LOCATION LIVINGSTON VT NJ NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Very-fine, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Mollic Endoaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Livingston clay - described in an area of Livingston clay, in an idle field.
A-- 0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) clay; strong fine granular structure and strong very fine subangular blocky structure; sticky, plastic; many fibrous roots; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (6 to 9 inches thick.)
Bg1-- 7 to 20 inches; dark gray (N 4/0) clay; strong coarse prismatic structure separating to moderate very fine and medium angular blocky structure; plastic, sticky; common fibrous roots; slickensides; few very dark gray (N 3/0) coatings on surfaces of coarse prisms; many coarse prominent olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron accumulation with brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) centers; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bg2-- 20 to 28 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay; moderate coarse prismatic structure separating to weak very fine and medium angular blocky structure; plastic, sticky; few fibrous roots; distinct slickensides coated with dark gray (N 4/0); clay films along root channels; few white (10YR 8/1) irregular streaks; many fine prominent olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron accumulation with brown (7.5YR 4/4) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) centers; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bg3-- 28 to 36 inches; dark gray (5Y 4/1) clay; very weak very fine subangular blocky structure; plastic, sticky; few fibrous roots; few slickensides; many coarse prominent olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; neutral; clear smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the Bg horizons is 12 to 39 inches thick.)
BCg-- 36 to 46 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) clay; moderate very fine subangular blocky structure; very sticky, very plastic; few fibrous roots; few manganese patches; many coarse distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; slightly alkaline; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 13 inches thick.)
Cg-- 46 to 62 inches; dark gray (10YR 4/1) clay; moderate fine angular blocky structure and subangular blocky structure; very plastic, very sticky; few manganese patches; gray (10YR 6/1) segregated lime (5 to 15 mm. in diameter) and streaks of lime, slight effervescence; common medium prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Addison County, Vermont, Town of Addison; on Vermont Fish & Game Department Dead Creek Waterfowl Management Area, about 4.7 miles east-northeast of Vermont-New York bridge at Chimney Point, 3.4 miles southwest of the intersection of Vermont Highways 22A and 17, 1.5 miles northwest of the intersection of Vermont Highway 22A and the Addison-Bridgeport town line, about halfway between the East and Middle Branches of Dead Creek, at an elevation of 150 feet above mean sea level. USGS Port Henry, VT topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 2 minutes, 40 seconds N. and Longitude 73 degrees, 19 minutes, 50 seconds W., NAD1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 30 to 48 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly alkaline in the A and Bg horizons, is neutral or slightly alkaline in the BCg horizon, and ranges from slightly alkaline to moderately alkaline in the Cg horizon. Flooded and depressional phases of the Livingston series are recognized.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 5Y, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 or 1. Texture is clay, silty clay, silty clay loam, or their mucky analogs. Structure is moderate or strong, very fine to coarse granular or very fine subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable or friable. It is sticky and plastic.
The Bg and BCg horizon are neutral or have hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 0 through 2. Texture is clay. Structure is weak to strong, medium to very coarse prismatic or weak to strong, very fine to medium subangular or angular blocky, or weak or moderate, medium or thick platy. Consistence is firm or very firm. It is sticky or very sticky, plastic or very plastic.
The Cg horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some strata may range to chroma of 4 in the BCg and Cg horizons. Texture is clay. Structure is moderate or strong, fine or medium, angular or subangular blocky, or is massive with varves. Consistence is firm or very firm It is sticky or very sticky, plastic or very plastic.
COMPETING SERIES: Guffin is the only series in the same family. Guffin soils are less than 40 inches to bedrock.
Similar soils in related families are the Biddeford, Canandaigua, Covington, Latty, Lyons, Madalin, Maybid, Panton, Paulding, Scantic, and Scitico soils. Biddeford, Latty, Madalin, Maybid, Scantic and Scitico soils have a fine particle-size control section, and Biddeford and Scantic soils have a frigid soil temperature regime. Canandaigua soils have a fine-silty particle-size control section. Covington and Panton soils have argillic horizons. Lyons soils have a fine-loamy particle-size control section. Paulding soils have Ochric epipedons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Livingston soils are nearly level soils on glacial lake plains. They are in depressions and drainageways. Slope ranges from 0 to 3 percent. These soils formed in calcareous estuarine and glaciolacustrine clays. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 26 to 36 inches and the mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The frost-free season ranges from 130 to 165 days. Elevations range from 50 to 1000 feet above mean sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The poorly drained Covington, somewhat poorly drained Kingsbury, somewhat poorly and poorly drained Panton, and moderately well drained Vergennes soils are associated in a drainage sequence. Elmridge, Elmwood, Melrose, Swanton, and Whately soils are on outwash landforms and have coarse-textured material over fine-textured material. Histosols are in depressions and are organic soils.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Very poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible, if ponded, or it is high or very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is low to moderately high in the mineral surface layer and subsoil, and very low to moderately low in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are wooded or are idle, vegetated with reeds, sedges, or cattails. A few areas have been drained and are used for the production of forage crops. Common trees are red maple, elm, northern white cedar and other water tolerant species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Vermont, New Jersey, and New York. MLRA's 142 and 144A. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Columbia County, New York, 1923.
REMARKS: 1. This series is classified to the 9th edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy with this revision. The former classification was Very-fine, illitic, nonacid, mesic Mollic Epiaquepts. 2. The horizons and features diagnostic for the typical pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon from 0 to 7 inches.
b. Cambic horizon from 7 to 46 inches.
c. Mesic temperature regime.
d. Aquic moisture regime.
e. Particle size control section, from 10 to 40 inches, is very fine.
ADDITIONAL DATA: NSSL laboratory data is available for the typical pedon S58VT-1-4 and S58VT-1-2.