Soil Series Atlas

Monongahela soil series

Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiudults

050100150cm1 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft5 ftApTopsoil · plowed0–18 cm · 0–7 inBASubsoil grading from topsoil18–30 cm · 7–12 inBtSubsoil · clay build-up30–56 cm · 12–22 inBtx1Subsoil · clay build-up, fragipan: denseand brittle56–79 cm · 22–31 inBtx2Subsoil · clay build-up, fragipan: denseand brittle79–107 cm · 31–42 inBtx3Subsoil · clay build-up, fragipan: denseand brittle107–132 cm · 42–52 inCParent material132–165 cm · 52–65 in050100150cmApTopsoil · plowed0–18 cm · 0–7 inBASubsoil grading fromtopsoil18–30 cm · 7–12 inBtSubsoil · clay build-up30–56 cm · 12–22 inBtx1Subsoil · claybuild-up, fragipan:dense and brittle56–79 cm · 22–31 inBtx2Subsoil · claybuild-up, fragipan:dense and brittle79–107 cm · 31–42 inBtx3Subsoil · claybuild-up, fragipan:dense and brittle107–132 cm · 42–52 inCParent material132–165 cm · 52–65 in
Typical pedon, to scale: 165 cm (65 in), 7 horizons.

Ultisols — strongly weathered, leached soils with a clay-enriched subsoil

Nationally Monongahela is a small series: 273,871 acres, 1,256th of 24,791 by area. Besides it, only Dickson belongs to the great group Fragiudults in this atlas. It was first described in West Virginia, which holds 28% of its acres today. It is the state soil of West Virginia.

Drainage
Moderately well drained

Compare with another seriesSimilar series in the finder

Where Monongahela is mapped

273,871 acres in 108 soil survey areas, from current SSURGO data.

Alabama: 21,889 acresArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvania: 88,784 acresSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest Virginia: 77,779 acresIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentucky: 12,717 acresMaryland: 7,727 acresMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhio: 8,424 acresOregonTennessee: 24,470 acresUtahVirginia: 32,080 acresWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode Island

Share of all Monongahela acres

  1. Pennsylvania32%
  2. West Virginia28%
  3. Virginia12%
  4. Tennessee9%
  5. Alabama8%
  6. Kentucky5%
  7. Ohio3%
  8. Maryland3%

In the field

Drainage

Moderately well drained

Drains fastStays wet
Parent material
Alluvium, sandstone, shale
Landform
Terraces
Type location
West Virginia

How it is classified

  1. OrderUltisols
  2. SuborderUdults
  3. Great groupFragiudults
  4. SubgroupTypic Fragiudults
  5. FamilyFine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiudultsfine-loamy particle-size classmixed mineralogy classsemiactive cation-exchange activity classmesic soil temperature regime

Against other Ultisols

Monongahela makes up 0.14% of all mapped Ultisols — the 165th largest of 1,278 series in the order.

Solum thickness (topsoil + subsoil)

132 cm under a median of 142 cm

Depth to the subsoil

18 cm under a median of 23 cm

Depth described

165 cm under a median of 178 cm

Its relatives

4 other established series share the family “Fine-loamy, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Fragiudults”

  1. Monongahela274 k
  2. Hanover143 k
  3. Beltsville143 k
  4. Annandale37 k
  5. York1 k

Close relatives, at one scale

  1. Monongahela165 cm · Typic Fragiudults
  2. Dickson206 cm · Glossic Fragiudults

Horizon by horizon

HorizonLayerDepthThickness
ApTopsoil: plowed0–18 cm0–7 in18 cm
BASubsoil grading from topsoil18–30 cm7–12 in12 cm
BtSubsoil: clay build-up30–56 cm12–22 in26 cm
Btx1Subsoil: clay build-up, fragipan: dense and brittle56–79 cm22–31 in23 cm
Btx2Subsoil: clay build-up, fragipan: dense and brittle79–107 cm31–42 in28 cm
Btx3Subsoil: clay build-up, fragipan: dense and brittle107–132 cm42–52 in25 cm
CParent material132–165 cm52–65 in33 cm

Sources: USDA–NRCS Official Series Description (revised 2014-11), Soil Classification database and SSURGO. Ranks computed by Soil Series Atlas. Method · Guides