LOCATION CHAUTAUQUA              NY

Established Series
Rev. PSP-JWW-WEH
01/2016

CHAUTAUQUA SERIES


The Chautauqua series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils on glaciated uplands. They are nearly level to moderately steep soils formed in till. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1065 mm (42 in), and mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C (48 degrees F).

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aquic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Chautauqua silt loam on a 5 percent slope in a cultivated field at an elevation of 494 meters (1620 ft). (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap -- 0 to 18 cm (0 to 7 in); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (15 to 28 cm [6 to 11 in] thick)

Bw1--18 to 56 cm (7 to 22 in); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bw2--56 to 86 cm (22 to 34 in); brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; all faces of peds are light brownish gray (10YR 6/2); 25 percent rock fragments; common medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) areas of iron depletion in the matrix and common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 41 to 97 cm (16 to 38 in.)

C1--86 to 152 cm (34 to 60 in); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; massive; firm; 30 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.

C2--152 to 183 cm (60 to 72 in); dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very gravelly loam; massive; friable; 45 percent rock fragments; moderately acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Chautauqua County, New York; Town of Carroll; about 100 yards west of Hill Road and 10 yards south of power line along Carroll and Poland town line. USGS Ivory, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 05 minutes, 12.3 seconds N. and Longitude 79 degrees, 05 minutes, 19.4 seconds W., NAD 1983.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 56 to 114 cm (22 to 45 in). Depth to bedrock is greater than 152 cm (60 in). Rock fragments, mainly channers and gravel of siltstone, shale and sandstone, make up 3 to 15 percent of the surface layer, 5 to 30 percent of the subsoil and 15 to 45 percent of the substratum.

The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam or loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, medium or fine granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid, unless limed.

The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 3 to 6 with few to common, fine to medium faint or distinct low and high chroma redoximorphic features at depths of 46 to 61 cm (18 to 24 in). It is silt loam or loam in fine earth fraction with more than 60 percent silt plus very fine sand. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable to firm. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.

The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is silt loam or loam in the fine earth fraction with more than 60 percent silt plus very fine sand. Consistence is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the North Meadow, Pittstown, Pompton, Rainbow, Sutton, Wapping, Wilbraham, and Woodbridge. North Meadow has a loamy mantle of human transported material over till. Pittstown, Rainbow, Wilbraham, and Woodbridge soils all have compact substrata (or horizon). In addition, Wilbraham soils have low chroma iron depletions throughout the B horizon. Pompton soils formed in outwash and have stratified sand and gravel C horizons. Sutton soils contain more sand throughout with less than 65 percent silt plus very fine sand. Also, rock fragments in Sutton soils are dominated by schist, gneiss and granite. Wapping soils have a lithologic discontinuity, having formed in a silty mantle that overlies till.

Ludlow, Montesa, and Watchaug series are in similar families. Ludlow soils have compact substrata (or horizon). Montesa soils formed in alluvium and receive 1778 to 2794 mm (70 to 110 in) of precipitation annually. Watchaug soils have 5YR or redder hues throughout. Langford, Mardin and Schuyler series are similar soils in related families. Langford and Mardin soils contain fragipans. Schuyler soils have fine-loamy particle-size control sections.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chautauqua soils are nearly level to moderately steep soils on till plains, upland hilltops and valley side slopes. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The soils formed in till derived mainly from siltstone, fine grained sandstone and smaller amounts of shale. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 830 to 1320 mm (33 to 52 in.) and mean annual temperature ranges from 6 to 11 degrees C. (42 to 50 degrees F.)

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Chautauqua soils are the moderately well drained member of a drainage sequence which includes the well-drained Chadakoin soils, the somewhat poorly drained Busti soils and the poorly drained Ashville soils. Also associated are finer textured, wetter Fremont soils and finer textured Schuyler and Langford soils. Well drained coarser textured Chenango soils are on adjacent lower-lying outwash terraces.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high. A perched seasonal high water table is at depths of 46 to 61 cm (18 to 24 in) from November to April.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are idle or are farmed at a moderate level of intensity. Cultivated crops such as small grains, corn and hay are grown in support of dairy operations. Woodlots contain sugar maple, white ash, northern red oak, black cherry and other hardwoods.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated Allegheny Plateau of south-western and central New York. MLRAs 139 and 140. The series is moderately extensive.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Albany County, New York, 1985.

REMARKS: Chautauqua had previously been mapped as a coarse-loamy variant of the Schuyler series.

Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 18 cm (7 in) (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 18 to 86 cm (7 to 34 in) (Bw horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for the Chautauqua series can be found at the Cornell University Soils Laboratory Database.


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.