LOCATION WELLSTON OH+IL IN KY PA TN WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Wellston silt loam - on a 7 percent convex slope about 100 feet from ridgetop at an elevation 870 feet on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. (Colors are for moist soil.)
A--0 to 2 inches; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 5 inches thick)
E--2 to 7 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; friable many fine roots; many fine to coarse pores; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick except in cultivated areas is 0 to 3 inches)
BE--7 to 10 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; many fine to medium pores; few faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay films; many distinct brown (10YR 5/3) silt coats on vertical faces of peds; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick)
Bt1--10 to 15 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; few coarse pores; many faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--15 to 21 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; few coarse pores; thin continuous brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bt3--21 to 25 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medum subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; few fine pores; common faint brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on faces of peds; 3 percent sandstone channers; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 8 to 30 inches.)
2BC--25 to 36 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) channery loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; few distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay films on faces of peds; few distinct gray (10YR 5/1) silt coats on faces of peds in lower part; 20 percent sandstone and siltstone channers; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
2C--36 to 45 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) extremely channery loam; many medium light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) mottles or variegations; massive; firm; few roots; few fine pores; 80 percent siltstone channers increasing to 90 percent in the lower part; strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 24 inches thick)
2R--45 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) acid fine-grained sandstone; fractured in the upper part to a depth of about 52 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) loam in cracks.
TYPE LOCATION: Washington County, Ohio; Watertown Township; 0.85 mile south of State Highway 676 on County Road 2; 100 feet north of junction of road and field lane in the SE1/4SE1/4SW1/4, section 8, T. 4 N., R. 10 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 32 to 55 inches. Depth to a lithic or paralithic contact ranges from 40 to 72 inches. Content of rock fragments, mainly thin flat fragments of siltstone or fine grained sandstone but rounded in some pedons, ranges from none to 15 percent in A, E, and upper Bt horizons, from none to 60 percent in subhorizons of the 2Bt and 2BC horizons, and from 0 to 90 percent in subhorizons in the 2C horizon.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an Ap horizon that has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3, except eroded areas range to chroma of 4 or 6. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. The Ap or A horizon is moderately acid to extremely acid where unlimed.
In some cultivated pedons the E horizon is mixed in the Ap horizon. The E horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is moderately acid to extremely acid.
Some pedons have a B/E horizon. The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 8. It is silty clay loam or silt loam. It is medium acid to extremely acid. Some pedons have a 2Bt horizon and others have low chroma mottles below a depth of 36 inches. The 2BC horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or loam, or their channery, very channery, gravelly, or very gravelly analogues. It is moderately acid to very strongly acid.
The 2C horizons have hues of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, values of 4 or 5, and chromas of 3 through 6. They are gravelly or channery to extremely gravelly or extremely channery loam, silt loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, or sandy loam. It is medium acid to very strongly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Cidermill, Eilertsen, Elk, Elkinsville, Gallipolis, Parke, Pike, Rosine, Stonehead, and Veronica in the same family and Gilpin, Rayne, Westmore, Westmoreland, and Whitley in related families. Cidermill soils are strafified in the underlying material and contain waterworn gravel. Eilersten and Veronica soils have a different climate. Elk, Elkinsville and Gallipolis soils lack rock fragments or have rounded waterworn fragments in the lower B and C horizons. Parke soils have hues redder than 7.5YR in the B horizon and lack material weathered from sandstones, siltstones, or shales in the lower solum. Pike soils have solums of more than 60 inches and lack rock fragments within 40 inches. Rosine and Stonehead soils have more than 35 percent clay in the lower part of the solum. Gilpin, Rayne, and Whitley soils have lower base saturation. Westmore soils are less acid with base saturation above 60 percent in the lower part of the solum and have clayey textures in the lower 2B and 2C horizons. Westmoreland soils are fine-loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wellston soils are on nearly level to steep uplands in areas of acid sandstone, siltstone, or shale bedrock; but are most common on ridgetops. The soils formed in loess or siltstone, or siltstone and sandstone, or a combination of these materials to depths of up to 40 inches. The underlying bedrock is dominantly acid siltstone or sandstone with strata of shale in places. Slopes range from 0 to 50 percent but are dominantly 4 to 18 percent. Mean annual precipitation is 35 to 45 inches. Mean annual temperature is 50 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Berks, Dekalb, Gilpin, Muskingum, Neotoma, and Zanesville soils. Berks, Dekalb, and Muskingum soils lack argillic horions and generally have thinner solums. They typically are on upper shoulders on backslopes. Neotoma soils are loamy-skeletal and are on north-facing slopes in coves. Zanesville soils have a fragipan and are on similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Nearly half of the area is cultivated and used for row crops, grain crops, and hay. Sizable proportions are used for pasture and for woodland. Native vegetation consisted of oak, hickory, dogwood, tulip poplar, shortleaf pine, and cherry.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern and eastern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The series is of large extent, about 900,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Athens County, Ohio, 1932.
REMARKS: Large areas previously classed as Wellston, where the content of coarse fragments is high, are now classed as Westmoreland and areas with lower base saturation are classed as Whitley.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of about 7 inches (A, E horizons); argillic horizon - the zone from a depth of about 10 to 25 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 horizons).