LOCATION MUNDALITE               NY

Established Series
TDT-SWA-GWS
05/2018

MUNDALITE SERIES


The Mundalite series consists of well drained soils that formed in loamy till. They are moderately deep to dense till and very deep to bedrock. They are on backslopes and upper footslopes of glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 3 to 60 percent. Mean annual precipitation is about 1,175 mm, and mean annual temperature is about 4 degrees C.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, isotic, frigid Oxyaquic Haplorthods

TYPICAL PEDON: Mundalite fine sandy loam on a 30 percent slope in a Mundalite-Rawsonville complex, 15 to 35 percent slopes, rocky, very bouldery map unit at about 640 meters elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted).

Oe--0 to 3 cm; black (7.5YR 2/1) moderately decomposed plant material; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 13 cm thick)

E--3 to 10 cm; dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) fine sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine rand medium roots; 2 percent cobbles and 8 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 cm thick)

Bhs1--10 to 18 cm; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; weak medium and fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and medium roots; 2 percent cobbles and 8 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary.

Bhs2--18 to 51 cm; dark brown (7.5YR 3/3) fine sandy loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent cobbles and 8 percent gravel; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary.

Bs--51 to 61 cm; brown (7.5YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and medium roots; 2 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bhs and Bs horizons is 46 to 91 cm.)

BC1--61 to 79 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) and dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) fine sandy loam; weak thin and medium platy structure; friable; few fine and medium roots; 2 percent cobbles and 10 percent gravel; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.

BC2--79 to 86 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam; weak thin and medium platy structure; firm; brittle; few fine roots; few medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of oxidized iron and few fine faint grayish brown (10YR 5/2) iron depletions; 7 percent cobbles and 15 percent gravel; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the BC horizons is 0 to 35 cm.)

Cd--86 to 152 cm; brown (10YR 5/3) gravelly sandy loam; massive with thick plates; very firm; brittle; 10 percent cobbles and 20 percent gravel; strongly acid.

TYPE LOCATION: Franklin County, New York; Town of Bellmont, about 2,910 feet east of the south end of Ragged Lake; USGS Ragged Lake, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 42 minutes, 27.3 seconds N. and Longitude 74 degrees, 03 minutes, 14.4 seconds W., NAD 1983.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Mineral solum thickness and depth to densic layer is typically 64 to 100 cm. Depth to bedrock is 150 cm or greater. Rock fragments range from 0 to 30 percent in the solum and from 5 to 50 percent in the substratum. The spodic horizon typically is greater than 46 cm thick. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to moderately acid in the mineral solum and from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum.

The O horizon consists of slightly to highly decomposed plant material. It is neutral or has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 2.5, and chroma of 1 or 2. In some pedons the reaction ranges to ultra acid.

Some pedons have an A horizon with hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 2 to 3, and chroma of 0 to 2, or the horizon is neutral. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam or sandy loam. Structure is weak or moderate granular. Consistence is very friable.

The E horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 0 to 3, or the horizon is neutral. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand. Structure is weak granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is very friable.

The Bhs horizon has hue of 10R to 7.5YR, and value and chroma of 3 or less, or hue of 10YR with value and chroma of 2 or less. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam or sandy loam. Structure is weak or moderate granular, weak prismatic, or subangular blocky. Consistence is predominantly very friable or friable, but may also have firm masses in some pedons.

The Bs horizon has hue of 10R to 7.5YR, value and chroma of 3 to 5. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam or sandy loam. Structure is weak subangular blocky. Consistence is dominantly friable, but some pedons have firm masses in the upper part.

The BC horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 2 to 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loamy sand. Structure is subangular blocky or platy. Consistence is friable or firm.

The Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value 3 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sandy loam. It is massive or has plate-like divisions of geogenic origin. Consistence is firm or very firm.

COMPETING SERIES: These are the Becket, Marlow, Mundal, and Plaisted series. Becket, Marlow, and Plaisted soils typically have spodic horizons that are less than 46 cm thick. Also, Marlow and Plaisted soils have higher silt contents in the solum. Mundal soils have a greater duration of saturation in the subsoil.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Mundalite soils are gently sloping to very steep soils formed in loamy till with a dense substratum. They are usually on convex backslopes and upper footslopes of glaciated uplands. Most areas have boulders covering from 0.1 to 3 percent of the soil surface. Slope ranges from 3 to 60 percent, but is dominantly 8 to 35 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges 1,015 to 1,524 mm; mean annual temperature is 2 to 6 degrees C; and the frost-free period ranges from 90 to 120 days. Elevation ranges from 500 to 1,000 m above sea level.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hogback, Rawsonville, Knob Lock, Ampersand, and Wilmington soils. Hogback soils have bedrock at 25 to 50 cm deep. Rawsonville soils have bedrock at 50 to 100 cm deep. Knob Lock soils are dominantly organic deposits in areas of bedrock controlled landforms. The somewhat poorly drained Ampersand and poorly drained Wilmington soils are on the lower part of footslopes or on toeslopes.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to high. Estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the mineral solum and moderately low or moderately high in the dense substratum.

USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are forested with balsam fir, red spruce, yellow birch, red maple, paper birch, mountain ash, and striped maple.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Adirondack Mountain region of New York. MLRA 143. The series is of moderate extent.

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

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Clinton County, New York, 1994.

REMARKS: The separation of the Mundalite from the Mundal series is not clear. Further work is needed to better differentiate the two concepts.

Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon are:
Albic horizon - the zone from 3 to 10 cm (E horizon).
Spodic horizon - the zone from 10 to 61 cm (Bhs1, Bhs2, and Bs horizons).
Oxyaquic subgroup - redoximorphic features within 100 cm of the mineral soil surface (BC2 horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Engineering test data and characterization data are available for Essex and Hamilton Counties, New York for pedons 86NY031003, 87NY031004, 88NY041011, and S1993NY031003. Characterization data for Mundalite and similar soils is available through the National Cooperative Soil Survey Soil Characterization Database: http://ncsslabdatamart.sc.egov.usda.gov/


National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.