LOCATION REMSEN NY+OH
Established Series
Rev. WEH-ERS-PSP
06/2011
REMSEN SERIES
The Remsen series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in clayey till. These soils are in moderately low areas on till plains. Permeability is moderate in the surface layer and very slow in the subsoil and substratum. Slope ranges from 0 to 40 percent. Mean annual temperature is 50 degrees F., and mean annual precipitation is 36 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Aeric Endoaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Remsen silty clay loam on a 3 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap -- 0 to 7 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam; weak medium and fine granular structure; friable, plastic, sticky; many fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 11 inches thick.)
E -- 7 to 9 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) broken, light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) crushed, silty clay loam; moderate medium blocky structure parting to weak thin platy; firm, sticky, plastic; common fine roots; many (50 percent) medium and fine prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) and distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron oxides; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick.)
Bt -- 9 to 12 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silty clay; strong coarse prismatic structure parting to strong medium blocky; firm, plastic, sticky; roots penetrate peds; few fine pores with clay lining; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) E horizon like material on some vertical ped faces; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay films on some horizontal ped faces; 5 percent fine rock fragments; many (50 percent) fine and medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) concentrations of iron oxides in ped interiors; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btg1 -- 12 to 20 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay; moderate and weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium blocky; firm, very plastic, sticky; few fine roots; common very fine pores with clay linings; discontinuous clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; 5 percent fine rock fragments; common medium and fine distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) concentrations of iron oxides in ped interiors; slightly acid; diffuse wavy boundaries.
Btg2 -- 20 to 30 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay; moderate medium and coarse blocky structure; firm, very plastic, sticky; common fine pores with dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay linings; discontinuous dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) to dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; common medium and fine distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) concentrations of iron oxides in ped interiors, common fine faint dark gray (5Y 4/1) linear areas of iron depletions in the interiors of peds; 10 percent fine rock fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt and/or Btg horizon is 12 to 26 inches.)
BC -- 30 to 36 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay; weak coarse blocky structure; firm, very plastic, sticky; discontinuous dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay films and patches of light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of carbonates on faces of peds; few light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) to grayish brown (10YR 5/2) soft carbonate nodules; common fine distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) concentrations of iron oxides and faint dark gray (5Y 4/1) linear areas of iron depletions in the interior of peds; 10 percent soft fine rock fragments; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary. (3 to 8 inches thick.)
C -- 36 to 72 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay; massive, weak horizontal cleavage associated with shale fragments deposition; firm; common fine pores; 10 percent soft rock fragments; common medium distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) concentrations of iron oxides, and many fine faint dark gray (5Y 4/1) threadlike areas of iron depletions; strongly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Erie County, New York; town of Alden, 1 mile south of the village of Alden on N.Y. Route 239. USGS Corfu, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 53 minutes, 8 seconds N. and Longitude 78 degrees, 29 minutes, 48 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 20 to 48 inches. Depth to shale bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to carbonates range from 24 to 48 inches. Rock fragments, dominantly soft fine shale, range from 5 to 20 percent by volume in the upper 10 inches of the Bt or to 40 inches and 0 to 30 percent in the substratum with up to 5 percent greater than 3 inches. Unless limed, soil reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly acid in the Ap horizon, moderately acid through slightly alkaline in the Bt horizons, and slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline in the C horizon.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of l0YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of l or 2. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam or silty clay loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or firm.
The E horizon, were present, has hue of l0YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 4 and has redoximorphic features. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam or silty clay loam. Structure is moderate fine or medium subangular blocky or is weak or moderate platy. Consistence is friable or firm .
The Bt or Btg horizon has hue of l0YR through 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 6 and has redoximorphic features. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silty clay or clay, but may be silty clay loam in thin subhorizons with weighted clay content between 45 and 60 percent. Structure is moderate or strong, medium or coarse angular or subangular blocky, or it is prismatic that parts to blocky.
The BC horizon has texture and color ranges similar to the Bt horizon, but it contains free carbonates.
The C horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silty clay or clay, but may be silty clay loam in thin subhorizons with weighted clay content between 45 and 60 percent. It has thin to thick plate-like divisions, or it is massive. Consistence is firm or very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Brockport,
Caneadea,
Churchville,
Lockport,
Odessa, and
Rhinebeck series are in the same family. Brockport and Lockport soils have bedrock within depths of 40 inches. Churchville soils have a lithologic discontinuity and 10 to 35 percent rock fragments in the series control section. Caneadea, Odessa and Rhinebeck soils formed in uniformly textured lacustrine deposits and have less than 5 percent rock fragment content in the particle size control section.
The
Bennington,
Blount, Del Rey,
Fulton, Kimmel,
Mahoning, and
Nappanee, series are in related famalies. Bennington and Mahoning soils have a weighted clay content of less than 45 percent in the argillic horizon. Blount soils have coarser textured A horizons and contain less than 45 percent clay in the argillic horizon. Del Rey, Fulton, and
Kimmell, soils formed in uniformly textured lacustrine deposits and have less than 5 percent rock fragment content in the particle size control section. Nappanee soils have abrupt textural changes between the Ap and Bt and do not show evidence degradation in the upper part of the Bt.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: These soils occur on till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 40 percent. The clayey till regolith is predominantly from dark olive brown to olive, calcareous or neutral, finely bedded shale, but it contains a small amount of sandstone, limestone and granite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 50 inches; mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 55 degrees F., and the frost-free period is from 135 to 180 days. Elevation ranges from 250 to 1500 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Derb,
Erie,
Fonda,
Fremont,
Ravenna,
Trumbull and
Wadsworth soils on nearby landscapes. Derb and Fremont soils are more acid, contain less clay and lack argillic horizons. Erie, Ravenna, and Wadsworth soils are less clayey and contain a fragipan. Fonda soils are wetter soils in depressional landscapes. Trumbull soils have low chroma in more than 50 percent of the matrix in all subhorizons between the base of the Ap horizon and a depth of 30 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from low to high. Permeability is moderate in the surface layer and very slow in the subsoil and substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Some areas of this soil are cleared and used mainly for growing hay, small grains, corn, and pasture. Many areas are idle. Native vegetation is sugar maple, elm, red and white oak, black ash, and other hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Along the northern edge of the Allegheny Plateau where it joins the Ontario-Erie plain of New York and Ohio, and in parts of the Mohawk Valley of New York. MLRAs 101, 139, and 140. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Genesee County, New York, 1966.
REMARKS: The series as defined includes the finer textured part of the soils originally placed in the Remsen series in the Mohawk Valley, the soils formerly classed in the Ohlton series in Ohio, and some soils that formerly were placed in the Darien and Mahoning series in western New York. It excludes silty clay loam soils that have been placed in the Darien series in western New York. Some areas mapped in the Remsen series include clay contents as high as 70 percent, these are treated as mapping inclusions. The original classification placed Remsen in the great group of Ochraqualfs. Because of changes established in the 8th edition of `Keys to Soil Taxonomy' this soil now classifies in the new great group of Endoaqualfs. Competing series are expected to increase as similar soils are reclassified.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon are:
1) Ochric epipedon - from 0 to 9 inches (Ap and E horizons)
2) Argillic horizon - from 9 to 30 inches (Bt and Btg horizons)
3) Aeric subgroup - as evidenced by a subhorizon(s) between the base of the Ap horizon and a depth of 30 inches that is dominated (50 percent or more) by chroma and value of 3 or more (E and Bt1 horizon).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.