LOCATION KLEINEKILL NY
Established Series
RKS-JTI-DAS
01/2014
KLEINEKILL SERIES
The Kleinekill series consists of very deep, well drained soils on anthropogenic landforms. These soils form in a thick mantle of human transported material that includes loamy soil material over a clay liner over household refuse. They occur in landfills in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or moderately high in the loamy material, and very low in the compacted clay layer. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 12 degrees C and mean annual precipitation is about 1262 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Kleinekill silt loam in a on a 20 percent slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted differently.)
^A1--0 to 6 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; weak medium and coarse granular structure; friable; common fine roots; neutral (pH 6.9); clear smooth boundary.
^A2--6 to 13 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) loam, brown (7.5YR 5/2) dry; weak coarse granular structure; friable; few fine roots; neutral (pH 6.9); clear smooth boundary.
^Bw--13 to 28 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam with 30 percent pockets of light reddish brown (2.5YR 7/4) silty clay; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; 8 percent gravel; common coarse prominent reddish brown (5YR 4/4) iron concentrations; neutral (pH 6.8); clear wavy boundary.
^C1--28 to 33 cm; gray (10YR 5/1) sandy clay loam with 15 percent pockets of white (2.5YR 8/1) silty clay; massive; firm; 5 percent gravel; common medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) iron concentrations; strongly acid (pH 5.5); clear smooth boundary.
^C2--33 to 61 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) gravelly sandy clay loam; massive; firm; one medium root; 15 percent gravel; common medium prominent gray (7.5YR 5/1) iron depletions and common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) iron concentrations; very strongly acid (pH 4.9); clear smooth boundary.
2^C3--61 to 99 centimeters; dark gray (N 4/) silty clay; massive; firm; common medium prominent olive (5Y 5/4) iron concentrations; strongly acid (pH 5.2); abrupt smooth boundary.
3^Cu--99 to 150 centimeters; dark olive brown (2.5Y 3/3) extremely artifactual sandy loam; massive; firm; 15 percent cobble-sized plastic fragments, 15 percent cobble-sized cardboard fragments, 10 percent cobble-sized brick fragments, 10 percent cobble-sized metal fragments, 5 percent cobble-sized concrete fragments; 15 percent gravel-sized glass fragments, 10 percent gravel-sized metal fragments, and 5 percent gravel-sized rubber fragments; neutral (pH 6.8).
TYPE LOCATION: Richmond County, New York: Approximately 1000 feet east of the intersection of Route 440 and Victory Boulevard; USGS Arthur Kill, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 40 degrees, 35 minutes, 2.5 seconds N. and Longitude 74 degrees, 11 minutes, 26.3 seconds W. (Rockwell GPS Receiver); NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Total thickness of the combined loamy mantle and clay liner over the refuse layer ranges from 90 to 120 cm; and the total thickness of the landfill materials are generally more than 1.5 meters thick. The human transported soil material that forms the loamy mantle may be any geologic deposit ranging from till, outwash, alluvium, coastal/marine sediments, or residuum. The clayey liner material, usually 30 cm thick, is often derived from Cretaceous age coastal plain deposits. Rock fragments range from 1 to 30 percent in the loamy material, and from 0 to 5 percent in the clay liner. Coarse fragments, both rocks and human artifacts combined, range from 35 to 75 percent in the refuse layer. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to moderately alkaline throughout.
The ^A horizon has hue of 2.5Y to 2.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 to 4. Textures include sandy loam, loam, silt loam. Structure is granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable to friable.
The ^Bw or ^Bwu horizons, if present, have hue of 2.5Y to 2.5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 8. Textures include sandy loam, loam, silt loam; structure is commonly subangular blocky or fine platy, and consistence is very friable to friable.
The ^C or ^Cu horizons have hue of 2.5Y to 2.5YR, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 8. Textures include sandy loam, loam, silt loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and clay loam; structure is massive, and consistence is firm.
