LOCATION SMOTHERS                OH

Established Series
Rev. RMG-PCJ
11/2021

SMOTHERS SERIES

The Smothers series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loamy till of medium lime content overlying hard fractured sandstone. These soils are on bedrock controlled ground moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 4 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 940 mm (37 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 10 degrees C (50 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Epiaqualfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Smothers silt loam, on a 1 percent slope in a hay field at an elevation of 297 meters (976 feet) above mean sea level. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches); dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. [18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 inches) thick]

Bt1--25 to 56 cm (10 to 22 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay; moderate coarse angular blocky structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few very fine roots; many distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of peds; common distinct gray (10YR 6/1) clay depletions on vertical faces of peds in lower 10 cm (4 inches); common fine distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 10 percent rock fragments, both flat and rounded; slightly alkaline; clear irregular boundary. [25 to 66 cm (10 to 26 inches) thick]

2Bt2--56 to 76 cm (22 to 30 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) extremely flaggy silty clay; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; common distinct gray (10YR 5/1) clay films on faces of peds; many distinct gray (N 5/) clay films on rock fragments; common fine distinct gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions in the matrix; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 70 percent sandstone flagstones; slightly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. [0 to 46 cm (18 inches) thick]

2R--76 cm (30 inches); light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) hard fine grained sandstone.

TYPE LOCATION: Delaware County, Ohio; Harlem Township; 2,150 feet south and 900 feet east of the intersection of Gorsuch Rd. and Red Bank Rd.; USGS Sunbury, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 08 minutes 48.2 seconds N. and long. 82 degrees 51 minutes 12.7 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the lithic contact: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Thickness of the solum: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)
Depth to the base of the ochric epipedon: 18 to 30 cm (7 to 12 inches)
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches)

Ap horizon:
Hue: 10YR
Value: 4 or 5 (6 or 7 dry)
Chroma: 2 or 3
Texture: silt loam
Rock fragment content: 0 to 14 percent
Reaction: strongly acid to neutral

Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam
Rock fragment content: 2 to 14 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline

2Bt horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 1 to 4
Texture: channery, very channery, extremely channery, flaggy, very flaggy, or extremely flaggy analogs of silty clay, silty clay loam, or clay loam
Rock fragment content ranges: 15 to 75 percent
Reaction: moderately acid to slightly alkaline

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Crosby, Hyatts, McGary, and Pyrmont series. These soils do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 102 cm (40 inches).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Smothers soils are on foot slopes on bedrock controlled ground moraines of Wisconsinan age. Slope ranges from 0 to 4 percent. The soils formed in loamy till of medium calcium carbonate content over hard fractured sandstone. Rock fragments in the till are rounded igneous and flat sandstone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 787 to 1067 mm (31 to 42 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from (8 to 12 degrees C 46 to 54 degrees F).

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Bennington, Centerburg, Hyatts, and Loudonville soils. The very deep Bennington soils and deep Hyatts soils are on similar positions. The very deep, moderately well drained Centerburg soils and the moderately deep, well drained Loudonville soils are on summits and shoulders.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The depth to the top of an intermittent perched high water table ranges from 15 to 30 cm (0.5 to 1 foot) between November and May in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is low or medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low. Permeability is slow.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for cropland. Some areas are in woodland. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central Ohio; MLRA 111E. The series is of small extent, with about 2,500 acres.

SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Delaware County, Ohio, 1996.

REMARKS: The Smothers series has been considered Bennington soils in Delaware County and Mitiwanga soils in adjoining Franklin County.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 25 cm (Ap horizon).
Argillic horizon: from 25 to 76 cm (Bt, 2Bt horizon).
Lithic contact: at 76 cm (top of the 2R layer).
Aquic conditions: redox features present throughout the argillic horizon.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory characterization data is available for DL-55, the typical pedon, from the Soil Characterization Laboratory at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

---

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.