LOCATION JANELEW WVEstablished Series
range from 0 to 80 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 50 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 54 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, calcareous, mesic Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Janelew channery silt loam, on a 6 percent slope in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A--0 to 3 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; 15 percent rock fragments (90 percent mudstone and 10 percent sandstone); neutral; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 6 inches thick)
C1--3 to 21 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) channery silty clay loam; common medium olive (5Y 4/4), dark brown (10YR 3/3), and strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) lithochromic mottles; massive; firm; many fine roots; 25 percent rock fragments (95 percent mudstone and 5 percent sandstone); slight effervescence; moderately alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
C2--21 to 33 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very channery silty clay loam; common medium dark brown (10YR 3/3), olive (5Y 4/4), and black (N 2/0) lithochromic mottles; massive; firm; 55 percent rock fragments (85 percent mudstone, 10 percent sandstone, and 5 percent limestone); slight effervescence; mildly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
C3--33 to 65 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) extremely channery silty clay loam; common medium yellowish brown (10YR 5/4 and 5/8) and gray (5Y 5/1) lithochromic mottles; massive firm; 65 percent rock fragments (90 percent mudstone and 10 percent sandstone); slight effervescence; mildly alkaline. (Combined thickness of the C horizon is more than 60 inches.)
TYPE LOCATION: Lewis County, West Virginia; about 0.75 mile south of Jesse Run and 2.8 miles east of I-79.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock is more than 5 feet. Fragments of rock range from 20 to 80 percent in individual horizons, but average 35 to 75 percent in the particle size control section. Rock fragments are mudstone, sandstone, limestone, siltstone, shale, and coal. The percentage of mudstone is 65 to 100 percent of the total rock fragments in the control section. Rock fragments are mostly channers, but stones and boulders are included. The fine earth fraction of the particle-size control section ranges from 23 to 35 percent clay and 7 to 23 percent fine and coarser sand. The percent of fine and coarser sand is commonly less than 15 percent. Most pedons have lithochromic mottles in some or all horizons.
The A horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 6. The fine earth fraction is silt loam or silty clay loam. Reaction is neutral to mildly alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 2.5Y, but it commonly ranges from 5YR through 10YR. Value is 3 to 5, and chroma is 1 to 8. The fine earth fraction is silty clay loam or silt loam. Consistence is friable or firm. Reaction is mildly alkaline to moderately alkaline above a depth of 30 inches and neutral to moderately alkaline below a depth of 30 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Morristown and Myra soils. Morristown soils are formed in regolith consisting mostly of limestone and calcareous shale with some medium grained sandstone and siltstone with no one rock type making up more than 65 percent of the total. Also, the Morristown soils include textures of loam, sandy clay loam, and clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Myra soils are formed in regolith consisting of a mixture of shale, siltstone and sandstone with no one rock type making up more than 65 percent of the total. Also, the fine earth fraction of the control section in Myra soils commonly contains more sand and less than 27 percent clay, and includes textures of loam, fine sandy loam, and clay loam.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Janelew soils are on nearly level to gently sloping benches, gently sloping to strongly sloping hillslopes, and steep to very steep outslopes. These soils formed in regolith from surface mining of coal. The regolith is a mixture of partially weathered fine earth and fragments of bedrock. The fine earth material is from fragments of calcareous mudstone which have been crushed by machinery or weathered by natural forces. Rock fragments are mostly soft, blocky, calcareous mudstone with small amounts of sandstone, limestone, siltstone, shale, and coal. These soils are subject to extensive slippage when wet on slopes of 15 percent or greater. Slopes range from 0 to 80 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 55 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 50 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gilpin, Upshur, and Westmoreland soils. These soils have an argillic horizon and are formed in residuum on undisturbed uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; runoff is slow to medium on bench slopes and rapid to very rapid on outslopes and hillslopes; permeability is moderate to moderately slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Vegetative cover emphasis is on reclamation of surface mined land. Vegetation consists of grasses, legumes, black locust, and other plants commonly used in surface mine reclamation. Many areas have recently been reclaimed and are idle. Steep outslopes of some areas have established stands of naturally seeded black locust, honeysuckle, and yellow-poplar. Some nearly level to strongly sloping areas are used for hay crops or pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia and possibly, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Tennessee. The acreage is moderate.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lewis County, West Virginia, 1988. Janelew is the name of a town in Lewis County.
REMARKS: (1) These soils were formerly mapped as Udorthents, mudstone, high base. (2) Lithochromic mottles have inherited their color from rocks. (3) Under the West Virginia University proposed classification, these soils would have been classified Schlickig Udispolents. (4) Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are: a. Ochric epipedon- The zone from 0 to 3 inches (A horizon).
b. Skeletal feature- Rock fragments average 46 percent in 10 to 40 inch control section (C horizons).
c. Calcareous feature- Effervescence observed in the fine earth fraction of the 10 to 20 inch control section (C1 horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Complete characterization and related data was obtained on 25 pedons of Janelew soils by Dr. John Sencindiver, Jeff Thomas, and Paul Hnottavange, West Virginia University. The following is a summary of part of the data.
Property Mean Value Stand.Dev. ----------- ------------------------1/ ---------- ---------- % rock fragments
53 13
% of fragments classed mudstone 80 15
% of fragments classed sandstone 16 13
% of fragments classed limestone 3 5
Percent sand 18 5
Percent F, M, C, VC, sand 15 5
Percent silt 54 28
Percent clay 28 4
Dominant %of Horizons
Property Range Within Range ----------- -----------------------2/ -------- ------------ pH
7.1-8.2 79
Calcareous reaction Effervescent 61
Base saturation 100% plus 100
Field Percolation rate
Mean Value Stand.Dev.
----------- -----------
0.62 in./hr 0.43 in./hr
3/- 3 to 6 test holes around each pedon. 2/ - all horizons in profile. 1/ - applicable control section.