LOCATION WAKE               NC

WAKE SERIES

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Mixed, thermic Lithic Udipsamments

TYPICAL PEDON: Wake loamy sand -- wooded. (Colors for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

A--0 to 5 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) loamy sand; weak fine granular; very friable; about 10 percent gravel by volume; many fine, common medium, and many coarse roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick)

Bw--5 to 10 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) loamy sand; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; about 10 percent gravel by volume; many fine, common medium, and many coarse roots; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)

C--10 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly loamy coarse sand; single grain; loose; about 18 percent gravel by volume; many grains of feldspar; few flakes of mica and dark mineral grains; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 16 inches thick)

R--12 inches; hard, slightly fractured, unweathered granite.

TYPE LOCATION: Wake County, North Carolina. From Raleigh, 6.2 miles north on Secondary Road 2217 (Old Milburnie Road) from intersection with US Highway 64E; 1.8 miles east on Secondary Road 22 (Watkins Road); 0.5 mile south on private road (first driveway past Deep Cedar subdivision); 0.25 mile west on path that forks right; in wooded area near path 20 yards south of road.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to lithic contact with hard bedrock ranges from 11 to 20 inches. Surface stones and boulders are common in many areas. Content of coarse fragments ranges from 0 to 35 percent by volume. Mica content ranges from few to common throughout, and grains of feldspar range from few to many. Reaction of the soil ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout unless the surface has been limed.

The A horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand in the fine-earth fraction.

The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 6. It is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand in the fine-earth fraction.

The C horizon is multicolored or has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 4 to 8. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand in the fine-earth fraction.

The Cr horizon, where present, is multicolored, weathered igneous or high-grade metamorphic bedrock such as granite or gneiss.

The R horizon is unweathered igneous or high-grade metamorphic bedrock such as granite or gneiss.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in this family.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wake soils are gently sloping to steep and are on ridges and side slopes on the Piedmont uplands. Slope ranges from 2 to 45 percent. The soil formed in residuum weathered from felsic igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks such as granite and gneiss. Mean annual rainfall ranges from about 35 to 54 inches, and mean annual air temperature ranges from about 58 to 62 degrees F.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These include the Appling, Ashlar, Durham, Louisburg, Pacolet, Rion, Rolesville (T), Saw, Wateree, and Wedowee series. All of these are more than 20 inches deep to rock, and all except Ashlar and Wateree have argillic horizons.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Excessively drained; medium to rapid runoff; rapid permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Mostly in mixed hardwood forest of post oak, blackjack oak, northern red oak, and hickory along with shortleaf pine, Virginia pine and loblolly pine. Small areas are used for corn, small grain, orchards, and pasture.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont of North Carolina, and possibly Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of small extent.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wake County, North Carolina, 1966.

REMARKS: The April 1994 revision changed the classification from thermic, coated Lithic Quartzipsamments to mixed, thermic Lithic Udipsamments. Laboratory data documents more than 10 percent weatherable minerals in the control section of these soils in North Carolina. North Carolina is the only state that the Wake series has been correlated in. The November 2002 revision moved the type location to another site in Wake County. It also removed the coarse fragment requirement of 15 to 35 percent throughout.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 0 to 5 inches (A horizon)
Lithic contact - The occurrence of hard bedrock at 12 inches (R horizon)

ADDITIONAL DATA:

MLRA: 136

TABULAR SERIES DATA:

SOI-5  Soil Name   Slope   Airtemp  FrFr/Seas  Precip   Elevation
NC0079 WAKE        2-45    58-62    180-270    35-54     350-1200 

SOI-5  FloodL FloodH  Watertable Kind   Months   Bedrock  Hardness
NC0079 NONE           >6.0                -      11-20    HARD 

SOI-5   Depth  Texture           3-Inch   No-10    Clay%    -CEC-
NC0079  0-5    LCOS LS S         0-10     90-100   3-12       -
NC0079  5-12   LCOS LS S         0-10     90-100   3-15       -
NC0079  12     UWB                -         -       -         -   

SOI-5   Depth     -pH-      O.M.   Salin   Permeab    Shnk-Swll
NC0079  0-5     4.5- 6.0   .5-1.   0-0     6.0-20       LOW      
NC0079  5-12    4.5- 6.0    0-.5   0-0     6.0-20       LOW
NC0079  12         -         -      -         -