LOCATION TIRZAH NCTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, kaolinitic, thermic Typic Kanhapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Tirzah silt loam, in woods on an 11 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil, unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 10 centimeters (about 0 to 4 inches); dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) silt loam, reddish gray (5YR 5/2) dry; moderate medium granular structure; friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; many fine, medium, and coarse roots; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters thick, about 0 to 10 inches)
Bt1--10 to 25 centimeters (about 4 to 10 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong medium angular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; many fine, medium, and coarse roots; common distinct clay films on all faces of peds; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--25 to 84 centimeters (about 10 to 33 inches); red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; strong medium angular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common fine, medium, and coarse roots; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--84 to 135 centimeters (about 33 to 53 inches); red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; 10 percent medium prominent yellow (10YR 7/8) mottles; strong medium angular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; few fine and medium roots; many distinct clay films on faces of all peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 64 to 152 centimeters, about 25 to 60 inches thick.)
BC--135 to 203 centimeters (about 53 to 80 inches); red (2.5YR 4/6) clay; 20 percent medium prominent yellow (10YR 7/8) mottles; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots; common pockets of clay loam; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 centimeters, 0 to 10 inches thick)
TYPE LOCATION: Montgomery County, North Carolina; about 6.4 miles north of Uwharrie, NC on North Carolina Highway 109 to Secondary Road 1156; 0.5 mile west on Secondary Road 1156 to Secondary Road 1179; 0.25 mile south on Secondary Road 1179; 1.5 miles east and south on USFS Road S97; about 25 meters west of road, in woods. USGS Badin, NC topographic quadrangle; latitude 35 degrees 28 minutes and 11 seconds N. and longitude 80 degrees 04 minutes and 01 seconds W., NAD 27
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the argillic horizon: 1 to 25 centimeters (less than 10 inches)
Depth to the base of the argillic horizon: 75 to 150 centimeters (30 to 60 inches) or more
Depth to bedrock: More than 152 centimeters (about 60 inches)
Depth to seasonal high water table: More than 150 centimeters (about 5.0 feet)
Rock Fragment Content: 0 to 35 percent by volume in the A, Ap, and BA horizons, 0 to 15 percent in the Bt and BC, and 0 to 50 percent in the C horizon mostly of quartz, volcanic, and metavolcanic rocks
(Effective) Cation Exchange Capacity: 0 to 15 milliequivalents per 100 grams of soil in the A horizon; 5 to 10 in the B horizons; and 3 to 12 in the C horizon
Soil reaction: Very strongly acid (4.5) to moderately acid (6.0), except where limed.
Other features: Less than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine sand
RANGE IN INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
A horizon or Ap horizon (where present):
Color--hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5 (value of 3 is restricted to A horizons less than 15 centimeters, about 6 inches thick), chroma of 2 to 8
Texture (fine earth fraction)--silt loam or loam. Eroded areas include clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay.
Clay content: 10 to 45 percent
BA horizon (where present):
Color--hue 10R to 5YR, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine earth fraction)--clay loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
Clay content: 27 to 45 percent
Bt horizon:
Color--hue 10R or 2.5YR, value of 3 to 5, chroma of 4 to 8
Texture (fine earth fraction)--silty clay or clay
Mottles (where present)--non-redoximorphic mottles in shades of brown, yellow, and white. Dark streaks or stains occur in some pedons.
Clay content: 55 to 80 percent
BC horizon or BCt horizon (where present):
Color--hue 10R or 2.5YR, value of 4 to 6, chroma of 6 or 8
Texture (fine earth fraction)--clay, silty clay, clay loam, silty clay loam, silt loam, or loam
Mottles (where present)--non-redoximorphic mottles in shades of brown, yellow, and white. Dark streaks or stains occur in some pedons.
