LOCATION CHENANGO NY NJ OH PA

Established Series
Rev. MGC-ERS-SWF
02/2011

CHENANGO SERIES

The Chenango series consists of very deep, well and somewhat excessively drained soils formed in water-sorted material on outwash plains, kames, eskers, terraces, and alluvial fans. Slope ranges from 0 through 60 percent. Mean annual temperature is 47 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation is 36 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Chenango gravelly silt loam on a 3 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap -- 0 to 8 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) gravelly silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) crushed and dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 20 percent pebbles; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick.)

Bw1 -- 8 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; very weak fine subangular blocky and very weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; common fine pores; 15 percent dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) material filling earthworm channels; 30 percent pebbles; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary.

Bw2 -- 12 to 20 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very gravelly silt loam; very weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine pores; 40 percent pebbles; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 4 to 30 inches.)

BC -- 20 to 30 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly loam; massive; friable; few fine roots; common fine and medium pores; 50 percent pebbles; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 23 inches thick.)

2C -- 30 to 72 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2), grayish brown (10YR 5/2), and brown (10YR 4/3) extremely gravelly loamy coarse sand; upper surface of pebbles have thin caps of dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) loamy material; single grain except massive in caps; loose; few roots in upper part; 10 percent soft dark brown and dark yellowish brown weathered pebbles; strongly acid in the upper part grading to slightly acid with depth.

TYPE LOCATION: Tioga County, New York; 3 miles north of Owego, 100 feet east of road and 120 feet south of farm house. USGS Candor, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 8 minutes, 52 seconds N. and Longitude 76 degrees, 15 minutes, 42 seconds W., NAD 1927.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 24 through 50 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Rock fragments range from pebbles through flagstones. Rock fragment content ranges from 10 through 50 percent in the A horizon, 15 through 60 percent in the B horizon, and 30 through 70 percent in the C horizon. Depth to carbonates as coatings on pebbles is more than 72 inches. The unlimed reaction of the A and B horizon ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid.

The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine earth fraction ranges from sandy loam to silt loam. Structure is weak or moderate granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable or friable.

The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6, with 7.5YR hue restricted to the upper part. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt loam, with an average of less than 50 percent fine and coarser sand. Structure is very weak to moderate subangular blocky or granular, or it is massive. Consistence ranges from very friable through firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid.

The BC horizon, where present, has a hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. The texture is very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine earth fraction and averages less than 50 percent fine sand and coarse sand. Structure is weak or very weak subangular blocky or the material is massive. Consistence ranges from very friable through firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through neutral.

The C or 2C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture of the fine earth fraction is commonly coarse sand through loamy fine sand, but sandy loam, loam, or silt loam may occur. It is massive or single grain. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: The Centralpark (T), Oquaga, and Tunkhannock series are in the same family. The Centralpark series is formed in a mantle of anthrotransported materials. The Oquaga soils lack stratified materials in the lower part of the substratum. Tunkhannock soils have hues of 7.5YR or redder throughout the B horizon.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chenango soils are nearly level to very steep soils on outwash plains, alluvial fans, valley terraces and associated kames, eskers, and fluvial parts or moraines. Slope ranges from 0 through 60 percent. The soils formed in water-sorted gravelly and loamy drift. In some places the soils formed in alluvial deposits. The parent material is derived from gray sandstone, shale, and siltstone and lesser amounts of material from limestone and igneous rocks. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 through 42 inches, mean annual temperature ranges from 45 through 50 degrees F, and the mean annual frost-free season ranges from 130 through 180 days. Elevation ranges from 300 through 1,500 feet above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Atherton, Braceville, Castile and Red Hook are wetter soils in the same drainage sequence. Tioga and Middlebury soils are on nearby flood plains. Allard and Unadilla soils are on nearby silt-mantled terraces. Lordstown, Mardin, and related soils are on adjoining uplands.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well and somewhat excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from negligible to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderate high to high in the mineral solum and high to very high in the substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most lesser sloping areas have been cleared. They are used mainly for growing hay, corn, and small grains, but vegetables and grapes are important locally. More sloping areas are used mainly for growing pasture and hay. Woodlots contain sugar maple, red maple, American beech, ash, eastern hemlock, and eastern white pine in northernmost areas; oak and hickory are more conspicuous in the southern part of the series range.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and southern New York, northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and northeastern Ohio. MLRA 101,127,139, 140, 144A, 147, and 148. The series is extensive.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Reconnaissance Survey of Northern Pennsylvania, 1909.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon are:
1) Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2) Cambic horizon - from 8 to 30 inches (Bw and BC horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available for: 2 pedons from Tioga County, New York (S54NY-54-6 and S58NY-12-1); and 2 pedons from Pike County, Pennsylvania (S64PA-52-5 and S64PA-52-10).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.