LOCATION SPEEDWELL VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Fluventic Hapludolls
TYPICAL PEDON: Speedwell sandy loam--on a 1 percent convex slope in a corn field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick.)
A--10 to 18 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine and medium roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 24 inches thick.)
Bw--18 to 42 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sandy clay loam; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) dry; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (24 to 50 inches thick.)
C--42 to 72 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6) gravelly coarse sandy loam; massive; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; 30 percent gravel; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Wythe County, Virginia; about 1.3 miles northeast 60 degrees of the junction of Highways US-21 and VA-619 and 1.7 miles south 170 degrees of the junction of Highways VA-651 and VA-684.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 60 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Gravel and cobbles range from 0 to 35 percent in the A, Ap, and Bw horizons and from 0 to 80 percent in the C horizon. Some pedons contain few to common flakes of mica. Reaction ranges from slightly acid through moderately alkaline.
The Ap horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The A horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6. In some pedons, the upper Bw horizon has value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 2 through 4. It is loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam in the fine-earth fraction and is often stratified.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bellevue, Boonesboro, and Rossburg series. Bellevue soils have gray Fe depletions in the Bw horizon and are developed in stratified alluvium derived from clayey till and clayey lacustrine soils. Bellevue soils also have lower mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature. Boonesboro soils have a lithic contact within depths of 20 to 40 inches. Rossburg soils formed in alluvium from glacial drift and have glacial erratic rock fragments throughout.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Speedwell soils are on flood plains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. They formed in alluvium derived from limestones, sandstones, siltstones, phyllites, shales, gneiss, granites, schists, and basalts of Precambrian and Cambrian ages. In Virginia, Speedwell soils are on flood plains along Cripple Creek, the Middle and South Forks of the Holston River, and the New River. Speedwell soils are also on flood plains of the portions of the Maury and Shenandoah Rivers that drain areas underlain by rocks of the above lithologies and ages. Climate is temperate and humid. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 53 to 56 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Austinville, Catoctin, Chester, Chiswell, Glenelg, Groseclose, Myersville, Shottower, Sylvatus, and Vesuvius soils. Austinville, Chester, Glenelg, Groseclose, Myersville, and Shottower soils have argillic horizons and are on uplands. Catoctin, Chiswell, and Sylvatus soils contain more rock fragments in the control section, have bedrock within 40 inches, and are on uplands. Vesuvius soils contain less clay and are on similar landscapes.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is moderate. Subject to flooding.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of these soils are cultivated. Corn, small grain, pasture, and hay are the principal crops.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Valley and Ridge physiographic province in Virginia, and possibly, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. The area is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wythe County, Virginia, 1989.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: Mollic epipedon - the zone from 0 to 18 inches (Ap horizon).
Cambic horizon - the zone from 18 to 42 inches (Bw horizon). Fluventic features - irregular decrease in organic matter content with increasing depth.
Soils now within the range of the Speedwell series were correlated Buckton, Chagrin, Hayter, Nolin, Ross, and Wheeling in several published soil surveys.
SIR = VA0285
MLRA = 128, 130, 147
REVISED = 4/2/93, MHC
ADDITIONAL DATA: Morphological, chemical, textural, and mineralogical data are reported in:
Edmonds, W. J., D. D. Rector, D. A. Gall, D. R. Hatch, R. S. Joslyn, and J. C. Baker. 1987. Properties and classification of soils derived from stratified alluvium in the Valley and Ridge Province of Virginia. Va. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 00-0 In press.