LOCATION HORNELL NY+OH

Established Series
Rev. LWK-SWA-PSP
05/2011

HORNELL SERIES

The Hornell series consists of moderately deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in till overlying shale or siltstone. They are nearly level to steep soils on bedrock-controlled uplands. Permeability is slow or very slow. Slope ranges from 0 to 50 percent. Mean annual temperature is 48 degrees F and mean annual precipitation is 38 inches.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, acid, mesic Aeric Endoaquepts

TYPICAL PEDON: Hornell silt loam on a 4 percent slope in a meadow. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)

Ap -- 0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silt loam; weak medium granular structure; friable; common fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick.)

Bw1 -- 8 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silty clay loam; moderate medium and coarse angular blocky structure; firm; slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common fine roots; common fine pores; gray (5Y 6/1) on all faces of peds: common medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulations and many medium prominent light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) areas of iron depletion in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.

Bw2 -- 15 to 31 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silty clay loam; moderate coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium angular blocky; firm; few fine roots; few fine pores; silt films on some ped surfaces; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) on all faces of peds; common medium prominent light olive gray (5Y 6/2) areas of iron depletion in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

Bw3 -- 31 to 35 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silty clay; moderate coarse angular blocky structure; firm; few fine pores; light olive gray (5Y 6/2) on all faces of peds; common medium prominent light olive gray (5Y 6/2) areas of iron depletion in the matrix; 10 percent rock fragments, mostly soft shale; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 5 to 32 inches.)

2C -- 35 to 38 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) channery silty clay; moderate thin and medium plate-like structure inherited from the weathered shale bedrock; firm; common prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) stains; 30 percent rock fragments, mostly soft disintegrating shale fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 11 inches thick).

2R --38 inches; horizontal, thin bedded, gray (5Y 5/1) soft shale bedrock interbedded with siltstone; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Chautauqua County, New York; Town of Sheridan, 800 feet east of Mezzio Road and Center Road, 30 feet south of Mezzio Road; USGS Forestville, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 27 minutes, 06 seconds N. and Longitude 79 degrees, 13 minutes, 30 seconds W., NAD 1927

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 17 to 40 inches. Depth to lithic contact ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragment content ranges from 0 to 35 percent, by volume, in the A horizon; 1 to 35 percent in the B horizon; and 10 to 60 percent in the C horizon. Rock fragments are dominantly channers or flagstones of shale or siltstone.

The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 4. Texture is silt loam, loam, or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. It has granular or subangular blocky structure and very friable to firm consistence. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through strongly acid, unless limed.

The E horizon, when present, has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, chroma of 1 through 3, and have redoximorphic features. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay . Structure is weak or moderate subangular blocky or it is platy. Consistence ranges from friable to firm.

The Bw or Bg horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Chroma of 1 is allowed in the lower part. Faces of peds are chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay in the fine-earth fraction. It has subangular blocky or angular blocky structure which is within coarse or very coarse prisms in many pedons. Consistence is friable to very firm. Ped interiors have distinct or prominent redoximorphic features. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid.

Some pedons have a BC or 2BC horizon, which has prismatic structure and is massive or platy within the prisms.

The C or 2Cr horizon, where present, is similar in color and texture to the B horizon, but the material is massive, or has plate-like divisions inherited from the rock structure. Reaction is very strongly acid or strongly acid.

The R or 2R horizon is shale or siltstone bedrock that weathers readily in the upper part, and can be cut easily with handtools in the upper few inches.

COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.

The Allis, Hornellsville and Kanona series are similar soils in related families. Allis soils have chroma of 0 to 2 dominant in the matrix of all or subhorizons of the B horizon. Hornellsville soils have frigid temperature regimes, and Kanona soils lack bedrock within a depth of 40 inches.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Hornell soils are nearly level to steep soils on uplands. Slope gradients range from 0 to 50 percent. These soils formed in till or till and residuum. The till forms a moderately thick mantle, 20 to 40 inches deep, over acid shale or siltstone bedrock. The till mantle is derived from material like the underlying bedrock. In some places the shale bedrock has weathered and part of the soil mantle is residuum. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 degrees to 50 degrees F, mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 to 45 inches, and mean annual frost-free days ranges from 140 to 170 days. The elevation ranges from 600 to 1800 feet above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the poorly drained Allis soils which formed in similar material, and the Chippewa, Erie, Fremont, and Volusia soils which formed in deep till deposits. The Hornellsville soils are at adjacent higher elevations and have a frigid temperature regime.

DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Permeability is moderate in the surface layer and slow or very slow in the subsoil and substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used at low intensity levels for growing small grains, hay, potatoes, and pasture. Native vegetation is sugar maple, red maple, white ash, black cherry, oak, eastern hemlock, and eastern white pine.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern and southcentral New York, and northeast Ohio. MLRA's 101, 139, and 140. The soil is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Tioga County, Pennsylvania, 1929.

REMARKS: The concept of the Hornell series has been changed to exclude moderately well drained soils. It is believed that the moderately well drained segment lacks an Aquic moisture regime and therefore are not Aquepts. The classification of Hornell was changed to Endoaquepts to comply with 8th Edition of Soil Taxonomy.

Diagnostic horizons and other feature recognized in the typical pedon are:
(1) Ochric Epipedon - the zone from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
(2) Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 35 inches (Bw horizons)
(3) Aquic moisture regime - as evidenced by redoximorphic features and low chromas ped faces below the surface layer (Bw1 horizon).
(4) Aeric subgroup - the zone from 8 to 30 inches, matrix colors with hues 10YR or yellower, and values, moist, and chromas 3 or greater (Bw horizons).

ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available for pedon S73NY049-11 from the Cornell University soil survey laboratory.

National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.