LOCATION GALEN NY OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Galen fine sandy loam - cultivated (Colors are for moist soil.)
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick.)
Bw1-- 8 to 12 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) fine sandy loam; very weak very fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; few fine faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) and distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 5 inches thick.)
Bw2-- 12 to 16 inches; light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) loamy fine sand; massive; very friable; common fine roots; common medium faint brown (7.5YR 5/4) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (2 to 5 inches thick.)
E and Bt1-- 16 to 28 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) fine sandy loam; massive; friable; common (10 percent) brown (10YR 4/3) very fine sandy loam masses; very weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky; few fine roots; clay bridges in brown (10YR 4/3) masses; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (10 to 18 inches thick.)
E and Bt2-- 28 to 54 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) loamy fine sand with brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam lamellae 1/8 to 2 inches thick aggregating 9 inches in thickness; massive, very friable; lamellae are massive, friable to firm, and slightly sticky; few roots; lamellae have clay bridges among primary particles and clay skins in common fine pores; lamellae branch and rejoin horizontally; common medium and fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation between lamellae; slightly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (12 to 40 inches thick.)
C-- 54 to 70 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sand, weakly stratified; single grain; loose; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) areas of iron depletion; neutral.
TYPE LOCATION: Monroe County, New York; three miles southwest of Village of Hilton, one hundred fifty yards south of Lawrence Road on the east side of the Clarkson-Parma town line. USGS Hilton, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 43 degrees, 16 minute, 32 seconds N. and Longitude 77 degrees, 50 minutes, 16 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 80 inches. Carbonates are at depths of 48 inches or more. Depth to bedrock is more than 8 feet. The soil is typically free of rock fragments but may contain up to 3 percent fine gravel. Unless limed, the soil ranges from strongly acid through neutral in the Ap horizon and moderately acid through neutral in the Bw and E and Bt. The C horizon ranges from moderately acid through slightly alkaline. Redoximorphic concentrations are present between the depths of 18 and 30 inches.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, fine sandy loam, and very fine sandy loam. The Ap horizon has weak or moderate fine granular structure and friable or very friable consistence.
The Bw horizons have hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. It is fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, fine sandy loam, or very fine sandy loam. It is massive or has very weak or weak granular or subangular blocky structure. It has friable or very friable consistence.
The E part of the E and Bt horizons has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6 and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is fine sand, loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, or fine sandy loam. The horizon is massive or has weak or very weak granular or subangular blocky structure. The E part has loose or very friable consistence.
The Bt part, which occurs as lamellae aggregating 6 to 15 inches in thickness, has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loamy fine sand, loamy very fine sand, fine sandy loam or light silt loam, and is slightly sticky or sticky. The horizon is massive or has weak or very weak granular or subangular blocky structure. Bt part has friable or firm consistence.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6 and chroma of 3 or 4, is mainly stratified fine sand and very fine sand but includes thin silty layers in some pedons or loamy till beneath 40 inch depths in others.
COMPETING SERIES: The Bombay and Mt. Zion series are in the same family. Galen soils contain more sand in the Bt horizon than the Bombay soils, which formed in till. The Mt. Zion soils formed in residuum and are more acid.
Colonie, Elnora, Gotham, Lakin, Lilah, and Spinks are similar soils in related families. Colonie and Lakin soils have lamellae in which the aggregate clay thickness is inadequate to qualify as an argillic horizon. Also, Colonie soils have sandy particle-size control sections. Elnora, Gotham, Lilah, and Spinks soils have sandy particle-size control sections.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Galen series occupies nearly level or gently sloping areas associated with sandy deltas and sand mantled till "islands" within lacustrine landscape. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. The soils developed in materials dominated by fine and very fine sand of quartz, felspars, and ferromagnesian minerals. The climate is humid and cool-temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 40 inches; mean annual air temperature, from 47 to 50 degrees F.; mean growing season, from 140 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the better drained Arkport soils and the somewhat poorly drained Minoa and the poorly drained or very poorly drained Lamson soils which are catenary associates. Other associated soils are Amboy, Collamer, Colonie, Dunkirk, Elnora, Hudson, Niagara, Madalin, Stafford, Wallington, and Williamson. Amboy Wallington, and Williamson soils, containing fragipans, are in nearby silty glacial lake deposits; Colonie, Elnora, and Stafford soils are on sandy deltaic deposits. Dunkirk, Collamer, and Niagara soils are on associated glacial lake deposits high in silt; Hudson, Rhinebeck, and Madalin soils are on fine textured glacial lake deposits.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high through high within the mineral solum and high in the substratum. Layers of lower conductivity underlie the soils at depths greater than 5 feet in some pedons.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used for growing hay, corn, small grains, vegetables, and deciduous fruits. Remaining woodlots are remnants of northern hardwoods, including sugar maple, red oak, and American beech.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Erie-Ontario Plain, Mohawk Valley, Hudson Valley, and locally in valleys of the Allegheny Plateau of New York, and northwestern Ohio. MLRA's 99, 101, 140, and 142. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ontario County, New York, 1948.
REMARKS: This series was formerly classified in the Psammentic subgroup.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
(1) Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches.
(2) Argillic horizon - the zone from 28 to 54 inches containing lamellae totaling greater than 9 inches in thickness.
(3) Oxyaquic - A water table as evidenced by redoximorphic concentrations in the zone between 8 and 40 inches.