LOCATION SPARGUS OH

Established Series
Rev. SJH-TEL-GMG
11/2021

SPARGUS SERIES

The Spargus series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in a mixture of water worked colluvium and old alluvium on alluvial fans. Slope ranges from 2 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 991 mm (39 inches), and mean annual air temperature is about 11 degrees C (52 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Fluventic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Spargus channery silt loam, on a 6 percent slope in a pasture field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap--0 to 25 cm (0 to 10 inches); dark brown (10YR 3/3) channery silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 17 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. [5 to 25 cm (2 to 10 inches) thick]

Bt1--25 to 41 cm (10 to 16 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silty clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; common distinct dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coatings on faces of peds; 30 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt2--41 to 63 cm (16 to 25 inches); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silt loam; moderate fine angular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; few faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bt3--63 to 86 cm (25 to 34 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) channery silty clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. [Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 25 to 102 cm (10 to 40 inches).]

BC--86 to 114 cm (34 to 45 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silt loam; weak coarse angular blocky structure; firm; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. [0 to 51 cm (20 inches) thick]

C--114 to 203 cm (45 to 80 inches); yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) extremely channery loam; massive; firm; few fine prominent light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions; 65 percent rock fragments; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Ross County, Ohio; about 4 miles east of Bainbridge, in Twin Township; about 5220 feet Southwest of junction of CR 149 and TR 39B along TR 39B, then 150 feet east; USGS Morgantown topographic quadrangle; lat. 39 degrees 13 minutes 20 seconds N. and long. 83 degrees 10 minutes 48 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the base of the cambic horizon: 102 to more than 152 cm (40 to more than 60 inches)
Depth to bedrock: greater than 203 cm (80 inches)
Rock fragments: predominantly of sandstone, siltstone, and shale lithology
Mean annual soil temperature: less than 13 degrees C (55 degrees F)

Ap or A horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 3 to 5
Chroma: 2 to 4
Texture: channery silt loam or silt loam
Rock fragment content: 10 to 34 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to slightly acid

Bt horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 4 to 8
Texture: silty clay loam or silt loam in the fine earth fraction
Clay content: 18 to 35 percent
Sand content: 15 to 30 percent
Rock fragment content: averages 20 to 34 percent but ranges from 20 to 50 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

Some pedons have a Bw horizon rather than a Bt horizon.

BC horizon:
Hue: 7.5YR or 10YR
Value: 4 or 5
Chroma: 4 to 8
Texture: silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction
Rock fragment content: averages 20 to 34 percent but ranges from 20 to 50 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

C horizon:
Hue: 10YR or 2.5Y
Value: 4 to 6
Chroma: 2 to 6
Texture: silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or loam in the fine earth fraction
Clay content: 12 to 35 percent
Sand content: less than 40 percent
Rock fragment content: 20 to 70 percent
Reaction: very strongly acid to moderately acid

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bermudian and Clifty series. Bermudian soils have dominantly red colors inherited from the parent materials and are on flood plains. Clifty soils are less than 102 cm (40 inches) to the base of the cambic horizon and do not have a saturated zone within a depth of 183 cm (6 feet).

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Spargus soils are on alluvial fans. Slope ranges from 2 to 15 percent. The soils formed in a mixture of water worked colluvium and old alluvium. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 914 to 1118 mm (36 to 44 inches). Mean annual air temperature ranges from 10 to 12 degrees C (50 to 54 degrees F). Elevation is 219 to 229 meters (720 to 750 feet) above mean sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Newark, Nolin, Orrville, and Pope soils on adjacent flood plains and Wharton soils on adjacent colluvial footslopes. The somewhat poorly drained Newark and Orrville soils and the Nolin and Pope soils formed in alluvium. Wharton soils are moderately well drained.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The depth to the top of an intermittent apparent high water table ranges from 122 to 183 cm (4 to 6 feet) between December and April in normal years. The potential for surface runoff is low or medium. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high. Permeability is moderate. This soil is very rarely flooded. Duration is extremely brief.

USE AND VEGETATION: Spargus soils are in pasture or woodland. Some areas ore cultivated. Principal crops are corn, soybeans, and hay. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Ohio; MLRA 124. The series is of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ross County, Ohio, 1997.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: from the surface to a depth of 25 cm (Ap horizon).
Cambic horizon: from a depth of 25 to 114 cm (Bt, BC horizons).

These soils were previously mapped as Skidmore Variant, Richland, and Shelocta soils.

Change in depth to base of the cambic horizon based on Ross County, Ohio data.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data is available from The Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory for pedon RO-101, the typical pedon.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.