LOCATION TATUM NC+AL SC VA
Established Series
Rev. TPH-PLT: RHB: DTA
09/2025
TATUM SERIES
MLRA(s): 136 (thermic part)
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Southeast
Depth Class: Deep
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately high
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from sericite schist, phyllite, or other fine-grained metamorphic rocks
Slope: 0 to 50 percent
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 17 degrees C (62 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1118 millimeters (44 inches)
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Tatum silt loam - woodland. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oe--5 to 0 centimeters (2 to 0 inches): partially decomposed evergreen litter and twigs.
A--0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; weak moderately granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots, few coarse roots; 25 percent quartz pebbles and sericite schist channers, and 5 percent cobbles by volume; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 20 centimeters (0 to 8 inches) thick)
Bt1--15 to 38 centimeters (6 to 15 inches); yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly silty clay loam; weak moderately subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky; slightly plastic; common fine and moderately roots, few coarse roots; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; 18 percent quartz pebbles and sericite schist channers by volume; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--38 to 84 centimeters (15 to 33 inches); red (2.5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; sticky; plastic; few fine roots; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent quartz pebbles and sericite schist channers by volume; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
BC--84 to 112 centimeters (33 to 44 inches); yellowish red (5YR 5/8) silty clay loam; few fine distinct red (2.5YR 5/8) mottles; weak moderately subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky; slightly plastic; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C--112 to 142 centimeters (44 to 56 inches); light reddish brown (5YR 6/4) and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) channery silt loam saprolite; common fine distinct reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8) mottles; massive; very friable; 20 percent sericite schist channers by volume; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Cr--142 to 163 centimeters (56 to 64 inches); weathered, highly fractured sericite schist that can be dug with difficulty; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
R--163 centimeters (64 inches); unweathered, slightly fractured sericite schist.
TYPE LOCATION: Cleveland County, North Carolina; 3.0 miles south of Kings Mountain on North Carolina Highway 161 to Secondary Road 2289; 1.2 miles on Secondary Road 2289; 50 feet east to creek, 450 feet northeast in woods; USGS Kings Mountain, North Carolina topographic quadrangle. latitude 35 degrees 11 minutes 30 seconds north and longitude 81 degrees 21 minutes 30 seconds west
Latitude--35.191667
Longitude-- -81.358333
Datum--WGS84
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Solum thickness: 76 to 152 centimeters (30 to 60 inches)
Depth to soft bedrock: 102 to 152 centimeters (40 to 60 inches)
Depth to hard bedrock: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Depth to seasonal high water table: Greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 40 percent, by volume, throughout
Mica Content: 0 to 20 percent, by volume
Reaction: Very strongly acid or strongly acid
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A or Ap:
Color--hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, chroma of 2 to 8
Texture(fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Severely eroded areas include clay loam or silty clay loam
E horizon, (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 5 or 6, chroma of 3 to 6
Texture(fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam or fine sandy loam
BE horizon, (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 3 to 8
Texture(fine-earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 4 to 8. Some pedons have mottles in shades of yellow, red, or brown
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silty clay loam, silty clay, clay loam, or clay and contains more than 30 percent silt or more than 40 percent silt plus very fine sand.
BC or CB horizons:
Color--hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8. Other colors occur as streaks or mottles in some pedons.
