6 SOILS OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER TERRACE. 



The surface configuration of the Shenandoah terrace as developed 

 within the limits of the Albemarle area, from the vicinity of Lipscomb, 

 in Augusta County, to the vicinity of Shenandoah, in Page County, is 

 dominantly flat to undulating l and well suited to tillage operations. 

 A panoramic view of the valley shows the surface of this terrace as a 

 flat to gently undulating plain with a very gradual rise toward the 

 foot of the Blue Ridge on the east. 



The width of this terrace varies from very narrow at Basic City to 

 about 4 miles at Port Republic, and about 6 miles across the valley 

 between Elkton and Shenandoah, where the terrace is developed on 

 both sides of the river, or from the foot of Massanutten Mountain on 



FIG. 2. Showing general level of terrace to the southwest of Lyndburst. 



the west to the foot of the Blue Ridge on the east. 2 The average width 

 of the terrace, including that on the west side of the Shenandoah 

 River in Rockingham County, is between 2 and 3 miles throughout 

 its approximate length of 50 miles. Roughly estimated b}~ this pre- 

 liminary revision, about 90,000 acres is included in the terrace soils. 



This terrace formation extends along South River in a southwest- 

 erly direction beyond the limits of the Albemarle area, and similarly 

 along the Shenandoah River northeasterly from Shenandoah. Some 

 bottom lands and a few small areas of limestone soil occur within the 



1 See topographic sheets. 



2 That portion of the terrace occupying the west side of the Shenandoah River from the vicinity of Port 

 Republic to Shenandoah was mostly mapped as Hagerstown shale loam in the Albemarle area. 



