LOCATION GRETOR NY
Established Series
ERS-WEH
02/2013
GRETOR SERIES
The Gretor series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained soils on uplands at elevations over 1000 feet. They formed in a thin mantle of till derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Bedrock is at a depth of 51 to 102 cm. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 7 degrees C, and mean annual precipitation is about 990 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, acid, frigid Aeric Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Gretor silt loam on a 5 percent slope in an abandoned hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 22 cm; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) moist, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry, silt loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (5 to 30 cm)
Bg1--22 to 44 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and few medium roots; common fine vesicular pores; 20 percent rock fragments; common medium distinct light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4) and few fine prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Bg2--44 to 56 cm; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) channery silt loam; moderate fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common very fine and fine vesicular pores; 15 percent rock fragments; many (50 percent) fine and medium distinct dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and common medium prominent brown (7.5YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; moderately acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizons is 20 to 78 cm.)
C--56 to 74 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) channery loam; massive, with some inherited weak medium plate-like divisions just above the bedrock; firm; few fine vesicular pores; 20 percent rock fragments; many fine and medium prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation and common medium prominent gray (5Y 6/1) areas of iron depletion; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick)
2R--74 cm; dark gray (N 4/0) hard fine-grained sandstone bedrock; the upper 15 cm is highly fractured.
TYPE LOCATION: Otsego County, New York, Town of Decatur, 3,000 feet east of the intersection of Fish and Game Road and Reservoir Road, and 300 feet south of Reservoir Road. Elevation 2110 feet. USGS South Valley, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 40 minutes, 28 seconds N. and Longitude 74 degrees, 39 minutes, 14 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness and depth to bedrock range from 51 to 102 cm. Rock fragments in the mineral material range from 5 to 35 percent throughout the soil. Reaction, in unlimed areas, ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the mineral surface and subsoil, and strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum. The pH in CaCl2 is less than 5.0.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable or friable.
Some pedons have a thin E horizon that has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction ranges from fine sandy loam to silt loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium platy or blocky.
The B or Bg horizons are neutral or have hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 6. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam or loam. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse subangular or angular blocky. Most pedons have common or many redoximorphic accumulations below a depth of 22 cm.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, clay loam or silt loam. It has weak plate-like divisions inherited from the weathering bedrock, or it is massive. Consistence is friable or firm. Few to many redoximorphic features are present. Some pedons have a very firm Cd horizon with very coarse prismatic structure.
The 2R layer consists of hard, gray, brownish, or reddish colored sandstone, siltstone, or shale. The upper part of the bedrock is fractured in some pedons.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Gretor soils are on uplands of glaciated dissected plateaus and till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The soils developed in a thin mantle of till derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Mean annual temperature ranges from 5 to 7 degrees C; mean annual precipitation ranges from 889 to 1270 mm; and mean annual frost-free days range from 90 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 305 to 762 m above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Gretor soils are the somewhat poorly drained member of a drainage sequence which includes the well drained
Mongaup soils and the moderately well drained
Middlebrook soils. The Middlebrook soils and the Mongaup soils are nearby associates. The shallow, somewhat excessively and well drained
Hawksnest soils are closely associated on nearby convex landforms, and on slightly higher landforms. Very deep, moderately well drained
Willdin soils, and somewhat poorly drained
Ontusia soils are on nearby landscapes where the mantle of till is thicker over bedrock. Very deep, well drained
Lewbath soils are on adjacent valley sides where the till deposits are thicker.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high to moderately high in the mineral soil.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used for hayland or pasture. A significant acreage has reverted to woodland or brush. Native vegetation is red maple, eastern hemlock, and yellow birch. Brush areas often contain blueberry, spirea, Hawthorne (thorn apple), and poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and Southern New York. MLRA 101 and 140. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Otsego County, New York, 1993.
REMARKS: This series is the frigid equivalent of the Greene series, and the moderately deep equivalent of the Torull series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 22 cm (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 22 to 56 cm (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons).
3. Aquic moisture regime- wetness evidenced by 2 chroma matrix colors and redoximorphic accumulations in the zone from 22 to 56 cm (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons).
4. Aeric subgroup - evidenced by 50 percent or more redoximorphic accumulations in the zone from 44 to 56 cm (Bg2 horizon).
5. CEC activity class of active estimated based on other similar series in the
USDA-Cornell New York database for Aeric Haplaquepts (such as Greene & Almond).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Partial Characterization data available for pedon #87-22 from Otsego County, New York
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.