LOCATION POMPTON NJ+MA NY PA

Established Series
Rev. CFE-RAS-AWD
01/2013

POMPTON SERIES

The Pompton series consists of very deep, moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained soils formed in water-sorted sediments. They are on outwash plains, relict beaches, and terraces in waterways and low positions. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the solum and high or very high in the substratum. Mean annual temperature is about 11 degrees Celsius and mean annual precipitation is about 1270 millimeters.

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

TYPICAL PEDON: Pompton very fine sandy loam - idle field. (Colors are for moist soils.)

Ap--0 to 18 centimeters, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) very fine sandy loam; moderate medium granular structure; very friable; many roots; common fine pores; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (15 to 25 centimeters thick)

Bw1--18 to 43 centimeters, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; common fine pores; many clean grains; common fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bw2--43 to 63 centimeters, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam, weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; common fine pores; many clean grains; common fine prominent distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common fine distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) iron depletions; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons 18 to 86 centimeters)

BC--63 to 86 centimeters, yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and olive gray (5Y 5/2) gravelly sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; few roots; 30 percent pebbles with few cobbles; common fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 38 centimeters thick)

2C--86 to 122 centimeters, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) stratified very gravelly loamy sand; single grain; loose; 45 percent pebbles and cobblestones; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (15 to 46 centimeters thick)

3C--122 to 183 centimeters, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) stratified sand and gravel; single grain; loose; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Passaic County, New Jersey, Township of West Milford; in idle field at a point 520 feet northeast of intersection of Cross Road and New Jersey State Route 23. USGS Newfoundland quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees, 3 minutes, 14 seconds N, longitude 74 degrees, 26 minutes, 38 seconds W., NAD 27.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 60 to 100 centimeters. Rock fragments range from 0 to 35 percent through the solum and from 0 to 75 percent in individual horizons in the C horizon. The particle-size control section averages less than 35 percent coarse fragments. Rounded pebbles are dominant but angular pebbles and rounded or angular cobblestones and stones also occur. Rock fragments are primarily composed of granitic gneiss with lesser amounts of sandstone, shale and quartzite. Mineralogy is dominated by quartz, feldspars, and micas, with lesser amounts of dark opaque minerals. Depth to low chroma iron depletions ranges from 40 to 60 centimeters. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout unless limed.

The A horizons have hues of 7.5YR or 10YR, values of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. They are sandy loam to silt loam and gravelly analogues. They have weak to moderate fine or medium granular structure and are friable to very friable. Uncultivated areas have A horizons commonly 2 to 12 centimeters thick but the range includes up to 18 centimeters in some places.

A BA horizon up to 15 centimeters thick is present in some pedons.

The B horizons have hues of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, values of 4 to 6 and chroma of 3 to 6. Some pedons have chroma 2 in the lower part of the B. They have yellowish red (5YR 5/6) to yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) and gray (10YR 6/1) to olive (5Y 4/3) redoximorphic features. The BA and Bw horizons are fine sandy loam, sandy loam or gravelly or cobbly analogues and the BC horizons are sandy loam, loamy sand or gravelly or cobbly analogues. The B horizons have fine or medium subangular blocky to moderate subangular blocky or granular structure. They are friable to very friable.

The C horizons have hues of 7.5YR to 5Y, values of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 6. They are stratified and texture ranges from sand to sandy loam or gravelly and cobbly analogues. The transition zone between contrasting textures is more than 12 centimeters thick.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chautauqua, Pittstown, Rainbow, Sutton, Wapping, Wilbraham, and Woodbridge series. Chautauqua and Wapping soils have more than 60 percent silt plus very fine sand in the subsoil. Pittstown, Rainbow, Wilbraham, and Woodbridge soils have a densic contact. Sutton soils do not have a lithologic discontinuity.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Pompton soils are nearly level to sloping soils on broad outwash plains, relict beaches, deltaic deposits, and in slightly concave drainageways that dissect outwash terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent, but are commonly 0 to 5 percent. The soils developed in water sorted sandy and gravelly materials dominated by granitic gneiss with lesser amounts of many other kinds of materials. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 100 to 125 centimeters. Mean annual temperature ranges from 7 to 10 degrees Celsius. The frost-free days range from 140 to 160 days.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Boonton, Haledon, Horseneck, Preakness, Red Hook, Riverhead, and Rockaway soils on nearby landscapes. The well drained Riverhead soils, moderately well drained Horseneck soils with a water table typically at about 56 centimeters, somewhat poorly drained Red Hook, and the poorly drained Preakness soils form a typical drainage topo-sequence. Boonton, Haledon and Rockaway soils are on uplands.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the solum and high or very high in the substratum. Surface runoff is very low or low. The ground water table is within 30 centimeters of the surface in the late winter and early spring and following periods of extended rainfall.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are wooded or in idle fields and used for residential or industrial development sites. Native vegetation is largely in woodland dominated by birch, oak, and ash with some hemlock.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; MLRA's 101, 139, 140, 144A, and 149B. The series is of moderate extent with approximately 20,000 acres.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Morris County, New Jersey, 1971.

REMARKS: Cation exchange activity class was determined from a review of available data and/or similar soils.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:

1. Cambic horizon - from 18 to 86 centimeters (Bw1, Bw2, and BC horizons).
2. Aquic feature - low chroma iron depletions from 43 to 64 centimeters (Bw2 horizon).

Use of Pompton in MLRA's 101 and 139 should be evaluated, as coarse fragments in those pedons are clearly dominated by sandstone and shale rather than granitics.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.