LOCATION WERNOCK KY+OH
Established Series
Rev. HCD
12/2021
WERNOCK SERIES
The Wernock series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils formed in residuum from acid siltstones, shales, and sandstone. Permeability is moderate. Slopes range from 2 to 20 percent. Average annual precipitation is 40 inches. Average annual temperature is 56 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Wernock silt loam - forested. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--0 to 1 inch, partially decomposed hardwood leaf litter.
A--1 to 3 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak fine and very granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
AB--3 to 6 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine roots; few fine pores and channels; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--6 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; moderate medium subangular structure parting to fine and very fine angular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few fine pores; common strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) clay films on faces of peds; few pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt coatings on larger peds; 2 percent small siltstone fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bt2--12 to 28 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to fine and very fine angular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; many clay films on faces of peds; 5 percent siltstone fragments; common fine faint very pale brown (10YR 7/3) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles in lower five inches; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (10 to 30 inches thick)
Bt3--28 to 32 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) channery clay loam; common fine faint very pale brown (10YR 7/3) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to fine and very fine angular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; many clay films; 40 percent siltstone and soft shale fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
C--32 to 39 inches; reddish brown (5YR 5/4) and brown (7.5YR 5/4) channery clay loam; massive; firm, few clay films; few fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Cr--39 to 48 inches; weathered interbedded brown (7.5YR 4/3), and reddish brown (5YR 5/4) sandstone and gray (10YR 5/1) soft clay shale; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Greenup County, Kentucky, on Beauty Ridge, 2,000 feet northeast of right angle turn on gravel road between Peter Cave Branch and North Branch of Plum Fork.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to soft sandstone, siltstone or shale ranges from 30 to 40 inches. Reaction ranges from neutral to extremely acid. Small sandstone, siltstone, or shale fragments range from 0 to 10 percent by volume to a depth of about 24 inches; below 24 inches fragments from 2 mm. to 15 inches across range from few to more than 50 percent.
The A horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, values of 3 through 5 and chroma of 2 or 3. Some pedons have Ap horizons 4 to 10 inches thick.
The AB horizons have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, values of 4 though 6 and chroma of 2 though 6.
When present, the BA horizon has hues of 10YR or 7.5YR, values of 4 through 6, chromas of 4 or 6. The texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The Bt horizons have hues of 10YR through 5YR, values of 4 through 6 and chroma of 4 through 8, with mottles in shades of brown or red. Some pedons have mottles in shades of gray below 2Y inches. The texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, loam or clay loam.
The C horizon has hues 10YR through 5YR, values of 4 through 6 and chroma of 2 through 8. The texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, loam, or clay loam. Weathered sandstones, siltstones, or shale which is often interbedded and colors are in shades of gray, red, or brown. The bedrock is most often soft, but in some areas the thick bedded sandstones or siltstones are hard below a depth of 40 inches.
The Cr horizon has hues of 5YR to 5Y, values of 3 through 8, and chroma of 1 through 8.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Chillum,
Fletcher,
Kurtz, Taleyville, and
Whitley series. The Chillum soils have thinner sola and lack the mottling in the lower part of the B2t horizon. Fletcher soils lack the mottling in the lower part of the B2t horizon and have formed in the weathered residuum of phyllite. The Kurtz soils have soft siltstone and shale bedrock at a depth of 40 to 55 inches.
Talleyville soils have thicker sola and have formed in a silty mantle overlying weathered residuum from basic igneous rocks. Whitley soils are more than than 40 inches to bedrock, lack the mottling in the lower part of the B2t horizon and have formed in a mantle of wind or water sorted material overlying weathered residuum of siltstone, sandstone or shale.
The
Wellston series is in a related family. Wellston soils have base saturation of more than 35 percent and bedrock of 40 inches or more; otherwise, they are close competitors.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wernock soils are on narrow upland ridgetops. Slopes ranging from 2 to 20 percent. These soils formed in residuum from acid siltstones, shales, and sandstone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 53 to 56 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 52 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Gilpin,
Latham,
Shelocta, and
Tilsit soils. The Gilpin soils have fine-loamy particle-size control sections and typically have 20 to 30 percent coarse fragments in the solum. Latham soils have clayey particle-size control sections and are moderately well drained. Shelocta soils have sola 40 to 60 inches thick and fine-loamy particle-size control sections. Tilsit soils have fragipans and are moderately well drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained with medium to rapid runoff. Permeability is moderate. Depth to the water table is more than 6 feet.
USE AND VEGETATION: Some areas are used for growing crops or pasture, and others are forested. Principal crops are corn, small grains, hay and tobacco. Native forests have oaks, hickory, elm, birch, and dogwood as the dominant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The extent is moderate.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Boyd and Greenup Counties, Kentucky, l975.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon: 0 to 6 inches (Oi, A, and AB)
Argillic horizon: 6 to 32 inches (Bt1, Bt2, and Bt3)
Paralithic contact is at 39 inches.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.