with hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2,5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture of the fine-earth is silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Some pedons have mottles in shades of brown, and in the lower part, some pedons have mottles, redoximorphic, or relict redoximorphic features in shades of gray. Texture of the fine-earth is silty clay loam, silt loam, or loam; however, loam texture is not permitted throughout the Bt horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6, and some have mottles, redoximorphic, or relict redoxicmorphic features in shades of brown, olive, or gray. Texture of the fine-earth is silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or loam.
Some pedons have 2B or 2C horizons below 40 inches formed in residuum from shales or siltstone and are silty clay or clay in the fine-earth.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Albermarle, Allegheny, Allenwood, Arcola, Arendtsville, Aura, Bedington, Birdsboro, Bucks, Butano, Chester, Chetwynd, Chilmark, Clymer, Collington, Edgemont, Edneytown, Elsinboro, Eubanks, Frankstown, Freehold, Gilpin, Glenelg, Leck Kill, Meadowville, Murrill, Nixon, Pineville, Quakertown, Rayne, Shouns, Syenite, Tate, Thurmont, Ungers, and Whiteford series. Albermarle soils contain 0 to 15 percent rock fragments in the solum, and these are meta- arkosic sandstone, graylacke, or quartzite. Allegheny and Meadowville soils have less than 15 percent rock fragments in the Bt horizon. Allenwood, Arendtsville, Aura, Bedington, Birdsboro, Butano, Chester, Chetwynd, Collington, Eubanks, Leck Kill, Shouns, Ungers, and Whiteford soils have hue redder than 7.5YR in some or all parts of the Bt horizon. Arcola soils have weathered from Triassic and Jurassic red beds. Bucks, Clymer, Edgemont, Edneytown, Elsinboro, Gilpin, Glenelg, Quakertown, and Syenite soils have sola less than 40 inches thick. Chilmark soils have a sandy loam subhorizon in the Bt horizon and are underlain by glacial till. Frankstown soils have rock fragments dominated by leached siliceous limestone or chert. Freehold soils are very deep, contain glauconite, and are on coastal plains. Murrill soils have a lithologic discontinuity within the solum. Nixon soils have quartzite rock fragments. Pineville soils do not have silt loam or silty clay loam textures in the Bt horizon. Rayne soils have argillic horizons that terminate at less than 40 inches. Tate soils contain less than 30 percent silt in the control section. Thurmont soils are very deep and contain rock fragments of quartzite, granite, or other crystalline rocks.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gently sloping to very steep upland areas, foot slopes, and benches. Slopes range from 2 to 90 percent and most are concave. These soils are in areas within 42 to 54 inches average annual precipitation and average annual temperatures range from 48 to 59 degrees F. Shelocta soils have formed in the weathered product of colluvial material or colluvium and residuum from shale, siltstone, and sandstone.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Gilpin and Rayne soils and the Cutshin, Dekalb, Grimsley, Jefferson, Kimper, Muskingum, Wernock, and Weikert soils. Cutshin, Dekalb, Kimper, Muskingum, and Weikert soils lack argillic horizons. Grimsley soils are loamy-skeletal. Jefferson soils have siliceous mineralogy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, medium to rapid surface runoff and moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: About 25 percent of Shelocta soils are cleared and used for general crops and pasture. Wooded areas have mixed hardwoods-- oaks, gum, maple, yellow-poplar, cucumber, and some pine and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The plateau and mountain areas of Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Indiana County, Pennsylvania; 1937.
Remarks: Diagnostic horizons in the pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 10 inches, Ap
Argillic horizon: 10 to 46 inches, Bt1, Bt2, Bt3