LOCATION UPSHUR WV+KY OH PA
Established Series
DJB,SLH/Rev. MDJ
11/2014
UPSHUR SERIES
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Upshur silty clay; woodland, formerly cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise indicated.)
Ap--0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay; moderate fine granular structure; firm, slightly sticky; many roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 23 cm thick)
Bt1--18 to 41 cm (7 to 16 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; common roots; many faint reddish brown (5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt2--41 to 79 cm (16 to 31 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong medium subangular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; common roots; many prominent clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt3--79 to 107 cm (31 to 42 inches); weak red (10R 4/3) silty clay; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm, very sticky, very plastic; many distinct clay films on faces of peds; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 46 to 119 cm)
C1--107 to 137 cm (42 to 54 inches); dusky red (10R 3/3) silty clay loam; massive; firm; common black manganese coatings; neutral; clear wavy boundary.
C2--137 to 183 cm (54 to 72 inches); dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4) silty clay; massive; firm; neutral. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is 13 to 102 cm)
Cr--183 to 208 cm (72 to 97 inches); light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) calcareous shale.
TYPE LOCATION:
County: Wood
State: West Virginia
USGS Quadrangle: Valley Mills, West Virginia
Latitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): 39.3455444 N
Longitude (Decimal Degrees, NAD 83): -81.4854806 W
Directions to the pedon: 0.25 mile (402 m) southwest of Keller Lane, and 1.75 miles (2.8 km) southeast of Boaz
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 8 to 23 cm (3 to 9 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 58 to 122 cm (23 to 48 inches)
Solum Thickness: 66 to 137 cm (26 to 54 inches)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 102 cm (40 inches)
Depth Class: Deep and very deep
Rock Fragment content: 0 to 14 percent, by volume, in the Ap and Bt1 horizons, 0 to 25 percent, by volume, in the Bt2, Bt3, and BC horizons, and 0 to 80 percent, by volume, in the C horizon
Soil Reaction: Very strongly acid through slightly acid in the A horizon, very strongly acid through moderately alkaline in the Bt horizons, and strongly acid through moderately alkaline in the C horizon, except where limed
Fine-Earth Fraction: Averages 35 to 60 percent clay and less than 10 percent sand in the particle size control section
Range of Individual Horizons:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 10YR through 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 or 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
BA horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 2 through 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silt loam
Thickness--5 to 13 cm
Bt horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR through 10R, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silty clay or clay with thin subhorizons of silty clay loam
BC horizon (if it occurs):
Color--hue of 5YR through 10R, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay
C horizon:
Color--hue of 5YR through 10R, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction)--typically silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay, with range including silt loam or clay loam
Mottles (if they occur)--olive, olive brown, or yellow
COMPETING SERIES:
Briggsville soils--have carbonates within 102 cm of the surface and have stratification in the lower part of the series control section
Chrome soils--have a lithic contact between 51 and 102 cm
Edenton soils--have a paralithic contact between 51 and 102 cm
Eldean soils--have carbonates within 91 cm of the surface and have stratification in the lower part of the series control section
Lamoille soils--have a lithologic discontinuity within 102 cm of the surface and have a hue of 7.5YR or yellower in the lower part of the Bt horizon and substratum
Newnata soils--have hue of 7.5YR or yellower throughout
Paintcreek soils--have an average sand content of over 10 percent in the particle size control section
Woodsfield soils--have a lithologic discontinuity within 66 cm of the surface and allow colors yellower than 5YR in the Bt horizon
Wynn soils--have a paralithic contact between 51 and 102 cm
Zion soils--have a lithic contact between 51 and 102 cm
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
MLRA(s) using this series: 124, 125, 126, 127, 139
Landscape: Hills
Landform: Hill and hillslope
Geomorphic Component: Interfluve, head slope, nose slope, or side slope
Hillslope Profile Position: Summit, shoulder, or backslope
Parent Material Origin: Red clayey shale or mudstone; calcareous and/or interbedded with thin layers of siltstone in some pedons
Parent Material Kind: Residuum
Slope: 0 to 70 percent
Elevation: 155 to 690 meters (510 to 2250 feet)
Frost-free period: 120 to 185 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 8 to 13 degrees C. (46 to 55 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 940 to 1350 millimeters (37 to 53 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Culleoka soils--occur on crests, nose slopes, and side slopes where siltstone bedrock is moderately deep
Gilpin soils--occur on similar landform positions where bedrock is moderately deep
Lowell soils--occur on interfluves, nose slopes, and side slopes where limestone predominates
Peabody soils--occur on similar landform positions where bedrock is moderately deep
Summitville soils--occur on side slopes and benches where loamy materials have mixed with the clayey residuum through colluviation or solifluction
Vandalia soils--occur on colluvial landform positions
Vandergrift soils--occur on slightly wetter positions of the landform, with slopes 25 percent or less
Westmoreland soils--occur on interfluves, nose slopes, and side slopes where siltstone and sandstone predominate
Woodsfield soils--occur on less sloping interfluves and side slopes
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage Class (Agricultural): Well drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: None
Index Surface Runoff: Medium through very rapid
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately low or moderately high
Permeability Class (obsolete): Slow
Shrink-Swell Class: High
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Hayland, pasture, woodland, and cropland
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated--Grass-legume hay, corn, soybeans, wheat, or oats. Where wooded--Oaks, hickory, and yellow-poplar. Eastern red cedar is a volunteer species in abandoned fields and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Western West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, and northeastern Kentucky
Extent: Large, about 1.4 million acres at the time of this revision
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Upshur County, West Virginia, 1905.
REMARKS:
Many of the shale fragments described in the field break down during lab analysis. This soil property was taken into consideration with the percent passing sieve No. 10 on the old soil interpretation record. Appropriate adjustments have been made to this series description by eliminating references to soft shale fragments and related modifiers.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon--the zone from 0 to 18 cm (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon--the zone from 18 to 107 cm (Bt horizons)
Paralithic materials--the zone from 183 to 208 cm (Cr horizon)
Series control section--the zone from 0 to 150 cm
This edit updates the 6/1999 Revision by AWD,WRK, ART
ADDITIONAL DATA:
Characterization data is available from the KSSL for the following pedons:
1972PA003020, 1973PA019040
From The Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory:
GR-001, HR-006, MG-2, MS-012, NB-045, WS-25
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.