LOCATION SHROUTS KYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Shrouts silty clay loam--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 4 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; many fine roots; neutral, abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--4 to 9 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) silty clay; common fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine angular blocky structure; very firm; common fine roots; few fine pores; thin continuous grayish brown (10YR 5/2) clay films on faces of large prisms and olive (5Y 5/4) clay films on faces of smaller prisms; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 11 inches thick)
Bt2--9 to 18 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silty clay; many medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) mottles; moderate coarse prismatic structure with relic platy shale structure within peds; very firm; common fine roots; few fine pores; thin continuous olive (5Y 5/4) clay films on faces of peds; 10 percent soft shale; moderately alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (7 to 21 inches thick)
C--18 to 30 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) channery silty clay; relic shale structure; very firm; common fine roots; 15 percent soft shale; shale coated with gray (N 5/0); strongly alkaline; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 14 inches thick)
Cr--30 to 50 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) soft clayey shale;streaks of dark gray; strongly alkaline; calcareous.
TYPE LOCATION: Bath County, Kentucky; in a pasture field about 0.55 miles southwest of Polksille, and 500 feet north of U.S. Highway 60. USGS Colfax Quadrangle (LAT 38/08/11N, LONG 83/39/46W).
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The solum thickness ranges from 14 to 40 inches. The depth of a paralithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. The content of chert, dolomite, limestone, mudstone, or shale fragments ranges from 0 to 20 percent in the solum, and from 1 to 35 percent in the C horizons. Reaction of the solum ranges from strongly acid through moderately alkaline, and in the C horizons from neutral to moderately alkaline.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y; value of 3 through 6; and chroma of 1 through 6 but to a depth of 7 inches after mixing has chroma of 4 or more. Texture is silt loam, silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay with channery or gravelly modifiers.
The B horizon has hue of 10YR to 2.5Y, 5Y, 5BG, or 5GY; value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 through 6. Texture is silty clay or clay with channery or gravelly modifiers.
Some pedons have thin AB horizons 4 to 8 inches thick with the same colors of the Bt1 horizon and texture of silty clay loam or silty clay.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y, 5Y, or 5BG, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 6 or it is neutral and has value of 5 to 7. Texture is silty clay or clay with channery modifiers. Some pedons have silty clay loam texture in the lower part of the profile.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Beasley, Bland, Bledsoe, Bonnell, Brashear, Bratton, Briggsville, Brookside, Brushcreek, Bucklick Canneyville, Chrome, Desinda, Donahue, Eden, Edenton, Elba, Eldean, Estate, Faywood, Fredonia, Gunlock, Hagerstown, Heitt, Jessup, Kewaunee, Lamoille, Losantville, Lowell, Markland, Medary, Miamian, Milton, Newnata, Ozaukee, Upshur, Vandalia, Vincent, Woodsfield, and Wynn series. Only the Caneyville, Eden, and Faywood series have sola that range to less than 40 inches thick. Caneyville and Faywood soils have limestone at a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Eden soils have interbedded calcareous shales, siltstone and thin layers of limestone at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Side slopes and narrow ridge crests, with slopes ranging from 2 to 50 percent but most slopes are 12 to 30 percent. The regolith is residuum from alkaline soft clay shales. The mean annual temperature ranges from 53 to 57 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Beasley, Brassfield, Colyer, Lowell, Otway, and Trappist series. Beasley soils have paralithic contact deeper than 40 inches. Brassfield soils have loamy subsoils without argillic horizons. Colyer soils have hard shale at a depth of less than 20 inches, more than 35 percent shale fragments, and are more acid throughout. Lowell soils have sola that are 30 to 60 inches thick and B horizons in hue of 10YR or redder. Otway soils lack argillic horizons and have dark colored A horizons. Trappist soils have brown subsoils and are acid throughout.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is rapid and permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for pasture, some are in forest or reverting to forest. Native forests have oak, elm, hackberry, locust, and hickory as the dominant species, but with redcedar dominant on areas reverting to forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Outer Bluegrass and Knobs regions of Kentucky. Extent is moderate.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bath County, Kentucky, 1960.
REMARKS: Lab data on 3 pedons show a high content of illite. Ref. "Relationship of Ammonium Nitrogen Distribution to Mineralogy in a Hapludalf Soil", University of Kentucky, Soil Sci Soc AM. J., Vol. 43, 1979. The low chroma colors are thought to be related to the gray shale and not to wetness.
Diagnostic horizons and features in the pedon are:
Ochric epipedon, 0 to 4 inches, Ap
Argillic horizon 4 to 18 inches, Bt1, Bt2
Paralithic contact is at 30 inches