LOCATION WAKE NC GA SC
Established Series
Rev. AG, DTA
10/2021
WAKE SERIES
MLRA(s): 136
Soil Survey Regional Office (SSRO) Responsible: Raleigh, North Carolina
Depth Class: Shallow
Agricultural Drainage Class: Excessively drained
Permeability: Rapid
Surface Runoff: Moderate to rapid
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from a felsic igneous or high-grade metamorphic rocks
Shrink-Swell Potential: Low
Slope: 0 to 45 percent
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Lithic Udipsamments
TYPICAL PEDON: Wake loamy sand -- wooded. (Colors for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A--0 to 5 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) loamy sand; weak fine granular structure; very friable; about 10 percent gravel by volume; many fine, common medium, and many coarse roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick)
Bw--5 to 10 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) loamy sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; about 10 percent gravel by volume; many fine, common medium, and many coarse roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
C--10 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 18 percent gravel by volume; many grains of feldspar; few flakes of mica and dark mineral grains; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 16 inches thick)
R--12 inches; hard, slightly fractured, unweathered granite.
TYPE LOCATION: Wake County, North Carolina. From Raleigh, 6.2 miles north on Secondary Road 2217 (Old Milburnie Road) from intersection with US Highway 64E; 1.8 miles east on Secondary Road 22 (Watkins Road); 0.5 mile south on private road (first driveway past Deep Cedar subdivision); 0.25 mile west on path that forks right; in wooded area near path 20 yards south of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to bedrock: 11 to 20 inches
Rock fragment content: 0 to 35 percent, by volume
Mica content: Few to common throughout
Feldspar grains: Few to many
Soil reaction: Very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout, except where limed
Other features: Surface stones and boulders are common in many areas.
Range of Individual Horizons:
A or Ap horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4
Texture--(fine-earth fraction) loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand
In eroded phases, the Ap horizon is clay loam or sandy clay loam
Bw horizon:
Color--hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6
Texture--(fine-earth fraction) loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand
C horizon:
Color--multicolored or has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8
Texture--(fine-earth fraction) loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand
Cr horizon, where present:
Color--variable
Texture--weathered igneous or high-grade metamorphic bedrock such as granite or gneiss
R horizon:
Color--variable
Texture--unweathered igneous or high-grade metamorphic bedrock such as granite or gneiss
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in this family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Piedmont Plateau of the thermic Southern Piedmont
Landform: Interstream divides, ridges, and side slopes
Parent Material: Residuum weathered from granites and gneiss
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 60 degrees F
Mean Annual Precipitation: 47 inches
Frost Free Period: 180 to 260 days
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Appling soils--are clayey, very deep, and intermingled on slightly higher landscape positions
Ashlar soils--are coarse-loamy, have hard bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches, and are intermingled in some areas
Bethlehem soils--are clayey, have soft bedrock at a depth of 20 to 40 inches, and formed in residuum from rocks such as schist
Buckhead soils--are fine-loamy, have greater than 15% rock fragments, very deep, and intermingled on slightly higher landscape positions
Cecil soils--are clayey, very deep, and intermingled on slightly higher landscape positions
Louisburg soils-are coarse-loamy, very deep, and intermingled in some areas
Pacolet soils-are clayey, very deep, and intermingled in some areas
Rawlings soils--are fine-loamy, have a depth to hard bedrock of 20 to 40 inches, and intermingled in some areas
Rion soils--are fine-loamy, very deep, and intermingled in some areas
Rolesville soils--have a depth to hard bedrock of 20 to 40 inches
Saw soils--are clayey, have a depth to hard bedrock of 20 to 40 inches, and intermingled in some areas
Wateree soils--are coarse-loamy, have a depth to soft bedrock of 20 to 40 inches, and are intermingled in some areas
Wedowee soils-are very deep, clayey, and intermingled in some areas
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY:
Agricultural Drainage Class: Excessively drained
Surface Runoff: Medium to rapid runoff
Permeability: Rapid
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major uses: Mixed hardwood forest of post oak, blackjack oak, northern red oak, and hickory along with shortleaf pine, Virginia pine and loblolly pine. Small areas are used for corn, small grain, orchards, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Thermic region of Piedmont in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and possibly Virginia
Extent: Small
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wake County, North Carolina, 1966.
REMARKS: The April 1994 revision changed the classification from thermic, coated Lithic Quartzipsamments to mixed, thermic Lithic Udipsamments. Laboratory data documents more than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the control section of these soils in North Carolina. North Carolina is the only state that the Wake series has been correlated in. The November 2002 revision moved the type location to another site in Wake County. It also removed the coarse fragment requirement of 15 to 35 percent throughout.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 5 inches (A horizon)
Lithic contact - The occurrence of hard bedrock at 12 inches (R horizon)
ADDITIONAL DATA:
MLRA: 136
TABULAR SERIES DATA:
SOI-5 Soil Name Slope Airtemp FrFr/Seas Precip Elevation
NC0079 WAKE 2-45 58-62 180-270 35-54 350-1200
SOI-5 FloodL FloodH Watertable Kind Months Bedrock Hardness
NC0079 NONE >6.0 - 11-20 HARD
SOI-5 Depth Texture 3-Inch No-10 Clay% -CEC-
NC0079 0-5 LCOS LS S 0-10 90-100 3-12 -
NC0079 5-12 LCOS LS S 0-10 90-100 3-15 -
NC0079 12 UWB - - - -
SOI-5 Depth -pH- O.M. Salin Permeab Shnk-Swll
NC0079 0-5 4.5- 6.0 .5-1. 0-0 6.0-20 LOW
NC0079 5-12 4.5- 6.0 0-.5 0-0 6.0-20 LOW
NC0079 12 - - - -
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.