The 2^C horizon, or clay liner, has hue 2.5Y to 10Y, including neutral, value of 3 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 8. Textures include sandy clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay loam, silty clay, clay loam, and clay; structure is massive, and consistence is firm or very firm.
The 3^C horizons below the clay liner contain layers of municipal refuse and human transported soil and rock material. Human artifacts in the refuse include paper, cardboard, carpet, cloth, plastic, glass, metal, organic waste, and rubber. There is a smaller component of construction materials such as asphalt, brick, concrete, treated and untreated lumber, metal, plasterboard, plus small amounts of coal ash. Household objects range from gravel to stone-sized, and construction materials range from gravel to boulder-size. There is a distinction between artifacts that will hold water, allow roots to penetrate and decompose versus those that are impenetrable, persistent and function similar to rock fragments. Examples of impenetrable persistent artifacts are glass, plastic, rubber, and treated lumber. Generally, the human transported soil material is similar to the soil mantle over the geomembrane. Texture of the human transported soil material ranges from loamy sand to silt loam. Consistence is loose to firm. Some intermittent layers or materials such as plastic act as a barrier to root and water movement.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no soils in the same family.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Kleinekill soils are on nearly level to moderately steep artificially created landforms in landfills. These soils form in a cap of anthrotransported soil material over household garbage. The anthrotransported soil material is from somewhat locally excavated materials including alluvial deposits, glacial materials or coastal plains sediments. Dominant coarse fragments in the substratum are human manufactured items. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 1016 to 1270 mm. Mean annual
temperature ranges from 16 to 29 degrees C.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Other soils on nearby anthropogenic landscapes include somewhat excessively drained
Rikers soils formed in similar materials; well drained, loamy-skeletal
Laguardia and moderately well drained
Secaucus soils, formed in a mixture of construction debris and human transported soil material; and well drained, coarse-loamy
Greenbelt and moderately well drained
North Meadow soils, formed in human transported soil materials with less than 10 percent human artifacts.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high or moderately high in the loamy material, and very low in the compacted clay layer.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are generally covered with common reed and mugwort. Restoration with native vegetation is planned for many landfills.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur on modified landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeastern United States, MLRAs 144A and 149B. The soils of this series are small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Richmond County, New York, 2014. Series propsoed Richmond County, New York, 2011.
REMARKS: The Kleinekill typical pedon has been drafted from a combination of field observations and soil property concepts based on landfill cover specifications established by New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). These specifications are based on Type III Final Cover defined in DSNY's Final Cover Design Report for Sections 2/8 and 3/4. Every effort has been made to create a representative pedon based on these specificiations, however public health concern has prevented field staff from gathering standard documentation and field verifying the cover specifications for Kleinekill soils.
Some pedons develop anaerobic conditions in the subsoil due to methane gas emissions which may promote the formation of redoximorphic features without saturation by water.
The internal soil temperature has been modified by high levels of biological activity and garbage undergoing rapid decomposition. The classification as hyperthermic is debatable. The area would typically be classified as mesic.
One year soil temperature data is available for 10 cm and 50 cm depths. A poster describing temperature investigations is referenced below. The internal soil temperature has been modified by high levels of biological activity and garbage undergoing rapid decomposition. The classification as hyperthermic is the subject of some debate but the study and lab data support the hyperthermic soil temperature classification. The area would typically be mesic.
Reference: Mount, Henry and Luis Hernandez. Temperature Signatures for Urban Soils of New York City. Poster session presented at: First International Conference on Soils of Urban, Industrial, Traffic, and Mining Areas; 2000 Jul 12-18; Essen, Germany.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 13 cm (A1 and A2 horizons).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 13 to 28 cm (Bw horizon).
3. Oxyaquic subgroup - saturation within 100 centimeters of the mineral soil surface.
4. The classification of this series is provisional until new Taxonomic classifications are developed for anthropogenic soils.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.