LOCATION SNOWSNAKE               VA

Established Series
JRT, JDH/Rev. MDJ
07/2013

SNOWSNAKE SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid Aquic Fragiudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Snowsnake muck on a 3 percent slope at 1444 meters (4738 feet) elevation in rangeland/pasture. (Colors are for moist soil)

Oa--0 to 18 cm; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) muck; common very fine and fine roots; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 18 cm 0-7 inches thick)

A--18 to 25 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very firm; few very fine and fine roots; 5 percent cobbles and 25 percent gravel; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 18 cm thick)

Bx1--25 to 43 cm; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) very gravelly loam; moderate medium platy structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very firm, brittle; 5 percent cobbles and 45 percent gravel; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bx2--43 to 97 cm; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) extremely gravelly loam; moderate medium platy structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very firm, brittle; 5 percent cobbles and 60 percent gravel; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron and few medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bx3--97 to 175 cm; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) extremely gravelly loam; moderate medium platy structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; very firm, brittle; 5 percent cobbles and 60 percent gravel; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron and common medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) iron depletions; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

TYPE LOCATION:
State: Virginia
County: Grayson County
USGS Topographic Quadrangle: Trout Dale, VA
Latitude: 36.659167 N (NAD 27)
Longitude: 81.482778 W (NAD 27)
Directions to the Pedon: (Jefferson National Forest, Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area); about 5837 meters (19,150 feet) southwest 215 degrees of the intersection of Highways VA-16 and VA-603, 1143 meters (3,750 feet) southeast of the gate at the "Scales".

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the fragipan: 25 to 61 cm (10 to 24 inches).
Depth to bedrock: More than 150 cm (60 inches).
Solum thickness: Ranges from 64 to 150 cm or more (25 to 60 inches).
Depth Class: Very Deep
Rock fragment content: Ranges from 0 to 35 percent in the O horizon, 20 to 90 percent by volume in the A, B, and C horizons, but averages 35 to 90 percent in the particle-size control section.
Rock fragments range from gravel to boulders in size. Typically, the amount of rock fragments increases with depth, and is generally more than 50 percent in the C horizon.
Soil Reaction: Extremely acid to strongly acid.

Range of Individual Horizons:
O horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value or 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2; or neutral with value of 2 or 3.
Texture--fibric, hemic, or sapric organic material.

A horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 through 3.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. Mucky analogues are present in most pedons.

BE or BA horizon (where present):
Color--has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.

Bx horizon:
Color--has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Consistence--firm to extremely firm and brittle.

Bxg horizon, where present:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 1 or 2; or is neutral with value of 4 to 6.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Consistence--firm to extremely firm and brittle.

C horizon, where present:
Color--hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.

Cg horizon, where present:
Color-- hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 1 or 2.
Texture--sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.

COMPETING SERIES:
There are no known series in the same family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRA(s) using this series: 130B
Landscape: Mountain range
Landform: Mountain slope
Geomorphic Component: mountain top, mountain flank
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulders, and backslopes
Parent Material Origin: igneous or felsic intermediate and mafic high-grade metamorphic rocks such as rhyolite, granite, hornblende schist, hornblende gneiss, and mica gneiss.
Parent Material Kind: Colluvium
Slope: 2 to 25percent but typically 3 to 15 percent.
Elevation: above 1219
Frost-free period: 75 to 130 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 4 to 8 degrees C (40 to 47 degrees F).
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1140 to 1520 millimeters
Moist atmospheric conditions are prevalent and fog and cloud inundation is common in these high mountain areas.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Balsam soils are well drained.
Bearknob soils are poorly drained.
Bloodyhorse soils are well drained.
Buzzrock soils are well drained.
Mt Rogers soils are well drained.
Nopan soils are poorly drained
Scales soils are poorly drained.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Moderately well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: yes
Index Surface Runoff: Medium to High
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Low to Moderately Low
Permeability Class (obsolete): slow to very slow
Shrink-swell Potential: low
Flooding Frequency and Duration: none
Ponding Frequency and Duration: none

USE AND VEGETATION:
Use: Wildlife and Recreation
Vegetation: In areas with elevations higher than about 1600 meters (5200 feet), red spruce and fraser fir are the dominant trees. At the lower elevations, northern red oak, yellow birch, black birch, black cherry, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, American beech, and yellow buckeye are common. Common understory plants are service berry, striped maple, American chestnut sprouts, silver bell, witch hobble, rhododendron, blueberry, and smooth blackberry. Trillium, yellow mandarin, wood sorrel and New York fern are common forbes.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Virginia.
Extent: Small.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Jefferson National Forest, Grayson County, Virginia, 2013

REMARKS:
a. Umbric Epipedon--the zone from 0 to 10 inches (Oa and A horizons)
b. Fragipan--the zone from 25 to 175 cm (10 to 69 inches) (Bx horizons)
c. Skeletal property-average content of 35 percent or more by volume rock fragments in the particle-size control section
d. Redoximorphic features in Bx2 and Bx3.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the NSSL for the following pedons:

Laboratory data are available for the type location and three supporting pedons from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; one of these supporting pedons also with data from the National Soil Survey Center Soil Survey Laboratory (S95VA077007).

NASIS Site ID: 282546
NASIS Pedon ID: 281799
NASIS User Pedon ID: Snowsnake OSD
NASIS DATA MAPUNIT ID = 540229 (Standard Component Data)

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.