LOCATION CODORUS PA+DE MD NC VA
Established Series
Rev. MS-JDC-MJ
03/2019
CODORUS SERIES
The Codorus series consists of very deep, moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained soils. These soils formed in recently deposited alluvial materials derived from upland soils materials weathered from mostly metamorphic and crystalline rocks. They are on floodplains with smooth, nearly level slopes of 0 to 3 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high. Mean annual precipitation is 42 inches, and mean annual temperature is 52 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Fluvaquentic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Codorus silt loam, 0 to 3 percent northwest facing slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 9 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; 5 percent subrounded gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick)
Bw1--9 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; 5 percent subrounded gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bw2--18 to 30 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of reduced iron and common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron; many mica flakes; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (9 to 20 inches thick)
C1--30 to 54 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam; massive; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of reduced iron and common medium distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) masses of oxidized iron; many mica flakes; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
C2--54 to 65 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loam, stratified with sand and gravel; massive; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; 40 percent subrounded gravel in individual strata; common faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of oxidized iron; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Lower Merion Township, 1-1/2 miles northeast on Roberts Road from intersection with Route 30, 250 feet north of road in cultivated field along Mill Creek.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 30 to 60 inches. Depth to sand and stratified material is more than 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 6 feet. Content of water rounded gravel ranges from 0 to 15 percent in the solum, 0 to 25 percent in the C horizon above 40 inches and 0 to 70 percent in the C horizon below 40 inches. Mica flakes may be evident throughout the soil but quantities generally increase in the lower part of the solum and C horizon. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid in the upper part of the solum and from strongly acid through slightly acid in the lower part of the solum and in the C horizon, unless limed.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 6. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Textures are loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. Redox depletions with chroma of 2 or less are within a depth of 24 inches. Some pedons have a Bg horizon with chromas of 1 or 2 occurring in the lower part of the solum.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 4, or is neutral. Fine-earth textures are loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. The C horizon of some pedons has layers of stratified sand and gravel below 40 inches.
COMPETING SERIES:
Arkaqua soils are in the same family. They are limited to somewhat poorly drained, can have hues more yellow than 10YR in the solum and are formed in loamy alluvial sediments washed largely from soils formed in residuum from granite, gneiss, schist, phyllite, and other metamorphic and crystalline rocks on nearly level flood plains along creeks and rivers in the Appalachian, Blue
Ridge, and Great Smoky Mountains.
Chewacla,
Congaree,
Cartecay,
Enoree,
French,
Philo,
Rowland and
Suches soils are in related families. Chewacla and Congaree soils have mean annual soil temperature warmer than 59 degrees F. Cartecay and Enoree soils have less than 18 percent clay in the control section. French soils have stratified sand and gravel that contain more than 35 percent by volume rock fragments ranging from 20 to 40 inches. Philo soils have a coarse-loamy particle-size control section. Rowland soils have cation-exchange activity classes superactive. Suches soils are semiactive, well or moderately well drained and located in the Blue
Ridge Province.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Codorus soils are on nearly level slopes of floodplains. Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent. They formed in alluvial materials containing medium to large quantities of mica derived from schist, gneiss, phyllite and other metamorphic rocks. The climate is humid and temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 38 to 46 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 54 to 57 degrees F. The growing season ranges from 140 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Baile,
Brandywine,
Brecknock,
Chester,
Clymer,
Edgemont,
Gaila,
Glenelg,
Glenville,
Manor, Mount
Alto,
Mt. Airy and
Neshaminy soils are on adjacent uplands.
Comus,
Hatboro and
Maggodee soils are on nearby floodplains. Brandywine, Brecknock, Chester, Clymer, Edgemont, Gaila, Glenelg, Manor, Mount Airy, Neshaminy and Comus soils are all well drained. Glenville soils have a fragipan. Hatboro and Baile soils are poorly drained. Maggodee soils are coarse loamy and have an Oxyaquic subgroup.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained. Runoff is low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high above 40 inches and moderately high to high below 40 inches.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 75 percent of the Codorus soils are cultivated or in pasture. About 20 percent are wooded, mostly mixed hardwoods, and 5 percent are in non-agricultural uses.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Piedmont of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of small extent.
SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (SSRO) RESPONSIBLE: RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
SERIES ESTABLISHED: York County, Pennsylvania, 1912.
REMARKS: The 2/99 revision updates classification to 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy. This is placed in the active CEC activity family based on comparison with similar soils. Prior revision MAV 01/2006; 2007,2008 revision Pedon description updated as well as competing series list.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 9 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 9 to 30 inches (Bw horizon).
c. Fluvaquentic feature - the organic carbon decreases irregularly with depth and the soil has redox depletions of chroma 2 or less within 24 inches of the surface.
SIR- PA0015
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.