Clay content: 27 to 55 percent
C horizon (where present):
Color--hue 10R to 5YR, value of 3 to 6, chroma of 3 or 8 or variegated in shades of red, brown, yellow, and white
Texture (fine earth fraction)--loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam and may contain 5 to 50 percent weathered rock fragments
Clay content: 10 to 35
COMPETING SERIES:
Cullen soils--formed from acid to mafic crystalline rock and generally have higher sand content throughout the profile
Closely related soils with fine particle-size:
Badin soils--have paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters
Catharpin soils--have a lithologic discontinuity in the subsoil
Cecil soils--derived from felsic crystalline and metamorphic rock
Davidson soils--are dark red throughout, and subsoil that extends to more than 150 centimeters
Gaston soils--derived from mafic and intermediate crystalline rock
Georgeville soils--have low shrink-swell potential
Laurens soils--have a subsoil that extends to less than 75 centimeters
Lloyd soils--have dark red subsoil color, derived from intermediate metamorphic and crystalline rock
Mayodan soils--derived from Triassic sediments
Mecklenburg soils--have mixed clay mineralogy
Nanford soils--have paralithic contact at 100 to 150 centimeters
Pacolet soils--derived from felsic crystalline and metamorphic rock
Tarrus soils--have paralithic contact at 100 to 150 centimeters
Uwharrie soils--have mixed clay mineralogy
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Elevation Range: 90 to 245 meters (about 300 to 800 feet)
Frost Free Period: 210 to 225 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 14 to 21 degrees C. (about 57 to 70 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1040 to 1300 millimeters (about 41 to 51 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
All Geographically Associated soils contain less clay in the patricle-size control section.
Alamance soils--have a brown or yellow subsoil
Badin soils--have paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters
Biscoe soils--are somewhat poorly drained, and have a paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Callison soils--are moderately well drained, and have a paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Cid soils--are moderately well or somewhat poorly drained, and have a paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Enon soils--have mixed clay mineralogy, and high shrink-swell potential
Georgeville soils--have low shrink-swell potential
Goldston soils--contain more rock fragments, have paralithic contact at 25 to 50 centimeters (10 to 20 inches), and lithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Gundy soils--have mixed clay mineralogy, have high base saturation, and have paralithic contact at 100 to more than 150 centimeters (40 to more than 60 inches)
Herndon soils--have a brown subsoil
Iredell soils--have mixed clay mineralogy, and very high shrink swell potential
Kirksey soils--are moderately well drained, and have a lithic contact at 100 to 150 centimeters
Laurens soils--have a thinner subsoil (less than 75 centimeters (30 inches) to underlying material)
Lignum soils--are moderately well drained, and have a paralithic contact at 100 to 150 centimeters (40 to 60 inches)
Mandale soils--are somewhat poorly drained
Mebane soils--have mixed clay mineralogy, are somewhat poorly drained, and have very high shrink-swell potential
Misenheimer soils--are moderately well to somewhat poorly drained, and have paralithic contact at 25 to 50 centimeters (10 to 20 inches)
Mocksville soils--have mixed clay mineralogy
Nanford soils--have paralithic contact at 100 to 150 centimeters
Pageland soils--are moderately well drained, have high base saturation, and have a paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Poindexter soils--have mixed clay mineralogy, and have paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Secrest soils--are moderately well or somewhat poorly drained, and have a paralithic contact at 50 to 100 centimeters (20 to 40 inches)
Tarrus soils--have paralithic contact at 100 to 150 centimeters
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very deep (Greater than 150 centimeters)
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: Moderately high (1.00 to 10.00 micrometers per second)
Permeability: Moderate or moderately slow
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Cropland, hayland and pasture, woodland, and urban development
Vegetation: Where cultivated--tobacco, soybeans, corn, small-grain, cotton, fruits, and vegetables. Where wooded--mixed hardwoods and pines.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: The Carolina Slate Belt areas of North Carolina, and possibly South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia
Extent: Moderate
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES PROPOSED: Montgomery County, North Carolina, 2007
REMARKS: Tirzah soils were previously mapped in the Carolina Slate Belt of North Carolina, South Carolina, and possibly Georgia during the 1950s and 1960s. The series was made inactive due to overlapping soil properties with competing series. Since the early 1970s, Tirzah soils have been mapped with Georgeville, Mecklenburg, Cullen, Hiwassee, Coronaca, Davidson, Uwharrie, and less commonly Lloyd soils. Taxonomic division of clayey Ultisols into fine or very-fine families allows for the reactivation of the series. It is confined to residual materials derived from rocks associated with the Carolina Slate Belt geologic
formations.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone between 0 and 10 centimeters (about 0 to 4 inches) (A horizon)
Kandic horizon--the zone from 10 to 135 centimeters (about 4 to 53 inches) (Bt horizons
Argillic horizon--the zone between 10 and 135 centimeters (about 4 to 53 inches) (Bt horizons)
Series control--section: 0 to 200 centimeters (about 0 to 79 inches)
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Laboratory Data: Reference data are available from the NRCS-Soil Survey
Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska; sampled as the Cullen Series, Sample
Number=95P5897 and 95P5898).
Database Information:
Data Mapunit ID--TBD
User Pedon ID--TBD