LOCATION ILION NY+OH
Established Series
JWW-SWF-PSP
05/2011
ILION SERIES
The Ilion series consists of deep or very deep, poorly drained soils formed in till which is strongly influenced by calcareous black shale or limestone and grayish shale. They are nearly level or gently sloping soils in depressions in upland till plains. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow above the subsoil and slow or very slow in the lower subsoil and substratum. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual temperature is 48 degrees F. and the mean annual precipitation is 38 inches.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Mollic Endoaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Ilion silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap -- 0 to 9 inches; very dark gray (10YR 3/1) silt loam; moderate fine and medium, granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 5 percent shale fragments; neutral; abrupt, smooth boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick.)
Eg -- 9 to 14 inches; light-gray to gray (10YR 6/1) silt loam; very weak, fine subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common fine pores; 5 percent rock fragments; common medium prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; neutral; clear, wavy boundary. (0 to 9 inches thick.)
Btg1 -- 14 to 23 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; dark gray (5Y 4/1) faces of peds; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots in upper part; clay skins in most pores, patchy on ped faces; 10 percent rock fragments; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation and common faint olive gray (5Y 4/2) iron depletions; neutral; clear, smooth boundary.
Btg2 -- 23 to 33 inches, dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silty clay loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly plastic; few fine pores; thin clay skins on most faces of peds and lining pores; 10 percent rock fragments; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; slightly alkaline; gradual, smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizons is 10 to 26 inches thick.)
C -- 33 to 60 inches, very dark grayish brown (2.5Y 3/2) channery silt loam; weak thick plate-like divisions; firm; few fine pores; 20 percent rock fragments; many medium distinct olive (5Y 4/4) and prominent light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in linear streaks; slightly effervescent; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Wyoming County, New York; town of Bennington, 2 1/2 miles east of Bennington Center on State Route 354. USGS Attica, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 50 minutes, 10 seconds N. and Longitude 78 degrees, 20 minutes, 56 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Depth to carbonates ranges from 20 to 60 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 40 inches to more than 8 feet and may be either ripable or hard. Rock fragment, mainly shale content by volume ranges from 0 to 20 percent in the surface and upper part of the subsoil and 10 to 35 percent in the lower part of the subsoil and C horizon and includes up to 3 percent greater than 3 inches in diameter in the solum and 3 to 8 percent greater than 3 inches in diameter in the C horizon. Rock fragments greater than 10 inches in diameter cover 0 to 20 percent of the surface. Unless limed, reaction ranges from moderately acid through neutral in the Ap and E horizons, moderately acid through slightly alkaline in the Bt horizons, and slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in the BC and C horizons. Free carbonates may be present in the lower part of the solum and are usually found in the C horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or fine subangular blocky structure and friable to firm consistence.
The Eg horizon, where present, is neutral, or has hue of 10YR through 5Y or neutral, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 or 2 and it contains redoximorphic features. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. The horizon is massive or has very weak or weak platy, angular or subangular blocky structure and friable to firm consistence.
The Btg horizon is neutral, or has hue of 10YR through 5Y or neutral, value of 3 through 6 and chroma of 1 or 2. It is clay loam or light silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction containing an average of 28 to 35 percent clay. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse, subangular blocky or strong coarse prismatic parting to blocky. It commonly has redoximorphic accumulations and/or depletions.
Some pedons have a BC horizon containing free carbonates, with colors and textures similar to the B and C horizon.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 1 through 3. Some pedons have chroma of 3 below 30 inches. In some pedons the C horizon has redoximorphic features, in others they are lacking. It is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. It is massive or has thick or thin plate-like divisions. Some pedons lack free carbonates in the upper part, but typically the horizon is calcareous.
Some pedons may have a 2R below 40 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Lantz,
Olmsted,
Orio and
Varick series are members of the same family. Lantz soils formed in colluvium derived from igneous and metamorphic rocks. Olmsted soils formed in water sorted materials and have stratified lower B and C horizons. Orio soils have a higher content of sand in the control section and occur on depressional parts of stream terraces and outwash plains. Varick soils have shale bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
Kanona,
Lakemont,
Madalin and
Romulus series are similar soils in related families. Kanona, Lakemont and Madalin soils have greater than 35 percent clay content in the control section. Romulus soils have an average clay content from 18 to 35 percent in the control section and have colors of 7.5YR or redder in the B and C horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Ilion soils are nearly level to gently sloping soils that are on toe-slope positions or depressions in upland till plains. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent. They are formed in till derived from calcareous gray shale with an admixture of clayey lake sediments in some areas. Mean annual air temperature ranges from 45 degrees to 49 degrees F; mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 45 inches; and mean growing season from 120 to 160 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the moderately well drained
Danley, the somewhat poorly drained
Darien, the moderately well drained
Nunda, the somewhat poorly drained
Burdett, the well drained and moderately well drained
Mohawk, and the somewhat poorly drained
Manheim, all of which are in a drainage sequence with Ilion. Also associated are the
Alden,
Fremont,
Hornell, and
Sun soils. Alden and Sun soils are very poorly drained and occur in the wettest parts of the landscape. Fremont soils are somewhat poorly drained and are distinctly more acid. Hornell soils are finer textured, more acid, and have shale bedrock at depths of 20 to 40 inches.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low to very high. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow above the subsoil and slow or very slow in the lower subsoil and substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used mainly for growing hay or pasture. Corn and oats are grown on a small acreage. A moderate area is idle. Red maple, elm, and associated water-tolerant species of northern hardwoods dominate existing woodlots.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Till plains adjacent to the Erie-Ontario Plain in New York and Ohio and in the Mohawk Valley of New York, extending from both into the glaciated Allegheny Plateau. MLRA's 101, 139, and 140. Ilion soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Lewis County, New York, 1956.
REMARKS: Previously, the RIC of the Eg allowed for a B1g, or what would now probably be a Bg, to be present above the Bt. This needs to be investigated during the MLRA update process. This could impact classification. Further investigation indicates that pedons with a B1g horizon are of minor extent and will be considered to be an inclusion within the Ilion series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this profile are:
1. ochric epipedon - 0 to 14 inches. (Ap).
2. albic horizon - 9 to 14 inches. (E)
3. argillic horizon - 14 to 33 inches. (Bt1 and Bt2)
4. aquic conditions - 9 to 60 inches. (E, Bt1, Bt2, and C)
5. mollic subgroup - has colors of mollic epipedon, but is too thin, only 9 inches. (Ap)
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.