LOCATION BETHESDA OH+IL IN KY MO PA TN VA WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, acid, mesic Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Bethesda channery silty clay loam - on a 4 percent slope in grass. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 5 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) channery silty clay loam; weak coarse granular structure; friable; few roots; 15 percent fragments of shale and 10 percent fragments of sandstone; extremely acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
C--5 to 20 inches; variegated, 80 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and 20 percent brown (10YR 4/3) very channery silty clay loam; massive; firm; few roots; 25 percent fragments of shale and 15 percent fragments of sandstone; extremely acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick)
Cd--20 to 60 inches; variegated, 70 percent brown (10YR 4/3) and 30 percent yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery clay loam; massive; very firm; 30 percent fragments of shale; 15 percent fragments of sandstone; extremely acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Belmont County, Ohio; Kirkwood Township, about 1.25 miles southeast of Sewellsville, about 2,250 feet west and 100 feet south of northeast corner, sec. 27, T. 9 N., R. 6 W.; USGS Fairview, Ohio topographic quadrangle; lat. 40 degrees 5 minutes 1 second N. and long. 81 degrees 12 minutes 12 seconds W. NAD 27.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid except for surface layers that have been reclaimed. Rock fragments include shale, sandstone, siltstone, and coal. They range mostly from 2 mm to 25 cm but include stones and boulders. The fine-earth fraction of the control section averages 18 to 35 percent clay.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 8, or is neutral with value of 3 to 5. In unreclaimed areas, the Ap or A horizon is channery, very channery, flaggy, or gravelly analogues of silty clay loam, clay loam, silt loam, or loam. Areas reclaimed with addition of a blanket of "topsoil" have an A horizon (and in some places the upper layer of the C horizon) from natural soil material 4 to 20 inches thick. Texture is silty clay loam, clay loam, silt loam, or loam, with up to 14 percent rock fragments.
The C or Cd horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 8, or is neutral with value of 3 to 6. Individual layers of the C horizon commonly are gravelly to extremely gravelly, or channery to extremely channery analogues of silty clay loam, clay loam, silt loam, or loam. The upper part of the C horizon of some pedons and some thin subhorizons are loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, or silt loam. Rock fragments range from 35 to 80 percent by volume in individual subhorizons (except for thin subhorizons) and average about 45 percent. They are mostly in the 2 mm to 25 cm range but include stones and boulders.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Cedarcreek series. Cedarcreek soils do not permit textures of clay loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction and are more permeable. Series in related families are the Barkcamp, Enoch, Fairpoint, Fiveblock, Itmann, Kaymine, Morristown, Myra and Sewell series. Barkcamp and Enoch soils are ultra acid with reactions of 3.5 or less. Fairpoint, Fiveblock, and Kaymine soils are nonacid. Itmann and Sewell soils contain less than 18 percent clay in their control sections. Morristown and Myra soils are calcareous.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Bethesda soils are on nearly level to gently sloping interfluves, base slopes, head slopes and benches to very steep nose slopes and side slopes. They formed in Pennsylvanian-age acid regolith from surface mine operations. Dominant rock fragments consist of acid shale, sandstone, and siltstone. Fine-earth material is weathered from similar rock types. Slopes range from 0 to 90 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Berks, Coshocton, Culleoka, Dekalb, Enoch, Fairpoint, Gilpin, Guernsey, Lowell, Mechanicsburg, Rigley, and Westmoreland series. Berks soils have loamy-skeletal cambic horizons and are formed in residuum from interbedded shale, siltstone, and fine-grained sandstone. Coshocton, Culleoka, Gilpin and Westmoreland soils have fine-loamy argillic horizons and are formed in residuum of shale, siltstone, and sandstone. Dekalb soils have loamy-skeletal cambic horizons and are formed in residuum from sandstone. Guernsey and Lowell soils have fine-textured argillic horizons and are formed in residuum of limestone, shale, and siltstone. Mechanicsburg soils have a fine-loamy argillic horizon, and are formed in till and residuum from fine-grained sandstone and siltstone. Rigley soils have coarse-loamy argillic horizons and have formed from sandstone.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Bethesda soils are well drained. Index surface runoff class is low to very high. Permeability (obsolete) is moderate in the upper part and slow or moderately slow in the lower part.
USE AND VEGETATION: The dominant use is wildlife habitat and recreational areas. Most reclaimed areas have been seeded to grasses and some trees. Some of the reclaimed areas are used for hay and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRAs 113, 114, 115, 124, 125, and 126 in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The series is of large extent, with about 312,000 acres identified.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Belmont County, Ohio, 1978.
REMARKS: Bethesda soils were formerly mapped as mine spoils. They have no diagnostic horizons except for an ochric epipedon, from the surface to a depth of about 5 inches (Ap).
The 8/2001 revision included numerous changes to most parts of the OSD, including updating to the 8th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards.
The 6/2006 revision updates this series to 9th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards. Several other changes were made including changes to competing series and geographically associated soils sections. Acreage based on 2004 data.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to pedon BT-14 for characterization data on the typical pedon, sample numbers 22988-22989, from Belmont County, Ohio; analyzed by the Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio.
Additional characterization data are available for pedons BT-15, BT-16, JF-8, JF-10, and VT-1.
Engineering test data are available for pedons BT-14, BT-25, and BT-16.
Revised: 6/88-PCJ,TNR,DRM; 8/2001-PCJ,CER,LER; 6/2006-LER,ELM,DHK