LOCATION DOYLESTOWN PA+NJEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Doylestown silt loam, on 3 to 8 percent southeast facing slopes in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR4/2) silt loam; few medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles; moderate medium granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, nonplastic; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (7 to 10 inches thick)
BEg--8 to 14 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam; many medium faint light gray (10YR 7/1) mottles and many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; weak thick platy structure parting to weak fine blocky and subangular blocky; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Btg--14 to 20 inches; gray (N5/0) silt loam; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and faint dark gray (10YR 4/1) mottles; weak medium prismatic structure parting to weak medium blocky; firm, sticky, slightly plastic; few prominent clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 2 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (5 to 10 inches thick)
Btx1--20 to 38 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) silt loam; gray (N6/0) prism faces; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak thick platy; very firm, brittle, sticky, slightly plastic; very few prominent clay films on faces of peds and in pores; few prominent black coatings; 3 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (10 to 25 inches thick)
Btx2--38 to 48 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silt loam ped interiors; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and weak red (2.5YR 5/2) prism faces; weak very coarse prismatic structure; very firm, brittle; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few faint clay films on faces of peds and in pores; common prominent black (N2/0) coatings; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 15 inches thick)
2R--48 inches; dusky red (2.5YR 3/2) shale.
TYPE LOCATION: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Lower Gwynedd Township, 1000 feet south east of Route 202 on Sumneytown Pike, 300 feet west of Sumneytown Pike.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and thickness of the silt mantle ranges from 40 to 60 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 3 1/2 to 6 feet. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 15 to 25 inches. Rock fragments of shale are less than 5 percent in the upper part of the solum and range from 5 to 20 percent in the lower part. Reaction is very strongly acid and strongly acid in the upper part of the solum and ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the lower part of the solum in unlimed soils.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 through 3. Texture is silt loam.
The B horizon above the fragipan is neutral or has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 0 through 2. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam.
The Btx horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 8. Texture is silt loam.
Some pedons have thin unconforming Bx and C horizons which vary widely both in color and texture depending on the material over which the mantle was deposited.
COMPETING SERIES:
Brinkerton,
Calvert,
Croton,
Ginat,
Robertsville,
Sheffield, and
Thorndale soils are in the same family. Brinkerton, Sheffield and Thorndale soils have bedrock deeper than 5 feet. Calvert and Croton soils have sola of less than 40 inches thick. Ginat soils have mica and a few pebbles in the lower part of the series control section. Robertsville soils do not have an argillic horizon above the fragipans.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Doylestown soils are on nearly level and gently sloping upland flats and depressions. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. These soils formed in silty materials, presumably eolian, deposited over a wide variety of material weathered from shale, sandstone, limestone, schist and gneiss. The climate is humid temperate, with mean annual precipitation of 38 to 48 inches, mean annual air temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees F., and a growing season of 170 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Abbottstown, Chester, Duncannon, Glenelg, Lansdale, Lawrenceville, Penn, Readington, Steinsburg and the competing Croton soils and Chalfonte are on nearby uplands. Abbottstown, Lawrenceville and Readington soils do not have a dominant chroma of 2 or less immediately below the A horizon. Chester, Duncannon, Glenelg, Lansdale, Penn and Steinsburg soils are well drained. Croton soils have sola less than 40 inches thick.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is slow to medium. Permeability is slow.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 50 percent of the Doylestown soils are in cropland and the remainder in woodland, pasture or nonfarm uses. Wooded areas consist of water tolerant mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1936.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon.
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 14 inches (Ap and BEg horizons).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 14 to 48 inches (Btg and Btx horizons).
3. Fragipan horizon - the zone from 20 to 48 inches (Btx horizon).
4. Aqualfs feature - the zone between 8 and 20 inches has dominant color with chroma of 2 or less.