LOCATION MOSHANNON OH+WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Dystric Fluventic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Moshannon silt loam - on a slope of about 1/2 percent in a bluegrass pasture, formerly cultivated, on the flood plain of Mill Branch of Little Hocking River. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1--6 to 27 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; medium acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bw2--27 to 38 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 24 to 42 inches.)
C--38 to 60 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam; massive; friable; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Ohio; Belpre Township; SE1/4NE1/4 of section 9, T. 2 N., R. 10 W.; along Township Road 289, 1/2 mile northeast of junction with Township Road 97; about 3 miles northwest of Belpre.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 32 to 48 inches. The particle-size control section is 18 to 32 percent clay. Coarse fragments are less than 5 percent through the solum, but ranges up to 20 percent in the substratum.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 3 or 4. Undisturbed profiles have an A horizon 1 to 3 inches thick, that has value of 2 or 3. The Ap or A horizon is silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam. It is neutral to medium acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, and value and chroma of 3 through 6. It commonly is silty clay loam and silt loam with strata of loam in some pedons. Structure is weak or moderate, medium or fine, subangular or angular blocky, and grades to coarse in the lower part. Some pedons have weak prismatic structure in the lower part of the Bw horizon. Reaction is slighty acid or medium acid.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR or 2.5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. It commonly is silt loam; but stratification is evident in most pedons and the range includes silty clay loam, fine sandy loam, loam, and gravelly loam. It is neutral to medium acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Nolin and Ray series in the same family and Chagrin, Genesee, Haymond, Huntington, Lindside, and Senecaville series in other families. Nolin and Ray soils lack hues of 5YR or redder. Chagrin and Genesee soils are fine-loamy, Haymond soils are coarse-silty, Huntington soils have a mollic epipedon, and Lindside soils have low-chroma mottles within 24 inches of the soil surface; in addition, none of these soils have hue of 5YR or redder. Senecaville is the only one of the series in other families with hues of 5YR or redder; it has low-chroma mottles within 24 inches of the soil surface.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Moshannon soils are on flood plains. Slope range is from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in alluvium which has its source in areas with a significant proportion of the upland soils derived from shales and siltstones which weather to reddish soils. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 35 to 45 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from about 53 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Senecaville soils and the Hackers, Upshur, Vandalia, Vincent, and Woodsfield soils. The somewhat poorly drained Senecaville soils are in a partial drainage toposequence with Moshannon soils. Associated soils with reddish hue in the solum, all with argillic horizons; include Hackers on low terraces and alluvial fans; Upshur and Woodsfield soils on nearby uplands; Vandalia soils on adjoining colluvial slopes; and Vincent soils on high terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained with slow runoff and moderate permeability. The Moshannon soils are subject to flooding of short duration in winter and spring months.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cropland and pasture. The principal crops are corn, truck crops, and hay. A small part is hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia. The series is of moderate extent, about 50,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Center County, Pennsylvania, 1908.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of about 6 inches (Ap horizon); cambic horizon - the zone from a depth of about 6 to 38 inches (Bw1, Bw2 horizons).