LOCATION BLAKESLEE OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Blakeslee silt loam, on a north-facing, convex, 5 percent slope in mixed hardwoods at an elevation of about 770 feet above msl. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
A-- 0 to 5 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and very fine, and common medium and coarse roots throughout; 1 percent pebbles; extremely acid (pH 4.1); abrupt wavy boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick.)
BE-- 5 to 8 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and very fine, and common medium and coarse roots throughout; few prominent dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coats in root channels; few distinct pale brown (10YR 6/3) clay depletions on faces of peds, less than 15 percent by volume; 3 percent pebbles; extremely acid (pH 4.2); clear wavy boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick.)
Bt1-- 8 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and very fine, and common medium and coarse roots throughout; few distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; few prominent dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coats in root channels; 2 percent pebbles; extremely acid (pH 4.2); clear wavy boundary.
Bt2-- 12 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and very fine, and few medium roots throughout; few distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; few prominent dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coats in root channels; 1 percent pebbles; extremely acid (pH 4.2); clear wavy boundary.
Bt3-- 16 to 20 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and very fine, and few medium roots throughout; few distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; few prominent dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coats in root channels; extremely acid (pH 4.3); clear wavy boundary.
Bt4-- 20 to 26 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; strong fine and medium angular and subangular blocky structure; firm; common fine and very fine roots throughout; common distinct brown (7.5YR 5/4) clay films on vertical and horizontal faces of peds; very few prominent dark brown (10YR 3/3) organic coats in root channels; common medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) areas of iron depletion in the matrix; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 12 percent pebbles; extremely acid (pH 4.3); gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 15 to 35 inches.)
2BC1-- 26 to 33 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) sandy loam; weak very coarse subangular blocky structure parting to weak medium platy; very friable; few very fine roots throughout; common coarse and very coarse distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation adjacent to common coarse and very coarse prominent gray (10YR 6/1) areas of iron depletion in the matrix as vertical streaks; 11 percent pebbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.5); gradual wavy boundary.
2BC2-- 33 to 39 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly coarse sandy loam; weak coarse and very coarse granular structure; loose; very few very fine roots throughout to a depth of about 40 inches; 21 percent pebbles; very strongly acid (pH 4.6); gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the 2BC horizons is 0 to 25 inches.)
2C1-- 39 to 51 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very gravelly coarse sandy loam; massive; loose; 48 percent pebbles; strongly acid (pH 5.2); gradual wavy boundary.
2C2-- 51 to 80 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very gravelly coarse sandy loam; single grain; loose; 43 percent pebbles; moderately acid (pH 5.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Ashtabula County, Ohio; about 1.3 miles northwest of Plymouth Center, in Plymouth Township, 50 feet west of the intersection of Runkle Road (County Road 23) and Howard Road (County Road 329), then 445 feet south, T. 12 N., R. 3 W. USGS Ashtabula South, Ohio topographic quadrangle; Latitude 41 degrees, 50 minutes, 34 seconds N. and Longitude 80 degrees, 46 minutes, 49 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 25 to 55 inches. The depth to the top of the argillic horizon ranges from 7 to 15 inches. Individual horizons in the particle-size control section ranges from 15 to 30 percent clay. Depth to carbonates is greater than 80 inches.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4 (5 or 6 dry), and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is silt loam or loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse granular. Rock fragments range from 0 to 10 percent. Reaction is extremely acid to strongly acid. Areas that have been limed may be slightly acid or neutral.
The BE horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is silt loam or loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse, subangular blocky. Rock fragments range from 0 to 10 percent. Reaction is extremely acid to strongly acid.
The Bt or 2Bt horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is silt loam, loam, silty clay loam, clay loam or their gravelly analogues. Structure is weak to strong, fine to very coarse, subangular or angular blocky, or thin or medium platy. Rock fragments range from 0 to 30 percent and generally increase with depth. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.
The 2BC horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is coarse sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, silt loam or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues. Structure is weak, coarse or very coarse, granular, platy, or subangular blocky. Rock fragments range from 10 to 50 percent. Reaction is extremely acid to strongly acid.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 4 to 6. Texture is stratified gravelly to extremely gravelly analogues of loam to coarse sandy loam. Some pedons have strata of very gravelly or extremely gravelly loamy sand. Rock fragments range from 25 to 80 percent. Cobbles are present in some pedons. Strata of coarser textured material with lower rock fragment contents are present in some pedons. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Adamstown, Cazenovia, El Dara, Funkstown, Hilton, Kidami, Lima, Miami, Pevely, Rainsville, Rawson, Shawtown, and Vaughnsville series. Adamstown is tentative series that does not have an OSD on file for comparison. El Dara soils do not have subhorizons with as much as 15 percent rock fragments in the particle size control section. Funkstown soils are formed in colluvium and alluvium that is not glacial in origin. Kidami soils have a higher pH in the lower part of the subsoil. Cazenovia, Hilton, Lima, Miami, Rainsville, Rawson, and Shawtown soils have carbonates within the series control section. Pevely soils have a lithic contact within 20 to 40 inches. Vaughnsville soils have hues redder than 10YR in the surface layer.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Blakeslee soils formed in Wisconsinan age glaciolacustrine sediments and in the underlying stratified glaciofluvial deposits on summits, shoulders, backslopes, and footslopes of outwash plains and on tread and riser of outwash terraces. Elevation ranges from 570 to 1,100 feet above msl. Slope ranges from 0 to 12 percent. Mean annual temperature ranges from 47 to 52 degrees F, and mean annual precipitation ranges from 29 to 43 inches. The frost free period is 133 to 198 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Chenango, Darien and Red Hook soils. The well drained Chenango and somewhat poorly drained Red Hook soils formed in outwash and are on adjacent landscape positions. The somewhat poorly drained Darien soils are on adjacent till plains.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid in the solum and rapid in the substratum. Depth to the top of an intermittent apparent seasonal high water table is from 1.5 to 3.0 feet from December to April in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: A large percentage of the acreage is wooded. Farmed areas are planted to corn, soybeans, wheat, pasture and hayland. Original vegetation was hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Ohio. MLRA's 100 and 139. The series is of small extent, about 2,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ashtabula County, Ohio, 2001.
REMARKS: Soils that were mapped as Braceville loam, classified as Coarse-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Fragiochrepts in the Soil Survey of Ashtabula County, Ohio, published 1973, were converted to the Blakeslee series during the modernization project of that survey.
The Mt. Zion series is listed as a competitor in the SC file, but is coarse-loamy. The SC file will be changed. The Glenhall series is listed as a competitor in the SC file, but its classification will change to Mollic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs by the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
Diagnostic horizons and features in this pedon include:
Ochric epipedon - from a depth of 0 to 5 inches (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - from a depth of 8 to 26 inches (Bt1, Bt2, Bt3 and Bt4 horizons).
Aquic conditions - from a depth of 20 to 80 inches.
Udic moisture regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Refer to pedon AB-134 for characterization data on the typical pedon, sample numbers 27181 - 27194 from Ashtabula County, Ohio; analysis by the Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio.