Soil Survey of Murray and Whitfield Counties, Georgia

4 Soil Survey
Junaluska, Pigeonroost, and Tsali. Additional soils on the more moderate to gentle
slopes include Craigsville, Shelocta, and Suches.
Parent material that formed the soils of the Valley and Ridge portion of Murray and
Whitfield Counties was derived from the weathering of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks
laid down between Early Cambrian and Pennsylvanian age. These geologic formations
were originally flat until compressional forces from the southeast formed them into
faulted folds. Erosion of the folded and faulted rocks produced a varied outcrop pattern
with alternating ridges and valleys.
Taylor Ridge and Rocky Face Mountain represent prominent ridges surrounding the
Chickamauga and Mill Creek Valleys of western Whitfield County. These ridges
comprise the Red Mountain Formation, which consists essentially of sandstone and
shale and small amounts of fossil iron ore and limestone. Soils range from shallow to
very deep on the ridges and on steeper slopes, and they often have extensive gravel.
Stony soils or stony surface soils, such as Tidings, Allen, Enders, Hector, Holston,
Montevallo, Nauvoo, Nella, and Townley, normally occur on the landscapes.
The Rome Formation, which is of early Cambrian age, crops out on the lower
elevations along the eastern edge of Taylor Ridge in Whitfield County. This formation
consists almost entirely of sandstone, siltstone, and claystone. Weathering produces
variable colors from red to brown to green for shaley soils from claystone and siltstone,
while weathered sandstone varies from green to white. Albertville, Conasauga,
Enders, Montevallo, and Townley soils are common to the ridges and lower slopes of
this formation.
The Bays Formation, which is of Ordovician age, consists of red and yellow soils
derived from weathered sandstone, siltstone, quartzite, and minor conglomerate. This
formation occupies much of Mill Creek Valley, which is west of Dalton, underlies
Hamilton Mountain, and outcrops under much of downtown Dalton. Soils common to
these parent materials include Enders, Nauvoo, and Panama.
The Conasauga Formation, which is of Cambrian age, is very extensive in Murray
and Whitfield Counties. It provides most of the parent materials east of Dalton in
Whitfield County and most of western Murray County. The Conasauga Formation
consists of alternating units of shale and limestone of varying thickness and is
generally divided into three main units.
The lower unit consists of olive green, tan, and pale red sandy and silty shale that
has siltstone and limestone lenses. This unit is common in southern Murray County. It
occupies much of the Holly Creek drainage basin and occurs in a north to south belt
east of Dalton.
The middle unit consists of light green and yellow clay shale that contains layers
and lenses of limestone. This unit begins in Gordon County and extends northward
through east Dalton and forms the Conasauga River Valley, which is north of the
Dalton airport. Typical topography consists of shale ridges and limestone valleys.
The Maynardville Limestone is the upper unit of the Conasauga Formation. It forms
the contact between the more extensive Conasauga units and the surrounding
formations, such as the Knox group. Conasauga, Docena, Montevallo, and Townley
soils are typical of Conasauga parent materials where limestone and shale are the
dominant bedrock.
The Knox group, which is of late Cambrian and early Ordovician age, forms
extensive north to south ridges in both Murray and Whitfield Counties. This formation is
highly siliceous and has extensive bedded and nodular chert residue in a clay matrix.
Chert fragments litter the soil surface. Soils of the Knox group include Bodine,
Fullerton, Minvale, Sequatchie, and Waynesboro.
To a lesser extent, other formations crop out within these counties. These
formations consist of shales, limestone, and sandstone and form the parent materials
for soils similar to those identified in the more extensive outcrop areas.