LOCATION MANDY WV+NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, frigid Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Mandy channery silt loam - wooded on a 5 percent, south- facing slope at 4000 feet elevation, in an area of American beech, black cherry, and red maple. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi--2 to 0 inches; leaves and twigs (1 to 2 inches thick).
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) channery silt loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; many fine medium and coarse roots; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary (2 to 7 inches thick).
BA--2 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary (0 to 8 inches thick).
Bw1--8 to 14 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2--14 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very channery silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and medium roots; 35 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 10 to 25 inches.)
C--22 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely channery silt loam with few strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and pale brown (10YR 6/3) mottles; massive; friable; few fine roots; 75 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
R--25 inches; siltstone and shale bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Pendleton County, West Virginia; approximately 1.25 miles northeast of Spruce Knob Lake and 10 yards east of U.S. Forest Service Trail number 532.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 33 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments make up 10 to 25 percent of the volume of the A, E, BE, and BA horizons, 20 to 70 percent of the Bw horizon, and 60 to 90 percent of the C horizon. The soil ranges from extremely acid through strongly acid throughout.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The fine-earth texture is silt loam or loam.
Some pedons have an E horizon, hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. The fine-earth texture is silt loam or loam.
Some pedons have a BE horizon, hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. The fine-earth texture is silt loam or loam.
The BA horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. The fine-earth texture is silt loam or loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. The fine-earth texture is silt loam or loam.
The BC or C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. Yellow or brown mottles are in some pedons. The fine-earth texture is silt loam or loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Lagross, Knapp Creek, Macomber, Mosinee, and Rockrift series in the same family and the Berks and Vly series in a related family. Lagross soils formed in water-sorted materials and have bedrock at a depth of more than 60 inches. Knapp Creek soils are deep soils formed in sandstone conglomerate. Macomber soils are formed in glacial till and are underlain by phyllite bedrock. Mosinee soils have fractured igneous and metamorphic bedrock at depths greater than 40 inches. Rockrift soils are very deep to bedrock. Vly soils have hue of 5YR or 2.5YR in the cambic horizon. Berks soils are mesic.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mandy soils are on nearly level to very steep ridgetops and upper slopes of mountains at 3500 to 5000 feet elevation, and may range to elevations of 1,800 feet at their northern most locations. Slope ranges from 3 to 80 percent. Mandy soils developed in residuum weathered mostly from acid siltstone and shale but with inclusions of sandstone. The climate is humid continental with long winter snow cover. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 and 60 inches and is evenly distributed throughout the year. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 47 degrees F. Annual frost-free days range from 90 to 130.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Gauley, Simoda, and Trussel series, and the proposed Leatherbark and Snowdog series. Gauley soils have a spodic horizon. Simoda and Snowdog soils are moderately well drained and have a fragipan. Leatherbark soils are somewhat poorly drained. Trussel soils are poorly drained, have a fragipan, and formed in colluvium.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Native forest species include red maple, American beech, yellow birch, black cherry, red spruce, striped maple, aspen, and eastern hemlock. Areas of "heath barrens" are dominated by mountain laurel, huckleberry, blueberry, great rhododendron, rose and flame azalea, and red and black cherry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia, New York and possibly Maryland, and Pennsylvania. MLRA 127. The acreage of this series is moderate.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Pendleton County, West Virginia, 1988. The name is coined.
REMARKS:
1. This soil was formerly mapped as a moist phase of the Berks series.
2. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 2 inches (A horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - The zone from 8 to 22 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
c. Skeletal feature - Approximately 40 percent (by volume) weighted average rock fragments in the 10 to 25 inch control section.