LOCATION EDNEYVILLE NC+GA NJ SC TN VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Edneyville fine sandy loam--wooded. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oe--0 to 2 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) moderately decomposed organic matter and oak leaves.
A--2 to 6 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and few medium roots; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (1 to 10 inches thick)
AB--6 to 9 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and few medium roots; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick)
Bw1--9 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and few medium roots; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--12 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly sticky; few fine roots; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw3--26 to 32 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few fine flakes of mica; 10 percent soft gneiss fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 15 to 40 inches.)
C--32 to 62 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) saprolite that has a texture of sandy loam; friable; rock structure; few fine flakes of mica; common partially weathered granite gneiss fragments; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Transylvania County, North Carolina; 6 miles south of Brevard on U.S. 276, 0.6 mile west on County Road 1102, 50 feet north of road in wooded area.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 55 inches. Depth to weathered bedrock is more than 60 inches. The A horizon is extremely acid to moderately acid, and the B and C horizons are very strongly acid or strongly acid. Content of flakes of mica is few or common throughout. Content of coarse fragments, ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume throughout.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. Where value is 3 or less, this horizon is less than 7 inches thick. The A horizon is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Thin AB horizons are present in some pedons. They have hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. They are fine sandy loam, loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The BC horizon, where present, is similar in color and texture to the Bw horizon but contains more rock fragments and bodies of saprolite.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 7 and chroma 3 to 8. It is saprolite that has a texture of fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, loamy fine sand, or loamy sand in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Ashe, Brookfield, Buladean, Cardigan, Charlton, Chestnut, Delaware, Ditney, Dutchess, Foresthills (T), Gallimore, Greenbelt (T), Lordstown, Newport, Riverhead, Soco, St. Albans, Stecoah, Steinsburg, Wakeman, and Yalesville series. Ashe soils have lithic contact with hard bedrock within depths of 20 to 40 inches. Brookfield soils formed in till derived from micaceous schist and have fragments of these rocks. Buladean and Stecoah soils have paralithic contact at depths of 40 to 60 inches. Cardigan, Lordstown, Steinsburg, and Yalesville soils have hard sedimentary or metasedimentary bedrock at depths less than 40 inches and contain fragments of those rocks. Charlton soils formed in glacial till derived mainly from schist, gneiss, or granite and contain fragments of those rocks. Chestnut soils have paralithic contact within depths of 20 to 40 inches. Delaware soils formed in postglacial alluvium, mainly from areas of sandstone, shale, and siltstone and contain fragments of those rocks. Ditney, Soco and Stecoah soils formed from materials weathered from low-grade metasedimentary rocks and contain fragments of those rocks. Dutchess and St. Albans soils contain coarse fragments of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and shale. Foresthills (T) and Greenbelt (T) soils have mantles of humanly transported materials. Gallimore soils formed in loamy over sandy outwash on outwash plains. Newport soils have C horizons of dense glacial till. Riverhead soils have a lithologic discontinuity in the upper 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Edneyville soils are on gently sloping to very steep ridges and side slopes of the Blue Ridge (MLRA 130). Elevations range from 1,400 to 5,000 feet. Where correlated in the New Jersey Highlands, the elevation ranges to as low as 400 feet. Slopes range from 2 to 95 percent. Edneyville soils formed in residuum that is affected by soil creep in the upper part, and weathered from felsic or mafic igneous or high-grade metamorphic rocks such as granite, hornblende gneiss, granodiorite, biotite gneiss, and high-grade metagraywacke. Climate is temperate and humid. Mean annual temperature is 56 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation about 65 inches near the type location.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Ashe, Buladean, and Chestnut series, these are the Brevard, Brownwood, Cashiers, Chandler, Cleveland, Cowee, Cullasaja, Edneytown, Evard, Fannin, Greenlee, Haywood, Huntdale, Micaville, Peaks, Pigeonroost, Plott, Porters, Saluda, Saunook, Tate, Thunder, Trimont, Tuckasegee, Tusquitee, Unaka, and Watauga soils. Brevard, Cowee, Edneytown, Evard, Pigeonroost, Saluda, Saunook, Tate, Trimont, and Watauga soils have an argillic horizon. Brownwood, Cashiers, Chandler, Fannin, Micaville, and Watauga soils are in a micaceous or paramicaceous family. Cleveland and Saluda soils have bedrock within a depth of 20 inches. Cullasaja, Greenlee, and Peaks soils are in a loamy-skeletal family. Haywood, Plott, Porters, Tuckasegee, and Unaka soils have umbric epipedons. Huntdale, Thunder, and Tusquitee soils have thicker humus-enriched ochric epipedons with color value of 3 or less. All these soils are on ridges and side slopes except for Brevard, Cullasaja, Greenlee, Haywood, Saunook, Tate, Thunder, Tuckasegee, and Tusquitee soils which are on colluvial benches, toe slopes, and fans. Also, soils on cooler, more humid north to east aspects on the ridges and side slopes are Cashiers, Huntdale, Plott, Porters, Trimont, and Unaka.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium internal drainage; moderate rapid permeability. Runoff class is very low on gentle slopes, low on strong or moderately steep slopes, and medium on steeper slopes. Runoff is much lower where forest cover is intact.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most of the acreage is in forest. Common trees are white oak, black oak, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, hickory, eastern white pine, Virginia pine, and pitch pine. Yellow poplar and northern red oak are common in the northern portions of MLRA 130. The understory includes mountain laurel, flowering dogwood, sourwood, black locust, American chestnut sprouts, greenbrier, Christmas fern, and rhododendron. Cleared areas are commonly used for pasture, hay, and occasionally fruit trees, burley tobacco, Christmas trees, and vegetables.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Blue Ridge (MLRA 130) of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia. The series has been correlated in the New Jersey Highlands (Reading Prong). The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Watauga County, North Carolina; 1947.
REMARKS: This series was formerly classified in the Gray-Brown Podzolic great soil group. The particle-size control section of many pedons has a weighted average clay content marginal to fine-loamy. Similar soils in a fine-loamy family are associated on some landscapes.
The 12/97 revision changes the family placement to coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrochrepts per the 7th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy (1996). The CEC activity class placement is based on placement of similar soils such as Chestnut. Sample pedon S88-NC-121-007 classifies as superactive, but the active class is consistent with similar series. Horizon depths and runoff class were also revised at this time.
The 2/99 revision updates the classification to 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
Diagnostic features and horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 9 inches (Oe, A and AB horizons)
Cambic horizon - the zone from 9 to 32 inches (Bw1, Bw2, and Bw3 horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from the National Soil Survey Laboratory, Lincoln, NE; pedon number S88-NC-121-007.
MLRA: 130, 148 SIR(s): NC0023, NC0115 (Stony)
Revised: 4/89-DLN; 1/98-DHK; 2/99, 6/00, 8/01, 3/03-MKC