LOCATION FRESHKILLS NY
Established Series
LAH-RBT- JTI
12/2021
FRESHKILLS SERIES
The Freshkills series consists of very deep, well drained soils on anthropogenic landforms. These soils formed in a thick mantle of human transported material that includes loamy soil material over a geomembrane over a mixture of household garbage, construction debris and other discarded materials layered with human transported soil material. These soils occur in landfills on artificial landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low or moderately high in the loamy mantle. Mean annual air temperature is about 12 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is about 1262 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Freshkills sandy loam in a landfill on a 0 to 8 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soils unless otherwise noted.)
^Au--0 to 15 cm; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many very fine and fine, and common medium roots; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 5 percent gravel and 2 percent gravel-sized artifacts; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 18 cm thick)
2^Bwu--15 to 76 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine roots; few fine dendritic tubular pores; 5 percent gravel, 1 percent natural cobbles, and 2 percent gravel-sized artifacts; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (61 to 91 cm thick)
3M--76 cm; continuous impenetrable persistent high-density polyethylene geomembrane. (0.1 cm thick)
4^Cu--76 to 183 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/4) extremely artifactual sandy loam; massive; firm; 5 percent cobbles; 20 percent nonpersistent cobble-sized artifacts such as paper, cardboard, and untreated wood; 45 percent persistent cobble-sized fragments such as asphalt, brick, concrete, glass, metal, plastic, potsherd, and rubber; a few stone-size fragments of concrete and rubber; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Richmond County, New York: From intersection of Forest Hill Road and Independence Avenue, 50 feet southeast from the intersection adjacent to a shoulder parking area; USGS Arthur Kill topographic quadrangle; latitude 40 degrees 34 minutes 48 seconds North and longitude 74 degrees 09 minutes 57 seconds West (Rockwell GPS Reciever); NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the loamy mantle and geomembrane over the refuse is 76 to 120 cm; and the total thickness of the landfill materials is generally more than 1.5 m. The human transported soil material that forms the loamy mantle may be any geologic deposit ranging from till, outwash, alluvium, coastal/marine sediments, or residuum. Rock fragments range from 1 to 20 percent, and textures are typically sandy loam, fine sandy loam or loam but may include sandy clay loam or loamy sand. Fragments, both rock and human artifacts combined, range from 35 to 75 percent in the refuse layer. Some pedons have mottles in the fill cap that are unrelated to soil water related redoximorphic process.
The ^A or ^Ap horizon has a hue of 2.5 Y to 2.5 YR, value of 3, 4, or 5, and a chroma of 2 to 6. Structure is weak or moderate granular or weak subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable to friable. Reaction ranges from very strongly to moderately acid.
The ^Bw or ^Bwu horizons, if present, have hue of 2.5 Y to 2.5 YR, values of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Structure is subangular blocky, lenticular, or platy. Consistence is firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
The ^C or ^Cu horizons above the geomembrane, if present, have a hue of 2.5 Y to 2.5 YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Structure is platy or massive. Consistence is firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to neutral.
The M horizon, or geomembrane, is a continuous layer of 40 mil (1 millimeter or 0.001 centimeters) thick high-density polyethylene geomembrane.
The ^Cu horizons below the geomembrane contain layers of municipal refuse and human transported soil and rock material. Human artifacts in the refuse include paper, cardboard, carpet, cloth, plastic, glass, metal, organic waste, and rubber. There is a smaller component of construction materials such as asphalt, brick, concrete, treated and untreated lumber, metal, plasterboard, plus small amounts of coal ash. Household objects range from gravel to stone-sized, and construction materials range from gravel to boulder size. There is a distinction between artifacts that will hold water, allow roots to penetrate and decompose versus those that are impenetrable, persistent and function similar to rock fragments. Examples of impenetrable persistent artifacts are glass, plastic, rubber, and treated lumber. Generally, the human transported soil material is similar to the soil mantle over the geomembrane. The texture of the human transported soil material ranges from loamy sand to silt loam. Reaction ranges from slightly acid through moderately alkaline. Consistence is loose to firm. Some intermittent layers or materials, such as plastic, act as a barrier to root and water movement.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Freshkills soils are on nearly level to very steep modified landforms in landfill area. These soils formed in a mixture of municipal refuse and human transported soil material with a cap of human transported soil material that is relatively low in or absent of human artifacts. The human transported soil material is sourced from a variety of local soil materials such as till, outwash, dredge, coastal/marine sediments, and/or residuum.
Dominant fragments in the substratum are human artifacts, with smaller amounts of igneous, metamorphic, and/or sedimentary rock fragments. Slopes range from 0 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 1016 to 1270 mm. Mean annual temperature ranges from 9 to 17 degrees C.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are
Centralpark,
Gravesend,
Greatkills,
Greenbelt,
Kleinekill,
Laguardia,
North Meadow,
Oldmill and
Secaucus soils on nearby landscapes. Centralpark, Greenbelt, and North Meadow soils average less than 10 percent artifacts in the control section and do not occur on municipal refuse landfills. Gravesend and Oldmill soils are sandy-skeletal and sandy and occur on unlined landfills; Greatkills soils are loamy-skeletal and occur on unlined landfills; Kleinekill occurs on landfills with a clay liner; Laguardia and Secaucus soils average more than 35 percent total coarse fragments and more than 10 percent artifacts in the control section and do not occur on municipal refuse landfills.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained; runoff is slow to medium on vegetated slopes less than 8 percent, and rapid to very rapid on vegetated slopes 8 percent or greater; runoff is one class more rapid where the soil is not vegetated or the surface is poorly protected from erosion. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low or moderately high in the loamy mantle above the geomembrane. The geomembrane is impermeable.
USE AND VEGETATION: Landfills sites are generally seeded with perennial grass, legume and wildflower mixes to promote ground cover without deep penetrating root activity. Sites are often mowed or otherwise managed to discourage establishment of woody plant species. Recreational use and access are generally restricted, however some landfill areas are commissioned into parks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur on modified landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast, MLRAs 144A and 149B. The soils of this series are small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Richmond County, New York, 2014. Series proposed Richmond County, New York, 2011.
REMARKS: The Freshkills typical pedon has been drafted from a combination of field observation and soil property concepts based on landfill cover specifications established by New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). These specifications are based on Type I and Type II Final Cover defined in DSNY's Final Cover Design Report for Sections 1/9 and 6/7. Every effort has been made to create a representative pedon based on these specificiations; however public health concern has prevented field staff from gathering standard documentation and field verifying the cover specifications for Freshkills soils.
Freshkills 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 Fluvents. Proposed revisions to soil taxonomy will help to clarify this difference.
Some areas develop anaerobic conditions in the subsoil due to methane gas emissions, which may promote the formation of redoximorphic features without saturation by water.
One year soil temperature data is available for 10 cm and 50 cm depths. A poster describing temperature investigations is referenced below. The internal soil temperature has been modified by high levels of biological activity and garbage undergoing rapid decomposition. The classification as hyperthermic is the subject of some debate but the study and lab data support the hyperthermic soil temperature classification. The area would typically be mesic.
Reference: Mount, Henry and Luis Hernandez. Temperature Signatures for Urban Soils of New York City. Poster session presented at: First International Conference on Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic, and Mining Areas; 2000 Jul 12-18; Essen, Germany.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 15 centimeters (^Au horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 15 to 76 centimeters (2^Bwu horizon).
3. Oxyaquic subgroup - predicted saturation within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface based on soil design features.
4. Developments in the classification of this anthropogenic soils may result in changes in the taxonomic classification.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.