LOCATION VALLEY             OH
Established Series
STP-RWB
02/2006

VALLEY SERIES


The Valley series consists of very deep, poorly drained soils formed in Wisconsinan age fine-textured glaciolacustrine sediments underlain by till. These soils are in depressions on till plains. Permeability is slow or very slow in the solum and slow in the underlying material. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. The mean annual temperature is about 50 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 36 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Typic Endoaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Valley silt loam, on a concave 1 percent slope in a pasture. Elevation is about 1138 feet above msl. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap--0 to 7 inches; dark gray (2.5Y 4/1) silt loam, gray (10YR 6/1) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine and medium roots throughout; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in root channels; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick.)

AB-- 7 to 11 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots throughout; few distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depleted coats on faces of peds; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in root channels; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick.)

Bg1-- 11 to 21 inches; gray (N 5/ ) silty clay loam; moderate medium and coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium angular blocky; very firm; few fine roots throughout; few distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depleted coats on faces of peds; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix surrounding root channels; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bg2-- 21 to 26 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay; moderate coarse and very coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots throughout; few distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depleted coats on faces of peds; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix surrounding root channels; common fine prominent very dark gray (7.5YR 3/1) soft masses of iron-manganese accumulations in the matrix; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bg3-- 26 to 30 inches; very dark gray (N3/ ) silty clay; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots throughout; many distinct very dark gray (N3/ ) pressure faces on vertical faces of peds; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix surrounding root channels; about 1 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bg4-- 30 to 41 inches; gray (N5/ ) silty clay loam; moderate coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; few fine roots throughout; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix surrounding root channels; common fine prominent very dark gray (7.5YR 3/1) soft masses of iron-manganese accumulation in the matrix; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizons is 25 to 45 inches.)

BCg-- 41 to 48 inches; gray (10YR 6/1) silty clay loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine prominent very dark gray (7.5YR 3/1) soft masses of iron-manganese accumulations in the matrix; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.

2BC-- 48 to 55 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine and medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine prominent very dark gray (7.5YR 3/1) soft masses of iron-manganese accumulation in the matrix; about 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the BCg and 2BC horizons is 0 to 30 inches.)

2C1-- 55 to 71 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; massive; firm; common medium distinct gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine and medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine prominent very dark gray (7.5YR 3/1) soft masses of iron-manganese accumulation in the matrix; about 10 percent rock fragments; neutral; gradual wavy boundary.

2C2-- 71 to 80 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) loam; massive; firm; common medium prominent gray (10YR 5/1) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine and medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) soft masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; common fine prominent very dark gray (7.5YR 3/1) soft masses of iron-manganese accumulation in the matrix; about 10 percent rock fragments; strongly effervescent; neutral.

TYPE LOCATION: Columbiana County, Ohio; Knox Township, about 2 1/2 miles north of North Georgetown; about 510 feet southwest on Georgetown Damascus Road (Township Road 716) from the intersection with Case Road (Township Road 717), then 115 feet perpendicular to Georgetown-Damascus Road to the southeast, 2810 feet south and 930 feet west of the northeast corner of section 12, T. 17 N., R. 5 W.; Damascus, Ohio USGS 7.5 topographic quadrangle; Latitude 40 degrees, 52 minutes, 45.0 seconds N. and Longitude 80 degrees, 58 minutes, 41.0 seconds W., NAD 1983.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 35 to 65 inches. Depth to till is 35 to 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 80 inches. The particle-size control section ranges from 35 to 60 percent clay and 3 to 15 percent sand. Rock fragments, mainly gravel, range from 0 to 2 percent in the upper part of the solum and 0 to 30 percent in the lower solum and substratum. Depth to carbonates is 45 to greater than 80 inches.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3, with value of 2 or 3 restricted to A horizons. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse, granular. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to slightly acid. Areas that have been limed range to neutral.

The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y or is neutral, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. Texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay. Clay content ranges from 25 to 60 percent. Average sand content ranges from 3 to 15 percent. Structure is weak or moderate, medium to very coarse prismatic, or weak to strong, subangular or angular blocky or medium or coarse, or weak or moderate, thin or medium platy. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Reaction is strongly acid to slightly alkaline.

The BCg horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR to 5Y, or is neutral, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. Texture is silty clay loam or silty clay. Clay content ranges from 30 to 60 percent. Average sand content ranges from 3 to 15 percent. Structure is weak coarse or very coarse subangular blocky. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Reaction is moderately acid to moderately alkaline.

The 2BC horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Average clay content ranges from 20 to 40 percent. Average sand content ranges from 20 to 40 percent. Structure is weak coarse or very coarse subangular blocky. Rock fragment content ranges from 2 to 30 percent. Channers are present in some pedons. Reaction is moderately acid to neutral.

The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam. Average clay content ranges from 20 to 40 percent clay. Average sand content ranges from 20 to 40 percent. Rock fragment content ranges from 2 to 30 percent. Channers are present in some pedons. Reaction is slightly acid to moderately alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Zipp series that formed in lake plains, lacustrine terraces, and flood-plain steps. Zipp soils have no coarse fragments throughout the profile.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Valley soils formed in Wisconsinan age glaciolacustrine sediments underlain by till in depressions on till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 52 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 42 inches, frost free days range from 133 to 167 days, and elevation ranges from 900 to 1300 feet above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the moderately well drained Canfield and somewhat poorly drained Ravenna soils formed in till on higher adjacent landscape positions. The very poorly drained Lorain soils formed in thicker glaciolacustrine sediments on similar landscape positions.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible. Permeability is slow or very slow in the solum and slow in the substratum. In undrained areas depth to an apparent water table ranges from +0.5 to 0.5 foot from November to June in most years and commonly ponds sometime during that time.

USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared and drained areas are used for crop land and hayland. Undrained areas are in woodland or pasture. Natural vegetation is hardwood forest.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Ohio. MLRA 139. The soils are of small extent, about 2500 acres.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Columbiana County, Ohio, 2005.

REMARKS: In the Soil Survey of Columbiana County, Ohio, published in 1968, soils that were correlated Luray and Marengo silt loam, and silty clay loam, classified as Fine-silty, mixed, mesic, Typic Argiaquolls and Fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic, Typic Endoaqualls and Sebring silt loam, and silty clay loam, classified as Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic, Typic Endoaqualfs, were correlated to the Valley series in the modernization soil survey of Columbiana County.

Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typifying
pedon are:
a) Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Ap horizon).
b) Cambic horizon - the zone from 7 to 55 inches (Bg, 2BCg, and 2BC horizons).
c) Aquic conditions - begin at a depth of 7 inches.
d) Typic subgroup - the zone to 30 inches below the soil surface is dominated by more than 60 percent with chroma of 2 or less (Bg1 to Bg4 horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to pedon CO-154 for characterization data of the typical pedon, sample numbers 27704-27713, from Columbiana County, Ohio; samples analyzed by The Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.