LOCATION ALLEGHENY KY+AR MD OH PA TN VA WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Allegheny loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes, rarely flooded in cultivation. (Colors are for moist soil)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; very friable; many fine and medium roots; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bt1--8 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; many faint organic stains and common faint clay films on all surfaces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt2--15 to 28 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on all surfaces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3--28 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; few medium distinct brown (10YR 5/3) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on all surfaces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bt4--33 to 42 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; few medium faint brown (10YR 5/3) and few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on all surfaces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (thickness of the Bt horizon ranges from 20 to 50 inches)
BC1--42 to 55 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films and silt coatings on all surfaces of peds; 15 to 30 percent brittleness; common fine prominent very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moderately cemented spherical iron-manganese concretions in the matrix and common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) iron masses as irregular streaks along vertical surfaces of prisms; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
BC2--55 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films and silt coatings on faces of peds; 20 to 40 percent brittleness; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (thickness of the BC horizon ranges from 0 to 40 inches)
C--72 to 89 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; massive; firm; few fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) irregular weakly cemented iron depletions and faint irregular weakly cemented iron masses in the matrix; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Johnson County, Kentucky at River; on a stream terrace along the western shore of the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River about 500 feet east of the Jenny Wiley gravesite (a local landmark) and 100 feet east of Kentucky Highway 581; Latitude 37 degrees, 51 minutes, 25 seconds N. and Longitude 82 degrees, 43 minutes, 43 seconds W; USGS Offutt Quadrangle; NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 30 to 72 inches or more. Depth to bedrock ranges from 60 to 120 inches or more. Fragments, mostly sandstone gravels or channers, make up 0 to 15 percent of the A horizon, 0 to 30 percent of the Bt horizon and 0 to 35 percent of the BC and C horizons. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid, unless limed.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam. Some pedons have thin A horizons that include value of 3 and chroma of 1 to 3.
BA or BE horizons (where present) have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. They range from sandy loam to silt loam.
The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, loam, fine sandy loam, silt loam or silty clay loam. Faint mottles in shades of brown, red or yellow are common in the lower part.
The BC horizon, where present, generally has colors and textures similar to the lower Bt horizon. Iron-manganese concretions and iron masses in shades of brown, red or yellow become more numerous with depth. Some horizons are variegated without dominant hue or chroma.
The C horizon also has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8 and may be variegated. It ranges from sand through clay loam and may be stratified. Iron masses, nodules, concretions and iron depletions in shades of black, brown, yellow, gray or olive are common throughout.
Some pedons have 2BC or 2C horizons with 35 to 80 percent gravel and cobbles and/or strongly contrasting particle size in comparison with overlying horizons.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Albemarle, Allenwood, Arendtsville, Cades, Cardova, Chester, Chetwynd, Drapermill, Elsinboro, Eubanks, Ezel, Frankstown, Gilwood, Glenelg, Happyland, Leck Kill, Lonon, Meadowville, Milldraper, Murrill, Nixon, Queponco, Reybold, Rhodiss, Shouns, Tate, Ungers and Whiteford series in the same family. Albemarle and Ezel soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to bedrock. Allenwood, Arendtsville, Chetwynd, Eubanks, Leck Kill, Lonon, Shouns, Ungers and Whiteford soils have hues of 5YR or redder either throughout or in some subhorizon of the B horizon. Cades, Chester, Glenelg and Tate soils have coarse fragments dominated by quartz, quartzite, granite, gneiss, metamonzonite, metasandstone, phyllite or schist. Cardova, Drapermill, Gilwood and Milldraper soils have bedrock at depths of less than 40 inches. Elsinboro soils formed in alluvium weathered from micaceous crystalline rocks. Frankstown soils formed in upland residuum weathered from siliceous limestone and interbedded limy shale and siltstone. Meadowville soils formed in upland alluvium and underlying residuum weathered from basic and acidic rocks. Nixon soils contain detectable red shale detrital components in the coarse fragments and fine-earth fractions. Queponco and Reybold soils formed in loamy or silty fluvial and eolian deposits underlain by sandy and loamy fluvial and marine (fluviomarine) deposits. Murrill soils formed in colluvium weathered from acid sandstones and shales and the underlying residuum. Rhodiss soils formed in residuum weathered from felsic crystalline rock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Allegheny soils are on stream terraces, foot slopes and alluvial fans weathered largely from colluvium of acid sandstone, siltstone and shale. Near the type location average annual temperature is 52 degrees F. and average annual precipitation is 45 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Barbourville, Chavies, Cotaco, Cottonbend, Ezel, Grigsby, Kanawha, Monongahela, Nolin, Orrville, Pope, Rowdy, Tyler, Wheeling and Whitley series. Barbourville soils are on adjacent alluvial fans, foot slopes and terraces. Chavies, Cotaco, Cottonbend, Ezel, Kanawha, Monongahela, Tyler and Whitley soils are on adjacent stream terraces and higher strath terraces. Grigsby, Nolin, Orrville, Pope and Rowdy soils are on low stream terraces and floodplains. Barbourville soils have umbric epipedons and lack argillic horizons. Monongahela and Tyler soils have fragipans. Chavies soils are coarse-loamy and less acid. Cotaco soils have low chroma iron depletions in the upper part of their argillic horizons. Grigsby, Nolin, Orrville, Pope and Rowdy soils lack argillic horizons. Kanawha and Wheeling soils formed in less acid alluvium. Whitley soils are fine-silty.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, with low to medium runoff and moderate permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in cultivated crops or pasture; a few areas are in forest. Major crops are corn, tobacco, small grains, hay, vegetables and fruit. Native vegetation is mostly hardwoods such as oaks, hickory, yellow-poplar, maples, elm, beech, white pine and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Eastern Kentucky Coalfields, Bluegrass, and Knobs Regions of Kentucky and similar areas in Arkansas, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Extent is moderate.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 1948.
REMARKS: Soils previously mapped as Allegheny Variant or Allegheny Shale Substratum phase are now incorporated into the Ezel Series. The diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap).
Argillic horizon - the zone from 8 to 72 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, Bt4, BC1, & BC2)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data: S89KY-115-4 by the University of Kentucky.