Texture(fine-earth fraction)--clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
C horizon:
Color--hue of 10R to 5YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay saprolite
Cr horizon:
Type of bedrock--weathered, slightly fractured to highly fractured fine grained rock that can be dug with difficulty
R horizon:
Type of bedrock--unweathered high-grade metamorphic rock
COMPETING SERIES:
Badin soils--have a depth to paralithic contact at 51 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Masada soils--have a depth to bedrock greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches), formed in old alluvium on terraces, and do not contain greater than 30 percent silt
Mayodan soils--have a depth to bedrock greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches), formed in residuum weathered from Triassic materials, and do not contain greater than 30 percent silt
McQueen soils--have a depth to bedrock greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches) and formed in stratified clayey and loamy alluvial sediments on stream terraces
Nason soils--have a subsoil horizon of 5YR to 10YR
Uwharrie soils--have a depth to bedrock greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches) and formed from residuum weathered from argillite or other fine-grained metavolcanic rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt
Vance soils--have a depth to bedrock greater than 152 centimeters (60 inches) and do not have greater than 30 percent silt
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont uplands
Landform: Ridges and hill slopes
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from sericite schist, phyllite, or other fine-grained metamorphic rocks
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 15 to 18 degrees C (59 to 65 degrees F)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1016 to 1270 millimeters (40 to 50 inches)
Frost Free Period: 175 to 240 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Nason soils--have a subsoil horizon of 5YR to 10YR; intermingled in some areas
Badin soil--have a depth to paralithic contact at 51 to 102 centimeters (20 to 40 inches); intermingled in some areas
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Well drained
Index Surface Runoff: Medium
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Woodland and some cropland and pasture
Dominant vegetation: Where wooded-- mostly hardwoods and pine. Where cultivated--corn, small grain, hay and soybeans
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Auburn, Alabama
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia
Extent: Moderate
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Orange County, Virginia, 1927.
REMARKS:
2006 revisions included minor text cleanup.
Horizon depths were modified to ensure soil description began at soil surface. The September 2025 revision corrected some of the formatting. No data was changed.
Tatum soils were formerly mapped in the Carolina Slate Belt. Data showed that most of these soils had kaolinitic mineralogy. Tatum soils are now restricted to soils formed from sericite schist, phyllite, or other fine-grained metamorphic rocks. Tarrus soils are now mapped in the Carolina Slate Belt.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 15 centimeters (0 to 6 inches) (A horizon).
Argillic horizon--the zone from 15 to 84 centimeters (6 to 33 inches) (Bt horizons).
Paralithic contact--soft weathered bedrock at 112 centimeters (44 inches)
ADDITIONAL DATA:
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
VA0013 TATUM 0-50 59-65 175-240 40-50 250-900
VA0136 TATUM 0-50 58-65 180-200 38-46 250-900
VA0281 TATUM 0-50 58-65 180-200 38-46 250-900
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
VA0013 NONE >6.0 - 40-60 SOFT
VA0136 NONE >6.0 - 40-60 SOFT
VA0281 NONE >6.0 - 40-60 SOFT
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
VA0013 0-6 SIL L VFSL 0-5 80-100 12-27 -
VA0013 0-6 FSL 0-5 80-100 5-20 -
VA0013 0-6 SICL CL 0-5 75-90 27-40 -
VA0013 6-44 SICL SIC C 0-5 75-95 45-60 -
VA0013 44-62 WB - - - -
VA0136 0-6 GR-SIL GR-L GR-VFSL 0-10 55-75 12-27 -
VA0136 0-6 GR-FSL 0-10 55-75 5-20 -
VA0136 0-6 GR-SICL GR-CL 0-10 55-75 40-50 -
VA0136 6-44 SICL SIC GR-C 0-10 55-95 45-60 -
VA0136 44-62 WB - - - -
VA0281 0-6 GR-C 0-10 55-75 40-50 -
VA0281 6-44 SICL SIC GR-C 0-10 55-95 45-60 -
VA0281 44-62 WB - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
VA0013 0-6 4.5-5.5 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
VA0013 0-6 4.5-5.5 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
VA0013 0-6 4.5-5.5 0.-2. 0 0 0.6-2.0 LOW
VA0013 6-44 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0013 44-64 - - - 0.00-0.06
VA0136 0-6 4.5-5.5 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
VA0136 0-6 4.5-5.5 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 LOW
VA0136 0-6 4.5-5.5 .5-2. - 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0136 6-44 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0136 44-64 - - - 0.00-0.06
VA0281 0-6 4.5-5.5 .5-2. 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0281 6-44 4.5-5.5 0.-.5 0-0 0.6-2.0 MODERATE
VA0281 44-64 - - - 0.00-0.06
________________________________________
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.