LOCATION CARDOVA VATentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Cardova gravelly loam on a 12 percent south facing slope at an elevation of approximately 480 feet (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise stated)
Oi--0 to 2 inches; slightly decomposed plant material.
Oa--2 to 3 inches; highly decomposed plant material; abrupt smooth boundary.
A--3 to 10 inches; dark gray (N 4/0) gravelly loam; moderate medium granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, common medium and common coarse roots; few fine low continuity interstitial pores and few fine moderate continuity tubular pores; 2 percent subangular graphitic phyllite channers and 30 percent subangular graphitic phyllite medium and coarse gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bt--10 to 21 inches; very dark gray (N 3/0) gravelly loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; common very fine and fine, common medium and common coarse roots; few fine low continuity interstitial pores and few fine moderate continuity tubular pores; common faint discontinuous very dark gray (N 3/0), moist, clay films on faces of peds; 20 percent subangular graphitic phyllite coarse gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
BC--21 to 28 inches; very dark gray (N 3/0) gravelly loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine, few medium and common coarse roots; few fine low continuity interstitial pores and few fine moderate continuity tubular pores; common faint patchy very dark gray (N 3/0), moist, clay films on rock fragments; 15 percent subangular graphitic phyllite coarse gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
C--28 to 35 inches; very dark gray (N 3/0) very cobbly loam; massive; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine and few medium roots; few fine low continuity interstitial pores and few fine moderate continuity tubular pores; 50 percent subangular graphitic phyllite cobbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Cr--35 to 44 inches; soft bedrock in shades of gray and brown that crushes to a silt loam; 55 percent angular graphitic phyllite fragments; clear wavy boundary.
R--44 inches; hard bedrock in shades of gray and brown.
TYPE LOCATION: Culpeper County, Virginia; From Cardova, southeast 2.2 miles on Rt. 729, north-northwest 3600 feet on Rt. 638. Site is 900 feet east in woods; USGS Castleton topographic quadrangle; lat. 38 degrees 31 minutes 32.3 seconds N. and long. 78 degrees 0 minutes 49.9 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is 20 to 40 inches. Thickness of the argillic horizon is 10 to 20 inches. Depth to paralithic contact is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to lithic contact is 40 to 60 inches. Depth to water table is greater than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid throughout. Rock fragments consist of subangular and angular gravels and cobbles of graphitic schist.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y or neutral, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 0 through 3. Texture is silt loam or loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 40 percent.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y or neutral, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 0 to 6. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam or clay loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 5 to 50 percent.
The B horizon (where present) has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 10 to 50 percent.
The BC horizon has hue of neutral, value of 3, and chroma of 0. Texture is loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 15 to 60 percent.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y, 5Y, or is neutral, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 0 to 3. Texture is sandy loam, loam, or silt loam. Rock fragment content ranges from 20 to 65 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: Allegheny, Allenwood, Cades, Chetwynd, Drapermill, Elsinboro, Frankstown, Gilpin, Gilwood, Glenelg, Happyland, Leck Kill, Lonon, Murrill, Nixon, Queponco, Reybold, Rhodhiss, Shouns, Tate, Ungers and Whiteford soils are in the same family. Allegheny, Allenwood, Cades, Elsinboro, Glenelg, Happyland, Lonon, Murrill, Reybold, Rhodhiss, Shouns, Tate and Whiteford soils are very deep to lithic or paralithic contact. Allegheny, Cades and Elsinboro soils formed in alluvium on stream terraces. Allenwood soils formed in glacial till. Glenelg soils formed in residuum of micaceous schist in the Northern Piedmont. Happyland soils formed in residuum of phyllite, schist, gneiss and metamonzonite in the Northern Piedmont. Lonon soils formed in colluvium and alluvium of metasedimentary rocks in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Murrill soils formed in colluvium of acid sandstone and shale and underlying limestone. Reybold soils formed in silty eolian deposits underlain by fluvio-marine sediments. Rhodhiss soils formed in residuum of felsic crystalline rocks in the Southern Piedmont. Shouns soils formed in colluvium of sandstone, siltstone and shale. Tate soil formed in colluvium and alluvium of felsic to mafic crystalline rock in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Whiteford soils formed in residuum of dark colored slate. Frankstown, Leck Kill and Ungers soils are deep or very deep to lithic or paralithic contact. Frankstown soils formed in residuum of siliceous limestone and interbedded limy shale and siltstone. Leck Kill soils formed in residuum or glacial till of red shale, siltstone and sandstone. Ungers soils formed in residuum of red sandstone and shale. Nixon and Quesponco are deep to lithic or paralithic contact. Nixon soils formed in old alluvium containing red shale fragments and coastal plain materials. Queponco soils formed in loamy fluvial and eolian deposits underlain by sandy and loamy fluvial and marine deposits. Drapermill soils formed in residuum of phyllite and schist in the Southern Piedmont. Gilwood soils formed in residuum of siltstone in the Kentucky and Indiana Sandstone and Shale Hills ands Valleys.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cardova soils formed in residuum of graphitic phyllite or graphitic phyllite interbedded with arkosic metasandstone, meta-arkose, and metasiltstone on summits, shoulders and backslopes on ridges and hills in the Blue Ridge Foothills. Slope gradients range from 0 to 45 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges 53 to 56 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 45 inches. Frost free days range from 167 to 203 days. Elevation ranges from 200 feet to 1000 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Glenelg and
Edgemont soils, which have brown subsoils and are deeper to bedrock, form on similar landscape positions.
Elioak and
Culpeper soils, which have red subsoils with more clay and are deeper to bedrock, form on similar landscape positions.
Hazel soils, which have sandy subsoils, form on similar landscape positions.
Meadowville soils, which have brown subsoils and are shallower to seasonal high water table, form in drainageways.
Marbleyard soils, which develop from arkosic metasandstone, form on similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low through very high. Permeability is moderately slow to moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are mainly in woodlands. Small areas are used for cropland, hay, and pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 148 in Virginia. The series is of small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES PROPOSED: Culpeper County, Virginia. 2003.
REMARKS: Cardova soils were previously included in the Watt series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1) Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface to 10 inches (Oi, Oa, and A horizons)
2) Argillic horizon - The zone from 10 to 21 inches (Bt horizon)
3) Paralithic contact - at 35 inches (Cr horizon)
4) Lithic contact - at 44 inches (R horizon)