LOCATION FLATLAND NY

Established Series
LAH- JTI
01/2014

FLATLAND SERIES

The Flatland series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in deposits of incinerator fly ash. The soil occurs on modified landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 13 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is about 1196 mm.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Typic Endoaquents

TYPICAL PEDON: Flatland sandy loam in an abandoned military field with 0 to 3 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted differently.)

^Au--0 to 15 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) sandy loam; weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many very fine and fine roots throughout; 5 percent fragments (2 percent bricks, 1 percent metals, 1 percent glass, 1 percent natural rock fragments); neutral; clear smooth boundary. 5 to 25 cm) thick.

^Cu1--15 to 40 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) coarse sandy loam; massive; very friable; many very fine and fine roots throughout; 10 percent fragments (4 percent bricks, 2 percent metals, 2 percent glass, 2 percent natural rock fragments); few coarse prominent reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) redoximorphic concentrations; neutral; clear wavy boundary.

^Cu2--40 to 76 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; massive; very friable; 10 percent fragments (4 percent bricks, 1 percent metals, 1 percent glass, 2 percent carboliths, 2 percent natural rock fragments); common fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) redoximorphic concentrations and few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) depletions; neutral; clear wavy boundary.

^Cu3--76 to 94 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) coarse sandy loam; massive; very friable; 10 percent fragments (4 percent bricks, 1 percent metals, 1 percent glass, 2 percent carboliths, 2 percent natural rock fragments); many fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) redoximorphic concentrations and common fine distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) depletions; neutral; clear wavy boundary.

^Cu4--94 to 165 cm; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) gravelly coarse sandy loam; massive; very friable; 15 percent fragments (5 percent bricks, 2 percent metals, 5 percent glass, 2 percent carboliths, 1 percent natural rock fragments); few fine distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) redoximorphic concentrations; neutral.

TYPE LOCATION: Kings County, New York; Floyd Bennett Field North 40 Zone, Gateway National Recreation Area; USGS Coney Island topographic quadrangle; Latitude 40 degrees, 35 minutes, 59.34 seconds N. and Longitude 73 degrees, 54 minutes, 3.38 seconds W. (Rockwell GPS Receiver), NAD 1983.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the fly ash materials is generally more than 5 feet thick. Hues are N/ , 10Y, 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 4. Textures include silt loam, loam and sandy loam. Coarse fragments of coal, slag, brick, glass and metals range from 0 to 30 percent. Depletions, where present, occurs between 38 and 60 cm. Reaction ranges from slightly acid to slightly alkaline.

The ^Au horizon may be defined more on the abundance of roots than anything else. The structure is very fine granular or it is structureless. Organic carbon accumulation would be difficult to identify by morphology.

The ^Cu horizons have distinctly fewer roots than the ^Au horizon, but otherwise look similar. It is structureless. Redoximorphic concentrations are common.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Fishkill (T) series. Fishkill (T) soils have a seasonal high water table within 25 cm of the surface and are poorly drained.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Flatland soils are on nearly level to steep artificially created landforms in fill areas. These soils formed in fly ash that resulted from industrial burning of coal. Some areas may be covered with a thin cap of natural soil as a prevention of wind blowing. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 1021 to 1325 mm. Mean annual temperature ranges from 8 to 17 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These deposits do not have any correlation to existing soils and may occur anywhere. Associated soils in different landscape position are Hassock (T), Winhole (T) and Fishkill (T). Hassock (T) and Winhole (T) soils occur on upper landscape positions. Fishkill (T) soils occur in depressions and have a seasonal high water table within 25 cm. Hassock (T) soils have a water table at greater than 100 centimeters. Winhole (T) soils have a water table at 60 to 100 cm.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high.

USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are generally densely covered with common reed. Other vegetation species includes mugwort, Golden Rod, Black locust, Tree of Heaven, Multiflora rose, Poison Ivy, Poplar, Black Cherry, Grey Birch, White Mulberry and Japanese knotweed. Planted species include Autumn Olive. Reclamation is unlikely because there is no natural vegetation to restore, and the areas vegetate naturally after deposition ceases. These soils are used for recreational development and wildlife refuge.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur on modified landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast. MLRA 144A and 149B. The soils of this series are small extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kings County, New York, 2014. Series proposed Kings County, New York, 1995.

REMARKS: Flatland soils are mapped in the soil survey areas of the Gateway National Recreation Area and the initial survey areas of Kings and Queens Counties, NY. The soils are of minimal extent (less than 1,000 acres), however they are of unique importance to users of the soil surveys.
Flatland soils often exhibit an irregular decrease in organic carbon with depth however this is a result of anthropogenic filling (deposition) not alluvial deposition; excluding them from the concept of Fluvaquents. Proposed revisions to soil taxonomy in ICOMANTH Circular Letter 7 developed for anthropogenic soils will help to clarify this difference.

Carbolith is a name coined at West Virginia University to describe dark colored sedimentary rocks that will make a black or very dark (Munsell color value of 3 or less) streak or powder. Rocks under this name include coal not scheduled for mining, impure waste coal, bone coal, high carbon siltstones, and high carbon shales.

Fly ash supplies accumulated over more than one hundred years of time when hard coal was the main source of heating and producer of heat for production of electricity. The material often contains debris tossed into furnaces during burning.

Particle size class control section characterization data from pedon S99NY047005 used for this soil.

Due to the recent deposit of this material and the low organic matter content normal redoximorphic processes have not progressed. The aquic conditions have been observed and are being used as the basis for the classification.

CEC activity class estimated.

Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 15 cm (^Au horizon).
2. Rock fragments in the particle-size control section averages less than 35 percent by volume.
3. Aquic conditions - Aquic conditions observed between than 25 and 60 cm (^Au and ^Cu1 horizons).

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.