LOCATION GERMANIA PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Oxyaquic Paleudults
TYPICAL PEDON: Germania silt loam in an area of herbaceous grasses on a south facing convex fan with a 13 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted)
Ap--0 to 23 centimeters (0 to 9 inches); dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) silt loam; light brown (7.5YR 6/3) dry; moderate thick platy structure parting to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; many fine roots throughout; 5 percent flat subangular very strongly cemented 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone channers; very strongly acid, pH 5.0, Chlorophenol red; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bt1--23 to 33 centimeters (9 to 13 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots throughout; 5 percent flat subangular very strongly cemented 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone channers; strongly acid, pH 5.4, Chlorophenol red; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2--33 to 56 centimeters (13 to 22 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/3) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few fine roots throughout; 2 percent discontinuous faint clay films on all faces of peds; 2 percent fine distinct irregular strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of oxidized iron; 10 percent flat subangular very strongly cemented 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone channers; strongly acid, pH 5.2, Chlorophenol red; clear smooth boundary.
Bt3--56 to 74 centimeters (22 to 29 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/3) channery clay loam; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; 2 percent fine distinct irregular reddish brown (5YR 5/3) iron depletions in matrix and 3 percent fine distinct irregular yellowish red (5YR 4/6), moist, masses of oxidized iron in matrix; 15 percent flat subangular very strongly cemented 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone channers; strongly acid, pH 5.2, Chlorophenol red; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bt4--74 to 103 centimeters (29 to 41 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/3) channery silty clay loam; moderate coarse angular blocky structure, and moderate thick platy structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; 10 percent discontinuous distinct clay films on all faces of peds; 2 percent fine distinct irregular reddish brown (5YR 5/3) iron depletions between peds and 3 percent fine distinct irregular yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of oxidized iron between peds; 15 percent flat subangular very strongly cemented 2 to 150-millimeter sandstone channers; strongly acid, pH 5.2, Chlorophenol red; abrupt smooth boundary.
2Btb1--103 to 122 centimeters (41 to 48 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) and 30 percent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) gravelly clay loam; strong fine subangular blocky structure; firm, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; 10 percent discontinuous distinct clay bridges between sand grains; 25 percent rounded very strongly cemented 2 to 75-millimeter sandstone gravels; strongly acid, pH 5.2, Chlorophenol red; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick)
2Btb2--122 to 210 centimeters (48 to 84 inches); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) extremely gravelly clay loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; 10 percent discontinuous distinct clay bridges between sand grains; 65 percent rounded very strongly cemented 2 to 75-millimeter sandstone gravels; strongly acid, pH 5.2, Chlorophenol red.
TYPE LOCATION: Potter County, Pennsylvania; approximately 4.5 miles northeast on East Fork Road from intersection of PA 872 at the town of Wharton; 36 meters north on a fan terrace in hay field on the Conrad, PA Topographic Quadrangle. Latitude 41 degrees 33 minutes 26.71 seconds N. and Longitude 77 degrees 57 minutes 10.91 seconds W. NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Depth to the top of the Argillic: 23 to 35 cm (9 to 14 inches)
Depth to the base of the Argillic: 152 to 200 cm or more (60 to 79 inches or more)
Solum Thickness: 70 to 200 cm or more (28 to 79 inches or more)
Depth to Bedrock: Greater than 200 cm (80 inches)
Depth to Seasonal High Water Table: 56 to 150 cm (22 to 60 inches), intermittently Dec. to April
Depth to Lithologic Discontinuity: 100 to 150 cm (40 to 60 inches)
Rock Fragment content: Flat, subangular channers, 5 to 30 percent, by volume, above the discontinuity; 10 to 85 percent rounded gravels below the discontinuity. Fragments are composed of sandstone, siltstone, or shale.
Soil Reaction: very strongly acid to strongly acid, except where limed
RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL HORIZONS:
Ap horizon:
Color - hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 4, and chroma of 0 through 3
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - silt loam, loam
A horizon (if it occurs):
Thickness - 3 to 13 cm (1 to 5 inches)
Color - hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 0 or 3
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - silt loam, loam
E horizon (if it occurs):
Thickness - 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches)
Color - hue of 10YR to 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 3
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - silt loam, loam
BE horizon (if it occurs):
Thickness - 10 to 25 cm (4 to 10 inches)
Color - hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 4 through 5, and chroma of 3 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - silt loam, loam
Bt horizons:
Color - hue of 10YR to 5YR, value of 4 through 5, and chroma of 3 through 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - silt loam, loam, clay loam, silty clay loam
Redoximorphic features - iron masses in shade of red, or brown and iron depletions in shades of pink, or brown are within the upper 100 cm (40 inches) of the argillic horizon. Some pedons may have 2 to 5 percent iron depletions less than 2 chroma directly above the discontinuity.
