LOCATION ALLEGHENY KY+AR MD OH PA TN VA WV

Established Series
Rev. BW-JMR
04/2001

ALLEGHENY SERIES

The Allegheny series consists of very deep, well-drained, moderately permeable soils on stream terraces, foot slopes, and fans. They formed in alluvium of colluvium. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. The average annual precipitation is about 45 inches, and the average annual temperature is about 52 degrees F.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludults

TYPICAL PEDON: Allegheny loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes, in cultivation. (Colors are for moist soil.)

Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure parting to weak fine granular; very friable; many fine and medium roots; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)

Bt1--8 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; 20 percent tonguing and coatings of surface material; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine roots; common fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt2--15 to 28 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.

Bt3--28 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; few medium district brown (10YR 5/3) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; common faint brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt4--33 to 42 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; few medium faint brown and few medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films on faces of peds; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (thickness of the Bt horizon ranges from 20 to 50 inches)

BC1--42 to 55 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; common strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) streaks; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films and silt coatings on faces of peds; 15 to 30 percent brittleness; common dark concretions; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

BC2--55 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky; firm; few fine roots; few fine tubular pores; few faint clay films and silt coatings on faces of peds; 20 to 40 percent brittleness; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (thickness of the BC horizon range from 0 to 40 inches)

C--72 to 89 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; few fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) and few fine faint yellowish brown mottles; massive; firm; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION:Johnson County, Kentucky; about 0.5 mile north of the River, Kentucky, post office on Kentucky 581, 500 feet east of the Jenny Wiley gravesite, offutt Quadrangle.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 30 to 72 inches or more. Depth to bedrock ranges from 60 to 120 inches or more. Content of pebbles range from 0 to 15 percent in the A horizon from 0 to 30 percent in the Bt horizons and from 0 to 35 percent in the BC and C horizons above any lithologic discontinuity. The soil ranges from strongly acid to extremely acid, unless limed.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. It is loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam, and has weak or moderate very fine through medium granular or subangular blocky structure. Some pedons have A horizons less than 6 inches thick with colors like the Ap horizon, but also include value of 3 and chroma of 1 to 3.

Some pedons have BA or BE horizons that range from sandy loam to silt loam. It has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8.

The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 8. It is clay loam, sandy clay loam, loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam, and silty clay loam with more than 15 percent sand coarser than very fine sand, and has weak or moderate, very fine through coarse, subangular or angular blocky structure. Some pedons have mottles in shades of brown, red, or yellow, and below the upper 24 inches of the argillic horizon, shades of gray or olive.

The BC horizon, where present, is mottled in shades of brown, red, or yellow and is fine sandy loam, loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or the gravelly analogues. Some pedons have a 2B or 2C horizon below a depth of 40 inches with 30 to 80 percent gravel and in some areas, it has stratified layers ranging from sand through loam.

The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8, mottled in shades of brown, gray, yellow, or olive. Texture like the BC horizon is fine sandy loam, loam, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or the gravelly analogues.

COMPETING SERIES: These are Albemarle, Allenwood, Arcola, Arendtsville, Aura, Bedington, Birdsboro, Bucks, Butano, Chester, Chetwynd, Chilmark, Clymer, Collington, Edgemont, Edneyville, Elsinboro, Eubanks, Fairfax, Frankstown, Freehold, Gilpin, Glenelg, Leck Kill, Matapeake, Manassas, Meadowville, Murrill, Nixon, Pineville, Quakertown, Rayne, Shelocta, Shouns, Syenite, Tate, Thurmont, Ungers, and Whiteford series in the same family. Albemarle, Clymer, Edgemont, Pineville, Quakertown, Rayne, Shelocta, and Tate soils lack water-worn coarse fragments. Allenwood, Arendtsville, Aura, Bedington, Birdsboro, Butano, Chetwynd, Eubanks, Fairfax, Leck Kill, Manassas, Shouns, Ungers, and Whiteford soils have hues of 5YR or redder either throughout or in some subhorizon of the B2 horizon. Arcola soils have weathered from Triassic and Jurassic red beds. Bucks soils have a significant increase in shale fragments in the lower part of the series control section.

Chester, Chilmark, Edneyville, Glenelg, and Thurmont soils have coarse fragments dominated by either quartz, quartzite, granite, gneiss, or schist. Collington and Freehold soils have moderate amounts of glauconite. Murrill soils have, within the series control section, a lithologic discontinuity below which there is a significant decrease in coarse fragments. Elsinboro soils have many flakes in the lower part of the series control section. Frankstown soils have coarse fragments dominated by leached siliceous limestone or chert. Gilpin and Syenite soils have bedrock at depths of less than 40 inches. Matapeake soils are underlain by sandy coastal plain sediments. Meadowville soils have, within the series control section, a lithologic discontinuity below which there is a significant increase in sand content. Nixon soils have coarse fragments which about 70 percent are cobblestones.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Allegheny soils are on stream terraces, foot slopes, and alluvial fans with slopes 0 to 20 percent in gradient. These soils formed in old loamy alluvium derived largely from acid sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Near the type location average annual temperature is 52 degrees F. and average annual precipitation is 45 inches.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the competing Clymer and Shelocta series and Barbourville, Buchanan, Jefferson, Laidig, Monongahela, Pope, Rigley, Stendal, Tyler, and Whitley series. Barbourville soils have dark A horizons 10 to 20 inches thick and lack argillic horizons. Buchanan, Laidig, Monongahela, and Tyler soils have fragipans. Jefferson soils have siliceous mineralogy. Rigley soils have less than 18 percent clay in the B horizons. Pope and Stendal soils are on flood plains and lack argillic horizons. Whitley soils have more silt and less sand.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained, with slow to medium runoff and moderate permeability.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are in cultivated crops or pasture; a few areas are in forest. Major crops are corn, tobacco, small grains, hay, vegetables, and fruit. Native vegetation is mostly hardwoods such as oaks, hickory, yellow-poplar, maples, elm, beech, white pine, and hemlock.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The Eastern Mountains, Bluegrass, and Knobs Regions of Kentucky and similar areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio, possibly Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. Extent is moderate.

MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Lexington, Kentucky

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 1948.

REMARKS: The Allegheny series has been correlated in Johnson County, Kentucky, and the Typical pedon has been relocated. The diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:

Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap). Argillic horizon - the zone from 8 to 72 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3, Bt4, BC1, & BC2)

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data: S89KY-115-4 by the University of Kentucky.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.