Soil of the Appalachian Plateau

Soils are mainly Ultisols (Hapludults, Fragiudults, and Ochraquults) and Inceptisols (chiefly Dystrochrepts). However, the northwestern part of the province has extensive Alfisols(Hapludalfs and Fragiudalfs) due to lower mean annual precipitation (Buol, 1973). At the higher elevations, on stable upland surfaces, limited areas of Spodosols have developed, especially over quartz-sandstone parent materials that support coniferous forest covers.