Structure - moderate coarse subangular blocky structure, moderate coarse angular blocky structure, or parting to moderate thick platy structure in the lower Bt
2Btb horizons:
Color - hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 through 5, and chroma of 3 or 4
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - silt loam, loam, clay loam, silty clay loam
Structure - weak to strong, fine or medium subangular or angular blocky structure sometimes parting from moderate thick platy structure
2CB and 2C horizons (if present):
Color - hue of 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 4 through 5, and chroma of 3 to 6
Texture (fine-earth fraction) - clay loam, loam, fine sandy clay loam, or stratified layers of sand, silts and gravel
Structure - weak fine subangular blocky structure, loose or massive
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series within this family.
Similar series in the Typic Paleudult family are:
Buckshot soils - colluvium derived from granitic rocks, do not have colors in the Bt redder than 7.5YR, and do not have a lithologic discontinuity.
Mudlick soils - form in colluvium and residuum from diorite and do not have glacial outwash or alluvium below the lithologic discontinuity.
Similar series in the Oxyaquic Hapludult family are:
Birdsboro soils - do not have a lithologic discontinuity.
Chilmark soils - formed in eolian deposits over coastal plain sediments and do not have hues redder than 7.5YR above the discontinuity.
Hassler soils - formed in parent material derived from acid igneous rocks and has bedrock at a depth of 102 to 152 cm (40 to 60 inches).
Roselle soils - form in parent material derived from acid igneous rocks such as granite in the
Ozark Highlands (MLRA 116A).
Thurmont soils - form in parent materials derived from metamorphic rocks such as quartzite and granite.
Tulip soils - form in colluvium from sandstone and siltstone and in residuum from underlying shale in south-central Indiana (MLRA 120)
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING:
Landscape: Valleys of deeply dissected mountain plateaus
Landform: Colluvial apron over alluvial fan
Hillslope Profile Position: Footslopes and toeslopes
Geomorphic Component: Baseslope
Parent Material: Colluvium over glacial outwash or alluvium derived from red acid fine grained sandstone and shales.
Slope: 0 to 25 percent
Elevation: 300 to 460 meters (1000 to 1500 feet)
Frost-free period: 95 to 110 days
Mean Annual Air Temperature: 8 to 10 degrees C. (47 to 50 degrees F.)
Mean Annual Precipitation: 1000 to 1092 mm (40 to 50 inches)
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Barbour soils - are well drained soils derived from red loamy alluvium.
Basher soils - are moderately well drained soils derived from red loamy alluvium with less than 18 percent clay in the family control section
Kedron soils - are a moderately well drained colluvial soil with a fragipan
Meckesville - are well drained colluvial soils with a fragipan
Tunkhannock soils - are loamy-skeletal soils derived from reddish outwash.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY:
Drainage class (Agricultural): Moderately Well Drained
Internal Free Water Occurrence: Very thin or thin (10 to 47 cm thick); moderately deep (56 to 100 cm from the surface); common (intermittently present 2 to 4 months).
Flooding Frequency and Duration: None
Ponding Frequency and Duration: None
Index Surface Runoff: Low to High
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Class: Moderately High above the discontinuity to High to Very High below the discontinuity.
Permeability Class: Moderate above the discontinuity; moderately rapid to rapid below the discontinuity.
Shrink-swell Potential: Moderate
USE AND VEGETATION:
Major Uses: Pasture, with small acreage in row crops
Dominant Vegetation: Where cultivated - corn, small grains. Where wooded - mixed northern hardwoods, mixed oaks.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT:
Distribution: Northern Pennsylvania and possibly New York; MLRA 127, and possibly 147.
Extent: Small
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Potter County, Pennsylvania, 2008.
REMARKS: Germania soils were previously established in Potter County, Pennsylvania and were placed on the inactive list. They were previously unclassified to new taxonomy and no official series description was on record. This OSD is to reestablish the Germania series within its original concept.
Diagnostic horizons and soil characteristics recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 23 cm (Ap horizon)
Argillic horizon - the zone from 23 to 210 cm (Bt and 2Btb horizons)
Oxyaquic conditions - the soil has redox depletions and concentrations within
the upper 100 cm of the argillic horizon, with periodic saturation for 30 or more cumulative days during the year
Lithologic discontinuity - at a depth of 103 cm
Series control section - the zone from 0 to 122 cm