LOCATION WURNO VA+KYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic Dystric Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Wurno silt loam - under bluegrass pasture; on a SSW- facing 4 percent slope ridgetop. Elevation 2,120 feet. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; yellowish brown (1OYR 5/4) silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and very fine roots; common very fine pores; 5 percent shale and sandstone fragments less than 1 inch across; mildly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
Bw--8 to 14 inches; brownish yellow (1OYR 6/6) very channery silty clay loam; moderate fine and very fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; few very fine roots; common very fine pores; many yellowish brown (1OYR 5/6) ped coatings; 40 percent olive yellow (2.5Y 6/8) angular shale fragments less than 3 inches across; mildly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (4 to 20 inches thick)
C--14 to 21 inches; brownish yellow (1OYR 6/6) extremely channery silt loam in cracks and crevices and between bedding planes; rock controlled structure; few very fine roots; 75 percent light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) shale fragments; mildly alkaline; abrupt irregular boundary. (3 to 11 inches thick)
Cr--21 to 27 inches light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) shale that can be dug with spade; few very fine roots in rock crevices; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick)
R--27 inches; rippable shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Pulaski County, Virginia; about 3/4 miles south of Newbern, Virginia; on VA-643, 100 yards NNE of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is 10 to 30 inches and depth to lithic or paralithic contact is 20 to 40 inches. Shale fragments range from 5 to 90 percent by volume in individual horizons of the A and Bw horizons, 35 to 90 percent in the C horizon, and average over 35 percent in the particle-size control section. Shale fragment content increases with depth. The soil is very strongly acid through mildly alkaline in the solum and neutral through mildly alkaline in the substratum.
The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is silt loam or loam .
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8. It is silt loam or loam in the fine earth fraction.
The Cr horizon has color similar to the C horizon. It consists of highly weathered shale and limestone.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alton, Digger, Hatchery, and Pennichuck series in the same family. Jason, Litz, and Whitesburg series are similar soils in related families. Alton soils are more than 40 inches to bedrock. Hatchery soils have an annual precipitation of 60 to 80 inches. Pennichuck soils have fine sandy loam, sandy loam or loam B horizons. Digger soils have an annual precipitation of 60 to 80 inches and a medial-skeletal particle-size control section. Whitesburg soils have less than 35 percent rock fragments in the particle-size control section. Jason soils have a paralithic contact within 20 inches. Litz soils have less than 35 percent saturation in the subhorizon just above lithic contact.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Wurno soils are commonly on smooth ridges and sideslopes. Slopes range from 0 to 75 percent. The soils derived from interbedded shale and limestone. The climate is humid and cool temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 25 to 60 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 49 to 57 degrees F. The growing season is 140 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Carbo, Faywood, Lowell, and Newbern soils. The Carbo, Faywood, and Lowell soils have a clayey particle-size control section. The Newbern soils are less than 20 inches to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderate to very rapid runoff; moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used for hay, pasture, and corn. A few acres are wooded.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ridge and Valley of Virginia and possibly Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. This series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Montgomery County, Virginia, 1980.
REMARKS: Diagnostic Horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric Epipedon - from 0 to 8 inches.
b. Cambic Horizon - from 8 to 14 inches.
c. Loamy skeletal - more than 35 percent shale fragments in the particle size control section.
d. No carbonates within 1 m of the surface. (Dystric)
SIR=VA0155 MLRA=128, 147 REVISED=11/2/93, MHC