LOCATION DEPEYSTER NY

Established Series
Rev. SCC-WEH-GWS
05/2013

DEPEYSTER SERIES

The Depeyster series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in lacustrine sediments. These soils are on broad flats in the low lands, are on lacustrine terraces along the walls of narrow valleys, or are intermingled with soils that formed in glacial drift on the uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. Mean annual temperature is 43 degrees F. and mean annual precipitation is 38 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, frigid Aquic Glossudalfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Depeyster silt loam, on a 20 percent convex southeast-facing slope in a hay field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)

Ap -- 0 to 4 inches, dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine and very fine roots; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick.)

E -- 4 to 7 inches, 70 percent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and 30 percent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; very few very fine tubular pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick.)

Bt/E -- 7 to 13 inches, 70 percent brown (10YR 4/3) (Bt), and 30 percent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) (E) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; few discontinuous clay films along ped faces; very few very fine tubular pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (2 to 6 inches thick.)

Bt1 -- 13 to 17 inches, brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; friable; few very fine roots; thick continuous [dark] brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay films on ped faces and in pores; common very fine tubular and vesicular pores; few medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) areas of iron depletion; neutral; gradual smooth boundary.

Bt2 -- 17 to 25 inches, brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few very fine roots; thick continuous light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay films on ped faces and in pores; very few very fine tubular pores; neutral; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 5 to 35 inches.)

C1 -- 25 to 31 inches, brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; massive, varved; firm; few very fine roots; pockets of reddish brown (5YR 4/4) silty clay loam; few very fine tubular pores; common medium faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) areas of iron depletion; slightly alkaline; gradual smooth boundary.

C2 -- 31 to 72 inches, brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; massive, varved; firm; few very fine tubular pores; many medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) areas of iron depletion; slightly effervescent, slightly alkaline.

TYPE LOCATION: Essex County, NY; Town of Jay, about 1000 feet north of the junction of Springfield Road and Route 9N. USGS Lake Placid, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 20 minutes, 26 seconds N. and Longitude 73 degrees, 46 minutes, 34 seconds W., NAD 1927.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 24 to 45 inches. Bedrock is deeper than 60 inches. Depth to carbonates ranges from 25 to 72 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 5 percent throughout.

The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt loam. It has weak or moderate granular or subangular blocky structure. It is very friable or friable. Reaction is moderately acid through neutral.

Some pedons have an E horizon that have hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam, or silt loam. Reaction is strongly acid through neutral.

The B/E horizon has colors and textures similar to the B and E horizons. The E part (albic material) must constitute 15 percent or more by volume of the horizon.

The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 3 or 4 above 30 inches, and chroma of 2 through 4 below 30 inches. It is silt loam or silty clay loam and some pedons have layers which range from fine sandy loam to silty clay. Redoximorphic features range from few to many and are low and high chroma. Reaction is slightly acid or neutral in the upper part and slightly acid through slightly alkaline in the lower part.

Some pedons have a CB horizon that has color, texture, and reaction characteristics that are mixtures of the overlying Bt and underlying C horizon.

The C horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 8. It ranges from silty clay loam to stratified silt and very fine sand. Loamy till is at depths of 3.5 to 6 feet in some pedons. Reaction is neutral through moderately alkaline.

COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no competing series in the same family.

The Collamer, Almena, Comstock, and Maplehurst series are in related families. Collamer soils have a mesic temperature regime. Almena, Comstock, and Maplehurst soils have a superactive CEC class.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Depeyster soils are nearly level to very steep soils on glacial lake plains, intermontane valleys, and on till plains that have moderately thick mantles of lake sediments. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in calcareous water-laid silt, clay, and very fine sand. Mean annual temperature ranges from 38 to 45 degrees F. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 34 to 50 inches. The growing season (frost-free) ranges from 100 to 150 days. The range in elevation is 300 to 2000 feet.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hailesboro, Heuvelton, and Matoon soils. The Hailesboro and Matoon soils have aquic moisture regimes and are on lower topographic positions than Depeyster soils. Heuvelton soils are on similar topographic positions as Depeyster soils but have a fine textured argillic horizon.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff is medium to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the mineral soil above the argillic horizon and high and moderately low in the argillic horizon and substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used for growing hay, corn, deciduous trees, or pasture. Woodlots contain sugar maples, red oak, black cherry, basswood, hickory, and other kinds of trees.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The St. Lawrence Valley, Ausable Valley, and the Champlain Valley lowlands of Northern New York and possibly Northwestern Vermont. MLRA's 142 and 143. The soils are of small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: St. Lawrence County, New York, 1990.

REMARKS: Type location moved (from St. Lawrence County, NY) to better reflect the Glossudalf classification. Active CEC class assigned based on lab data from S81NY-089-8.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (Ap and E horizon).
b. Glossic horizon - the zone from 7 to 13 inches (Bt/E horizon).
c. Argillic horizon - the zone from 7 to 25 inches (Bt/E, Bt1, and Bt2 horizon).
d. Aquic feature - mottles with chroma of 2 or less are in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon.

ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data is available for pedon: S81NY-089-8-(1-5).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.