LOCATION CEDARCREEK WV+PA VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, acid, mesic Typic Udorthents
TYPICAL PEDON: Cedarcreek very channery loam, stony, on a 3 percent bench slope in an area of trees and grass. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--O to 3 inches; very dark gray (5Y 3/1) very channery loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 50 percent channers and stones (70 percent sandstone and 30 percent siltstone); very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
Cl--3 to 15 inches; olive brown (2.5 4/4) very channery loam; common yellow, brown, and gray lithochromic mottles; massive; firm; few fine and medium roots; 55 percent channers and stones (55 percent sandstone, 40 percent siltstone, and 5 percent coal fragments); very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
C2--15 to 65 inches; dark olive gray (5Y 3/2) extremely channery loam; common yellow, brown, and gray litochromic mottles; massive; very firm; few fine and medium roots; 70 percent channers and stones (55 percent sandstone, 40 percent siltstone, and 5 percent coal fragments); very strongly acid. (Combined thickness of the C horizons is 60 inches or more.)
TYPE LOCATION: Wyoming County, West Virginia; at approximately 2,400 feet elevation, about 1.5 miles southwest of Ivy Knob Fire Tower.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Depth to bedrock is greater than 5 feet. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid except for surface layers that have been limed. Fragments of rock range from 15 to 80 percent by volume throughout the profile but average 35 percent or more in the particle-size control section. Rock fragments are sandstone, siltstone, shale, and coal, and the percentage of any one rock type is less than 65 percent of the total rock fragments in the control section. Rock fragments are mostly channers, but stones and a few boulders are included. Clay content in the fine earth fraction of the control section ranges from 18 to 27 percent. Most pedons have red, brown, yellow, or gray lithochromic mottles in some or all horizons.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 6. The fine earth material is loam, silt loam, or sandy loam. The A horizon of some pedons was formed by stockpiling natural surficial soil and spreading over the land surface. In these pedons, the A horizon is 4 to 20 inches thick.
The C horizons are neutral or have hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 2 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 8. The fine earth material is mostly loam or silt loam, but sandy loam is included.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bethesda series in the same family and Itmann, Sewell, Barkcamp, Enoch, Fairpoint, Morristown, Fiveblock and Kaymine series in related families. Bethesda soils include clay loam and silty clay loam textures in the particle-size control section and have moderately slow permeability. Itmann and Sewell soils are in a semiactive CEC activity class, contain less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are somewhat excessively drained. More than 50 percent of the total rock fragments in Itmann soils are carbolithic. 65 percent or more of the total rock fragments in Sewell soils are sandstone. Barkcamp and Enoch soils are in siliceous families. Barkcamp soils contain less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section. Enoch soils have moderately slow permeability. Fairpoint and Morristown soils are in nonacid and calcareours families, respectively, and have moderately slow permeability. Fiveblock and Kaymine soils are in nonacid families. Fiveblock soils contain less than 18 percent clay in the particle-size control section and are somewhat excessively drained.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cedarcreek 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 coal mine operations. The regolith is a mixture of partially weathered fine earth and fragments of bedrock. The fine earth material is from fragments of bedrock which have been crushed by machinery and weathered. Dominant rock fragments are acid sandstone and siltstone with small amounts of shale and coal. Slopes range from 0 to 80 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 52 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Fiveblock, Kaymine, Itmann, and Sewell soils and Berks, Buchanan, Gilpin, Guyandotte, Handshoe, Highsplint, Lily, Matewan and Pineville soils. Berks and Matewan soils have cambic horizons and are formed in residuum on undisturbed uplands. Gilpin and Lily soils have argillic horizons and are formed in residuum on undisturbed uplands. Buchanan and Pineville soils have an argillic horizon and are formed in colluvium on undisturbed uplands. Guyandotte soils have an umbric epipedon, a cambic horizon, and are formed in colluvium on undisturbed uplands. Handshoe and Highsplint soils also have a cambic horizon and formed in colluvium on undisturbed uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Cedarcreek soils are well drained. Runoff is slow to medium on bench slopes and rapid to very rapid on outslopes and hillslopes. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Land use emphasis is on reclamation of surface mined land. Vegetation consists of grasses, legumes, black locust, white pine, autumn olive, and other plants commonly used in surface mine reclamation. Some areas are planted to white pine. Some areas have established stands of naturally seeded yellow-poplar, black birch, black locust, and sycamore. Some areas are used for pasture, hay crops, or orchards.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and possibly Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, and Tennessee. The acreage is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Wyoming County, West Virginia, 1984
REMARKS: (1) These soils were formerly mapped as strip mine spoils; Udorthents, sandstone and mudstone, low base, or Udorthents, mudstone and sandstone, low base. (2) Under the West Virginia University proposed classification, these soils would have been classified Typic Udispolents. (3) Lithochromic mottles have inherited their colors from rocks. (4) The 8/00 revision updates this series to 8th edition Keys to Soil Taxonomy standards. The CEC activity class placement is based on sample S75WV-061-002, which averages about 0.50.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to3 inches (A horizon); b. The percentage of any rock type is less than 65 percent of the total rock fragments in the particle-size control section (10 - 40 inches C1, C2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Mineralogy data from West Virginia University indicates that Cedarcreek soils have mixed mineralogy.
MLRA: 125
Revised: 2/88-JWB,BLW,LDS; 8/2000-DHK