LOCATION TUCKASEGEE NC+GAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, isotic, mesic Humic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Tuckasegee fine sandy loam on a 30 percent southeast facing foot slope at an elevation of 3320 feet -- Forested. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Oi--2 to 0 inches; partially decomposed deciduous leaves, twigs and roots.
A1--0 to 9 inches; black (10YR 2/1) fine sandy loam; dark brown (10YR 3/3) dry; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine, common medium, and few coarse roots; 5 percent gravel by volume; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
A2--9 to 13 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; brown (7.5YR 4/2) dry; moderate coarse granular and weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; common fine to coarse roots; 5 percent gravel by volume; few fine flakes of mica; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the A horizon is 10 to 20 inches.)
Bw1--13 to 26 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common medium to coarse roots; 5 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles by volume; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2--26 to 47 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) stony sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few medium to coarse roots; 5 percent gravel, 5 percent cobbles, 15 percent stones by volume; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 30 to 51 inches.)
BC--47 to 65 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) very stony sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few medium roots; 10 percent gravel, 15 percent cobbles, 30 percent stones by volume; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Macon County, North Carolina; 3.0 miles west of Coweeta Hydrologic Station Office on Shope Creek road; 150 feet upslope from hairpin curve; in the woods, 400 feet east of weir on Watershed No. 36.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to more than 60 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 72 inches. Reaction is very strongly acid to slightly acid, in the A horizon, unless limed. The Bw and lower horizons are very strongly acid to moderately acid. In the upper 40 inches, content of rock fragments, dominantly of gravel to stone size, ranges up to 35 percent. Below 40 inches, rock fragment content may range up to 60 percent. Content of mica flakes ranges from few to common.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 to 3. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
A thin AB horizon is in some pedons. It has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4, but does not meet the color requirements for an umbric epipedon. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The BC horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Rock fragment content is usually more than that of the Bw horizon in the same pedon.
The C horizon, where present, is colluvium that is similar in color to the BC horizon or is multicolored. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loam, loamy fine sand, loamy sand, or loamy coarse sand in the fine-earth fraction. Rock fragment content is typically 15 to 60 percent.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Barbourville, Bohannon, Cutshin, Hembre, Horeb, Meda, Molalla, Preacher, Stevenson, and Wadell series. Barbourville, Bohannon, Horeb, and Meda soils have sola less than 40 inches thick. Cutshin soils formed from colluvium weathered from sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, shale, and siltstone, and contain fragments of those rocks. Hembre soils have B horizons with dominantly 5YR hue, and contain basalt fragments. Molalla soils formed from colluvium weathered from tuffs, breccia, and andesite; have bedrock within depths of 40 to 60 inches; and have warm dry summers and cool wet winters. Preacher soils have average annual precipitation of 80 to 120 inches. Stevenson soils formed from colluvium weathered from basalt and andesite, contain fragments of those rocks, and have warm dry summers and cool wet winters. Wadell soils have average annual precipitation of 70 to 100 inches with relatively cool summers (mean July temperature of 63 degrees F.) and mild wet winters (mean January temperature of 38 degrees F.).
Haywood, Plott, Porters, Santeetlah, Saunook, and Tusquitee are series in closely related families. All except Saunook are in a coarse-loamy family. Haywood soils have umbric epipedons that are more than 20 inches thick. Porters soils have A horizons of umbric color that are 6 to 10 inches thick. Plott and Porters soils formed in residuum with some creep in the upper part. Santeetlah soils formed in materials weathered from metasedimentary rocks and contain fragments of those rocks. Saunook soils have an argillic horizon. Tusquitee soils have A horizons of umbric color that are 7 to 10 inches thick.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tuckasegee soils are on benches, foot slopes, toe slopes, drainageways, and fans in coves in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Elevations are generally between 2,000 and 4,500 feet. Slopes are commonly between 15 and 50 percent but range from 2 to 95 percent. These soils formed in loamy colluvium derived from materials weathered from igneous and metamorphic crystalline rocks such as granite, mica gneiss, hornblende gneiss, and schist. Tuckasegee soils receive moisture from surrounding uplands, and springs and local seepage areas are common. Climate is temperate and humid. Near the type location, the mean annual air temperature is about 52 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 70 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: In addition to the competing Haywood, Plott, Porters, Saunook, and Tusquitee series, these are the Ashe, Cashiers, Chandler, Chestnut, Cowee, Cullasaja, Edneyville, Evard, Fannin, Haywood, Saluda, Sylva, Tate, Trimont, Watauga, and Whiteside soils. Ashe, Cashiers, Chandler, Chestnut, Cowee, Edneyville, Evard, Fannin, Plott, Porters, Saluda, Trimont, and Watauga soils formed in residuum with some soil creep in the upper part, have C horizons in saprolite, and are on locally higher mountain ridgetops and side slopes. Brevard, Saunook, and Tate soils formed in colluvium in the same colluvial landscape position as Tuckasegee soils, but they have argillic horizons. Cullasaja, Haywood, and Tusquitee soils are in the same colluvial landscape position also, but Cullasaja soils are loamy-skeletal; Haywood soils have umbric epipedons thicker than 20 inches and are coarse-loamy; and Tusquitee soils have umbric colored A horizons 7 to 10 inches thick, and are coarse-loamy. Sylva and Whiteside soils are in seepage areas of toe slopes and fans. Sylva soils are poorly drained and Whiteside soils are moderately well drained.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; very little runoff where the forest litter has not been disturbed or only partly disturbed; medium to rapid runoff where litter has been removed; moderately rapid permeability.
USE AND VEGETATION: About one-half of the acreage has been cleared and is used for corn, small grain, tobacco, truck crops, clover, lespedeza, and pasture. Wooded areas consist mostly of yellow poplar, white oak, northern red oak, black locust, white ash, black birch, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, black cherry, cucumbertree, yellow buckeye, American beech, and sugar and red maples. At elevations above 4,000 feet, yellow birch replaces yellow poplar as a common tree.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, and possibly Tennessee and Virginia. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Macon County, North Carolina; 1990.
REMARKS: This series was previously included with the Tusquitee series. However, Tusquitee soils have umbric colored A horizons 7 to 10 inches thick and are Coarse-loamy, mixed, mesic Umbric Dystrochrepts. National Soil Survey Lab data (NSSL #86P0742) is available for the typical pedon. That data and other data indicate that these soils are generally marginal to the coarse-loamy family. The 6/90 revision of the series changes the classification from coarse-loamy to fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Haplumbrepts. The 9/07(HCD) revisions add a texture modifier to the Bw2 horizon where none existed and corrects the texture modifier in the BC horizon
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon are:
Umbric epipedon - 0 to 13 inches (A1 and A2 horizons)
Cambic horizon - 13 to 47 inches (Bw1, Bw2, Bw3 horizons)