LOCATION AMBOY NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Amboy very fine sandy loam - pasture
(Colors refer to moist broken soil.)
Ap--0 to 4 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) very fine sandy loam; moderate medium and fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; medium acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 9 inches thick)
B2--4 to 13 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; many fine pores; medium acid; clear wavy boundary.
(4 to 15 inches thick)
A'2--13 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very fine sandy loam; weak medium platy structure; friable; common fine roots; common fine pores; clean sand grains on faces of peds; medium acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
B'x--21 to 51 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) very fine sandy loam; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy structure in the upper part; firm, brittle; few roots between prisms; faces of prisms coated with pale brown (10YR 6/3) very fine sand in upper part; common fine pores with thin clay linings; medium acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (18 to 40 inches thick)
IIC--51 to 60 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy fine sand; single grain; loose; medium acid grading to slightly acid with depth.
TYPE LOCATION: Oswego County, New York; 500 feet north of Highway 35A midway between its junction with Highway 3 and the Village of Clifford.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 15 to 30 inches. Contrasting coarse textured material is deeper than 40 inches and is absent in some pedons. Rock fragments of mostly gravel range from 0 to 5 percent above 40 inches and 0 to 30 percent below. Mean annual soil temperature ranges from 47 degrees to 52 degrees F.
The Ap horizons have hues of 2.5Y through 7.5YR, values of 3 through 5, and chromas of 1 through 4. They range from silt loam to sandy loam. They have granular structure, are friable or very friable and range from very strongly acid to medium acid, when unlimed. In undisturbed areas, A1 horizons 3 to 5 inches thick replaces the Ap horizon.
The B2 horizons have hues of 2.5Y through 5YR; values of 4 through 6, and chromas of 3 through 6. They are silt loam or very fine sandy loam. They have weak granular or subangular blocky structure, are friable or very friable, and range from very strongly acid to medium acid.
The A'2 horizon has hues of 10YR through 5YR; values of 5 or 6, and chromas of 3 or 4. It is silt loam or very fine sandy loam. It is massive or it has weak granular or platy structure. It is friable or firm, and is very strongly to medium acid.
The Bx horizon has hue of 2.5Y through 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. It is massive or have platy or weak or moderate very coarse prismatic structure. It is firm or very firm and brittle and is very strongly to slightly acid. Bleached sand grains coat prism faces in the upper part. Texture is very fine sandy loam or silt loam.
The C horizons are similar or lighter in color than the Bx horizons. The C horizons are strongly acid to neutral, and pH typically increases with depth. Texture ranges from sand to loamy fine sand in the fine-earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Canaseraga and Williamson series in the same family and the Allard, Hartland, Salmon, and Unadilla series in related families. Canaseraga soils have 10 percent or more coarse fragments in the fragipan. Williamson soils have common distinct or prominent mottles within a depth of 24 inches. Allard, Hartland, Salmon and Unadilla soils lack a fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Amboy soils are nearly level to sloping soils where contrasting permeable material underlies a silty deposit and sloping to steep soils where the silty deposits are thick. Slopes range from 0 to 35 percent in gradient. The soils formed in wind or water-deposited material, associated with glacial deposits, dominated by silt and very fine sand. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 45 degrees to 50 degrees F.; mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 40 inches; and mean frost-free season ranges from 140 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Arkport, Collamer, Colonie, Dunkirk, Wallington and Williamson soils. Arkport and Colonie soils formed in materials with high fine sand content. Collamer and Dunkirk soils have fine-silty particle-size control sections. Wallington and Williamson soils are somewhat poorly and moderately well drained catenary associates.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff ranges from medium to very rapid. Permeability is moderate in the horizons above the fragipan, moderately slow in the fragipan, and rapid in the C horizon.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used for corn, small grains, hay, pasture, and deciduous fruits. Woodlots are dominated by sugar maple with red oak, American beech, black ash, and other northern hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Erie-Ontario Plain, the Mohawk, Hudson, and St. Lawrence Valleys, and locally in valleys of the glaciated Allegheny Plateau of New York. The series is small or moderate in extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Onondaga County, New York, 1934.