LOCATION DITNEY TN+NCEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Ditney sandy loam--forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--0 to 1 inch; slightly decomposed forest litter of pine needles and hardwood leaves and twigs.
A--1 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium and few coarse roots; 5 percent by volume of metasandstone pebbles; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (2 to 7 inches thick)
BA--4 to 8 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium and few coarse roots; 5 percent by volume of metasandstone pebbles; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
Bw1--8 to 19 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) cobbly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium and few coarse roots; many fine and medium tubular pores; 20 percent fragments by volume of metasandstone which are mainly cobbles; very strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bw2--19 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) cobbly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; many fine and medium tubular pores; 30 percent fragments by volume of metasandstone which are mainly cobbles; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (14 to 27 inches thick)
Cr--25 to 28 inches; partially weathered, fractured metasandstone.
R--28 to 33 inches; hard metasandstone bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Sullivan County, Tennessee; On U.S. Highway 421, about 1,000 feet southwest of Dogwood Bench Road, and about 50 feet north of road. Shady Valley, TN-NC USGS Topographic Quadrangle, Latitude: 36 degrees, 32 minutes, 07 seconds north; Longitude: 81 degrees, 58 minutes, 31 seconds west.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to lithic contact with hard bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches below the soil surface. The amount by volume of coarse fragments ranges from about 5 to 35 percent in the A through Bw horizons and from about 10 to 40 percent in the BC and C horizons. The soil is strongly acid to extremely acid. Content of flakes of mica is none or few throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. Where value is 3, this horizon is less than 7 inches thick. In the fine earth, it is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam.
The BA, BE, or E horizons, where present, have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. In the fine earth, texture is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. In the fine earth, it is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam.
The BC horizon, where present, has the range of colors and textures given for the Bw horizon. It is coarser textured, contains more rock fragments, and has weaker structure than the Bw horizon.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 8, and chroma of 3 to 8. In the fine earth, texture is loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand.
The Cr horizon, where present, is a thin layer of weathered metasedimentary rock such as arkose, metagraywacke, metasandstone, or quartzite.
The R layer is unweathered bedrock of metasedimentary rock such as arkose, metagraywacke, metasandstone, or quartzite. The upper boundary is considered as lithic contact where root spacing is greater than 4 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bannertown (T), Cheshire, Devotion (T), Maymead, and Tipsaw series. Bannertown soils formed in residuum from high-grade metamorphic and igneous rocks and contain fragments of those rocks. Cheshire, Devotion, and Maymead soils are very deep. Tipsaw soils formed in residuum from sandstone and siltstone and contain fragments of those rocks.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ditney soils are on intermediate mountain ridges and side slopes in the Blue Ridge (MLRA 130). Elevations generally range from about 1800 to 4,800 feet. Slopes range from 8 to 95 percent. The soil formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper part and is weathered from metasedimentary rock such as arkose, metagraywacke, metasandstone, or quartzite. Average mean annual temperature is 57 degrees F and mean annual precipitation is 46 inches near the type location at Kingsport, TN.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Maymead series, these are the Brookshire, Chestoa, Harmiller, Jeffrey, Keener, Lostcove, Marbleyard, McCamy, Northcove, Shinbone, Soco, Spivey, Stecoah, Unicoi, and Whiteoak series. Brookshire, Keener, Lostcove, Maymead, Northcove, Spivey, and Whiteoak soils formed in colluvium and are in coves on foot , and toe slopes, and colluvial fans. Chestoa, Harmiller, Jeffrey, Marbleyard, McCamy, Shinbone, Soco, Stecoah, and Unicoi soils are on ridgetops and side slopes. Chestoa and Jeffrey soils have A horizons with value of 3 or less that are 7 to 10 inches thick. Unicoi soils are 10 to 20 inches to a lithic contact. Harmiller and Soco soils are 20 to 40 inches and Shinbone and Stecoah soils are 40 to 60 inches to a paralithic contact. McCamy soils are fine-loamy and Marbleyard soils are loamy-skeletal. Both have a siliceous mineralogy.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderately rapid permeability; moderately high or high hydraulic conductivity.
USE AND VEGETATION: Practically all is in forest consisting chiefly of chestnut oak, scarlet oak, red maple, pitch pine, and Virginia pine, and a few white pine and hemlock. The few cleared areas are used mainly for wildlife plantings.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Blue Ridge (MLRA 130) in Tennessee and North Carolina, Virgina, and possibly Georgia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monroe County, Tennessee; 1974.
REMARKS: The 5/00 revision reflects the movement of the official type location from Monroe County, Tennessee to Sullivan County, Tennessee. Competing series section was also updated. The 2/99 revision updated classification to 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy and placed this soil in the semiactive CEC activity class based on NSSL Sample S77TN-171-003 and similar soils. In past mapping in Tennessee, these soils have been included in the Ramsey and Ranger series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from the surface of the soil to 8 inches. (Oi, A, and BA horizons)
Cambic horizon - The zone from 8 to 25 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons.)
Paralithic contact - weathered bedrock contact at 25 inches (upper boundary of the Cr horizon)
Lithic contact - the contact with hard bedrock at 28 inches.
ADDITIONAL DATA: S69Tenn-62-7 Beltsville, Maryland Lab. No. 69B522. B2 horizon 16-29 inches Mechanical and Petrographic analysis. NSSL Sample S77TN-171-003. Data pending from NSSL sample S01NC-155-002.