LOCATION EDEN KY+AR IL IN OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Eden silty clay loam--on a 15 percent convex north facing upper side slopes in a cultivated field.
(Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 6 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silty clay loam; weak
fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bt--6 to 18 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silty clay;
few fine faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) mottles; strong fine and medium angular blocky structure; firm, sticky and plastic; common fine roots; common thin clay films; few small black concretions;
15 percent weathered shale and siltstone fragments 1/4 inch to 3 inches across and limestone flagstones 3 to 15 inches across;
mildly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 24 inches thick)
BC--18 to 24 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) flaggy
silty clay; common fine faint olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) light
yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) and olive (5Y 5/3) mottles; weak medium angular blocky structure; firm, sticky and plastic; few very fine roots; few small black concretions; 25 percent rock fragments like those of the Bt; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (0
to 16 inches thick)
Cr1--24 to 50 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) slightly weathered interbedded calcareous shale and siltstone with some strata of fractured limestone. (0 to 40 inches thick)
Cr2--50 to 80 inches; interbedded soft gray (N 5/0)
calcareous shales and siltstones and thin-bedded gray hard fossiliferous limestone. The limestone beds, 1/2 inch to 3 inches thick and 6 to 8 inches apart, comprise less than 40 percent of
the total.
TYPE LOCATION: Campbell County, Kentucky; in southwest part,
about 9.5 miles south of Alexandria; 1.75 miles west of Grants
Lick; on west side of Pleasant Ridge Road, about 400 feet north of intersection with Boone Smith Road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum thickness ranges from 14 to
40 inches. The depth of a paralithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Coarse fragments of limestone flagstones, siltstone and shale range from 0 to 25 percent in the A horizons, 10 to 35
percent in the B horizons, and 25 to 75 percent in the C horizons. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately
alkaline in the sola, and mildly alkaline through strongly alkaline in the generally calcareous C horizons.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and
chroma of 2 to 4. The A1 horizon is less than 6 inches thick and
has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 to 5, and chroma of 1 to 4.
The A horizon ranges from silty clay loam through silty clay.
They have weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or subangular blocky structure.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, and 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. In some pedons, the Bt horizon has few or
common olive (5Y 5/3) through strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles.
The BC horizon of most pedons has few to many olive gray (5Y 5/2) through reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) mottles with the 2 chroma
mottles occurring at a depth of 10 inches or more below the top of the Bt horizon. The Bt horizon is silty clay or clay and their flaggy analogues. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium angular
or subangular blocky structure. Some pedons have silty clay loam
BA or BE horizons less than 6 inches thick. The BC horizon of
some pedons has few or common thin clay films.
Some pedons have a C horizon up to 15 inches thick that has hue of 5GY through 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 14 with few
to many mottles in shades of gray, olive, or brown. It is flaggy silty clay or flaggy clay, and their very flaggy or extremely analogues.
COMPETING SERIES: They are
Beasley,
Bland,
Bledsoe,
Bonnell,
Brashear,
Bratton,
Briggsville,
Brookside,
Bucklick,
Caneyville,
Chrome,
Derinda,
Donahue,
Edenton,
Elba,
Eldean,
Estate,
Faywood,
Fredonia,
Gunlock,
Hagerstown,
Heitt,
Jessup,
Kewaunee,
Lewisburg,
Lamoille,
Losantville,
Lowell,
Markland,
Medary,
Miamian,
Milton,
Newnata,
Ozaukee,
Shrouts,
Upshur,
Vandalia,
Vincent,
Woodsfield, and
Wynn series. Beasley, Briggsville, Derinda, Markland, Shrouts and Vincent soils have
sola with less than 10 percent coarse fragments. Bland, Bratton, Caneyville, Chrome, Donahue, Faywood, Fredonia, and Milton soils
have lithic contact at less than 40 inches. In addition, Bratton soils have B horizons with hue of 7.5YR or redder. Bledsoe, Brashear, Brookside, Estate, Gunlock, Hagerstown, Jessup, Lamoille, Newnata,
Switzerland, and Woodsfield soils have sola more than
40 inches thick. Edenton, Milton, and Wynn soils have glacial material in the upper part of the solum. Bonnell, Elba, Heitt, Losantville, Medary, Ozaukee, and Vandalia soils do not have
bedrock within a depth of 40 inches. Eldean soils have stratified sand and gravel at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Bucklick,
Kewaunee, Upshur, and Vincent soils have B horizons with hues 5YR
or redder. Lewisburg soils have compact silt loam or loam C
horizons at 12 or 22 inches. Lowell soils have less than 5 percent coarse fragments in the upper solum and lithic contact at a depth greater than 40 inches. Miamian soils have loam or sandy loam C horizons at 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Eden soils are on hillsides and narrow ridgecrests. Slopes range from 2 to 70 percent, but are
dominantly 20 to 30 percent. The soil formed in residuum of interbedded soft calcareous shales and siltstones, with thin interbedded limestones. Mean annual temperature ranges from 53
to 57 degrees F, and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 40
to 46 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are
Culleoka,
Cynthiana,
Fairmount,
Faywood,
Heitt,
Lowell,
Mercer, and
Nicholson series. Culleoka soils contain less than 35 percent clay. Cynthiana, Fairmount, and Faywood soils are less than 40 inches to hard
bedrock. Heitt soils are more than 40 inches to paralithic
contact. Lowell soils have medium to strongly acid sola more than
30 inches thick. Mercer and Nicholson soils have fragipans and
are strongly acid.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to
rapid and permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for pasture and hay, but some steeply sloping areas have reverted to forest or bushy
pasture. Some ridgetops are used for tobacco, corn, and small grains. Native vegetation was hardwoods, chiefly species of oak, ash, elm, hickory, hackberry, and black walnut, black and honey locust; in places, red cedar. There were many glades of native grasses, sedges, and canes.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Hills of the Bluegrass region of
Kentucky, southern Indiana, and southern Ohio. Extent is large.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Shelby County, Kentucky; 1916.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features in the pedon are:
Ochric epipedon, 0 to 6 inches, Ap
Argillic horizon, 6 to 18 inches, Bt
Paralithic contact at 24 inches.