LOCATION BERKS PA IL IN KY MD NJ OH TN VA WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Berks channery loam, on a south-facing slope of 3 to 8 percent in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 10 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) channery loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; 30 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary (6 to 12 inches thick).
Bw1--10 to 17 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky and
slightly plastic; 35 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary (4 to 12 inches thick).
Bw2--17 to 21 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) very channery silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure modified by rock fragments; slightly sticky and nonplastic; very few faint clay films on rock fragments; 50 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary (2 to 10 inches thick).
CB--21 to 26 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) extremely channery loam; structure obscured by rock fragments; friable; 60 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; clear irregular boundary (0 to 10 inches thick).
C--26 to 33 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) extremely channery loam; fines are concentrated in pockets between and as coatings on rock fragments; massive; friable; 75 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary (0 to 14 inches thick).
R-- 33 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) and light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) fractured shale bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Weisenberg Township, 1 mile south and east on T624 from New Smithville and 200 feet north of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is 20 to 40 inches. Depth to the top of the cambic horizon range from 3 to 12 inches. Rock fragments range from 10 to 50 percent in the Ap and A horizons, from 15 to 75 percent in individual horizons of the B, and from 35 to 90 percent in the C horizon. The average volume of rock fragments in the particle-size control section is more than 35 percent. In unlimed soils reaction ranges from extremely acid to slightly acid throughout. The dominant clay minerals are illite, vermiculite and interstratified vermiculite chlorite. Small amounts of kaolinite are present.
The Ap or A horizons have hue of 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine earth fraction.
The B horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 8. Hue of 5YR is restricted to the lower part of the soil. Texture is loam, silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. It contains 5 to 32 percent clay and 40 to 60 percent silt. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium subangular blocky structure in the Bw horizon and is usually obscured by the rock fragments in the CB horizon.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture in the fine earth fraction is loam or silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Greenlee, Handshoe, and Northcove series in the same family and the Brownsville, Calvin, Cardiff, Centralpark (T), Chamate, Highsplint, Konnarock (T), Lippitt, Parker, Remote, Sylco, Watt, and Wyoming series that are currently in older classification slots. Brownsville, Greenlee, Handshoe and Northcove soils do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 40 inches. Calvin soils have hue of 7.5YR or redder throughout the B horizon. Cardiff, Highsplint, Parker, Sylco, and Wyoming soils do not have a lithic contact within a depth of 40 inches. Centralpark (T) soils have rock fragments of concrete and asphalt. Chamate and Remote soils are formed in a more moist climate. Konnarock soils have ryhythmite and tillite rock fragments. Lippitt soils have till over Gneiss, schist or gravel. Watt soils have colors with chroma of 3 or less in the B horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Berks soils are on summits, shoulders, and backslopes of dissected uplands formed in residuum weathered from shale interbedded with fine grained sandstone and siltstone. Slope gradient range from 0 to 80 percent. Climate is humid and temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 44 inches, mean annual temperature ranges from 50 to 55 degrees F and the growing season is 170 to 214 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Bedington, Blairton, Brinkerton, Comly, Ernest, Gilpin, Muskingum, Rushtown, Shelocta, Tarhollow and Weikert soils are on nearby landscapes. Bedington, Brownsville, Rushtown, Shelocta and Tarhollow soils all have bedrock at a depth of more than 40 inches and are on similar landscape positions. Blairton and Comly soils are moderately well drained. Brinkerton soils are poorly drained. Gilpin soils have fewer rock fragments and are on similar landscapes. Weikert soils have bedrock at a depth of less than 20 inches and are on similar landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to high. Permeability is moderate or moderately rapid. Depth to a seasonal high water table is more than 6 feet.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 60 percent of Berks soils are in cropland and pasture, the remainder are in woodland or other uses. Principal crops are corn, wheat, oats, barley, Christmas trees and hay. Native vegetation is mixed, deciduous hardwood forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, and Southern Illinois. MLRA's 115, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 139, 147 and 148. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1909.
REMARKS: The Ashby, Kistler and Trexler soils, which were moderately shallow in some Pennsylvania published surveys are now included in the Berks Series.
Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from a depth of 0 to 10 inches (Ap horizon).
Cambic horizon - from a depth of 10 to 21 inches (Bw, Bt horizons).
Lithic contact - at a depth of 33 inches (R horizon).
CEC class - active, but includes semiactive and subactive
R - some pedons have very few thin clay films and silt coats on upper surfaces of rock fragments.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data is available for this pedon,
S59-PA-039-7(1-5), and for pedon S59-PA-039-2(1-4). Other pedons from areas mapped Berks are available that show weak argillic horizons:
S65-PA-028-5(1-4), S65-PA-028-7(1-3), S62-PA-029-17(1-4),
S62-PA-020-18(1-4).