LOCATION LACKAWANNA PA+NJ NY
Established Series
Rev. EAW-ERS-SEA
09/2015
LACKAWANNA SERIES
The Lackawanna series consists of very deep, well drained soils on uplands. They formed in till derived from reddish sandstone, siltstone, and shale. A dense fragipan is present starting at a depth of 43 to 91 cm (17 to 36 in) below the soil surface. Slope ranges from 0 to 55 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C (46 degrees F) and mean annual precipitation is about 1080 mm (42.5 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Lackawanna channery silt loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap-- 0 to 20 cm (0 to 8 in); dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) channery silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; many roots; 25 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (10 to 28 cm [4 to 11 in] thick)
Bw1-- 20 to 32 cm (8 to 13 in); reddish brown (5YR 4/4) channery silt loam; weak thin platy structure parting to weak fine granular; friable; many roots; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2-- 32 to 66 cm (13 to 26 in); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) channery loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few faint clay films on faces of peds; many roots; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of Bw horizons is 15 to 81 cm (6 to 32 in].)
Bx-- 66 to 132 cm (26 to 52 in); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) channery loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak thick platy; very firm, brittle, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few faint clay films on plates and in pores; 30 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; diffuse wavy boundary. (Thickness of the Bx is greater than 36 cm [14 in].)
C-- 132 to 152 cm (52 to 60 in); weak red (10R 4/3) channery loam; massive; firm; 30 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania; Springville Township; 0.75 mile west of village of Lynn on Route 404 (Sheldon Hill Road), 100 feet north of road. Springville, PA USGS topographic quadrangle. Latitude 41 degrees, 39 minutes, 55 seconds N. and Longitude 75 degrees, 57 minutes, 09 seconds W. NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 102 to 190 cm (40 to 75 in) or more. Depth to bedrock is greater than 152 cm (60 in). Depth to top of the fragipan ranges from 43 to 91 cm (17 to 36 in). Rock fragments are of subangular or subrounded sandstone, siltstone or shale, and range from 10 to 40 percent by volume in individual horizons above the fragipan and from 15 to 65 percent in the fragipan and in the substratum. The control section, from about 25cm (10 in) to the top of the fragipan, contains less than 35 percent rock fragments by volume. The particle size control section averages 55 percent or more silt plus very fine sand. Where unlimed, reaction ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid in the surface and upper subsoil and ranges from extremely acid through slightly acid in the lower subsoil and C horizons.
The Ap horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 through 4. Some undisturbed pedons have thin A horizons, with or without an overlying O horizon, and have hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is loam, silt loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some undisturbed pedons have an E horizon with hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is loam, silt loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some undisturbed pedons have a thin Bhs horizon.
The Bw horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. Texture is loam, silt loam or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The Bx horizon has hue of 10R through 5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Some pedons are mottled and have faces of prisms with hue of 10R through 7.5YR, value of 5 through 7, and chroma of 2 through 8. Texture is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, sandy clay loam, loam, or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. The interiors of very coarse prisms of the fragipan are typically platy, or platy and blocky, but are massive in some pedons. A thin E` horizon immediately above the Bx horizon is allowed.
Color and texture of the C horizon is similar to the Bx horizon. Some pedons have a Cd horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Bath,
Braceville,
Broadalbin,
Ira,
Mardin,
Rushford,
Sodus,
Swartswood,
Wellsboro, and
Wurtsboro series. Bath, Braceville, Broadalbin, and Mardin soils have hue of 7.5YR or yellower in the fragipan. Ira, Sodus, Swartswood and Wurtsboro commonly have less than 55 percent silt plus very fine sand in the particle size control section. Rushford soils have a nearly rock fragment free 2Bx and 2C horizon. Wellsboro soils have redoximorphic features above the fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lackawanna soils are on nearly level to steep glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 55 percent. The soils developed in firm till derived from reddish sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Mean annual temperature ranges from 6 to 11 degrees C (43 to 52 degrees F). Mean annual precipitation ranges from 795 to 1725 mm (31 to 68 in), and mean annual frost-free season ranges from 105 to 180 days. These soils commonly occur at elevations between 100 and 670 m (328 and 2,198 feet), but have been mapped as high as 750 m (2,460 feet) in some areas.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS:
Wellsboro,
Morris, and
Norwich soils are in the same drainage sequence with Lackawanna, and are moderately well, somewhat poorly and poor or very poorly drained, respectively. These catenary associates are typically located lower on the landscape than Lackawanna.
Arnot,
Lordstown, and
Oquaga soils have bedrock within 100 cm (about 40 in) and are typically located higher on the landscape than Lackawanna.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the mineral soil above the fragipan and low or moderately low in and below the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most nearly level to sloping areas have been cleared and are used for growing hay, small grain, corn, pasture, and potatoes, or are idle. A significant acreage has reverted to woodland or brush. Woodlots contain sugar maple, American beech, red oak, white pine and birch.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The glaciated Allegheny Plateau of southern New York, northern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Almost all of the acreage occurs in MLRA 140. The remaining acreage occurs in transitional areas just outside the MLRA 140 boundary in adjacent MLRAs. The series is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 1911.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 20 cm (about 8 in) (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 20 cm (8 in) to a depth of 66 cm (about 26 in) (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
3. Fragipan - the zone from 66 cm (26 in) to a depth of 132 cm (about 52 in) (Bx horizon).
4. Udic soil moisture regime.
5. CEC activity class of active estimated.
Pedon classification was previosuly changed by 8th edition of Keys To Taxonomy. Lackawanna was originally classified as Fragiochrepts.
CEC activity class of active based on lab data from S87NY025-01 to keep it consistent with other soils in the landscape catena that appear to be the active class such as Wellsboro and Morris.
Undisturbed areas have some pedons with a thin Bhs horizon that does not meet criteria for horizon thickness and depth for the Spodosols order (Soil Taxonomy, Second Edition, 1999).
There are a few areas of this series mapped above 55 percent slope. These should be investigated in furture projects to determine if they actually fit the Lackawanna series criteria.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for S58-Pa-057-2 is for a pedon near the type location.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.