LOCATION MORRIS PA+NY
Established Series
Rev.EAW-MWH
01/2015
MORRIS SERIES
The Morris series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in till from red sandstone, siltstone, and shale. They have a dense fragipan layer from 25 to 56 cm (10 to 22 in) that restricts root penetration and water movement. Slopes range from 0 to 25 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high above the fragipan and is low or moderately low in the fragipan and substratum. Mean annual precipitation is about 8 degrees C (46 degrees F) and mean annual temperature is about 1080 mm (42.5 in).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Fragiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Morris channery loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes, in a hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 20 cm, (0 to 8 inches); dark reddish gray (5YR 4/2) channery loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (13 to 30 cm thick)(5 to 12 inches thick)
Bw--20 to 25 cm, (8 to 10 inches); brown (7.5YR 4/4) channery loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; 25 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 51 cm thick) (3 to 20 inches thick)
Eg--25 to 36 cm, (10 to 14 inches); reddish gray (5YR 5/2) channery loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; 5 percent medium distinct reddish brown (5YR4/4), moist, masses of oxidized iron and 5 percent medium distinct gray (N 5/0), moist, iron depletions; 15 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 28 cm thick)(0 to 11 inches thick)
Bx--36 to 127 cm, (14 to 50 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) channery loam; moderate coarse prismatic structure; firm, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; brittle; 5 percent medium distinct gray (N 6/0), moist, iron depletions and 5 percent medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), moist, masses of oxidized iron; gray (N 5/0) prism faces; 25 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Greater than 46 cm (18 inches) thick)
C--127 to 152 cm, (50 to 60 inches); reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) channery loam; massive; firm; 30 percent rock fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Wayne County, Pennsylvania, Clinton Township, 6 miles north of Waymart on State Route 296, 200 feet south of intersection with Route T439, on west side of road; Forest City, PA USGS topographic quadrangle; lat. 41 degrees 39 minutes 28.64 seconds N. and long. 75 degrees 24 minutes 12.30 seconds W., NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness is greater than 102 cm (40 inches). Depth to the fragipan ranges from 25 to 56 cm (10 to 22 inches). Depth to bedrock is 152 cm (60 inches) or more. Rock fragments of angular or rounded sandstone, siltstone or shale range from 10 to 40 percent above the fragipan, and from 15 to 50 percent in the Bx and C horizons. They average less than 35 percent in the control section. Unless limed, reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the upper part of the solum, and strongly acid to slightly acid in the lower part of the solum.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 1 through 4. In uncultivated areas, the A horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam. The A horizon, when present, can range to 20 cm (8 inches) thick. In wooded areas, some pedons lack an A horizon and have an O horizon above an E horizon.
The Bw horizon above 20 inches has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 7, and chroma of 1 through 6. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam.
The Bg or Eg horizons, when present, have colors similar to the Bw, except that the chromas are restricted to 2 or less, and may have high chroma redoximorphic features as well.
The Bx horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 6. Faces of prisms range in hue from 2.5YR through 10YR, or are neutral, value from 5 through 7, and chroma from 0 through 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, silt loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
Some pedons have a C horizon. Colors are similar to the Bx horizon. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Scriba and
Rexford series. Scriba soils have more than 45 percent sand in the particle-size control section. Rexford soils have stratified materials in the series control section and are typically found on glacial outwash deposits, stream terraces, or water sorted moraines.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Morris soils are in till plains and slightly concave uplands. Slopes are dominantly 2 to 15 percent but range from about 0 to 25. The soils formed in firm glacial till derived from reddish sandstone, siltstone and shale. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 795 to 1725 mm (31 to 68 inches), but can range as high as 1790mm (70 inches) in higher elevations. Mean annual temperature ranges from 6 to 11 degrees C (43 to 52 degrees F), but in some higher elevations it can range as low as 4 degrees C (39 degrees F). The frost-free season ranges from 105 to 180 days. These soils generally occur at elevation between 100 to 670 meters (328 to 2,198 feet) above sea level, but have been mapped as high as 750 meters (2,460 feet) in some areas.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Norwich,
Wellsboro, and
Lackawanna soils which are in a drainage sequence with Morris soils. Lackawanna soils do not have redoximorphic features above the fragipan. Norwich soils are poorly drained and occur in nearby lower depressions or flat broader areas of the till plain.
Arnot,
Lordstown, and
Oquaga soils are on nearby bedrock controlled landforms. These soils have bedrock within 40 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high above the fragipan, and is low or moderately low in the fragipan and substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Many areas have been cleared but much is now idle. Hay, pasture, and small grains are the principal crops, but some areas are cropped to corn. Red maple, elm, hemlock, black ash, sugar maple, white pine, and oaks are the dominant trees in wooded areas.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern New York and north central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Almost all of the acreage occurs in MLRA 140. The remainder of the acreage occurs in transitional areas along the boundary of MLRA 140 in MLRAs 127, 147 and 144A. The series is of large extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chenango River Project, New York, 1936.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of about 20 cm (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 20 cm to a depth of 25 cm (Bw horizon).
3. Fragipan - the zone from 36 cm to a depth of 127 cm (Bx horizon).
4. Aquepts Suborder - the zone from 25 to 36 cm (Eg horizon) Dominant matrix color chroma 2 or less and faces of peds are 2 chroma with redox concentrations.
5. Aeric Subgroup - chroma of 3 or more in 50 percent or more of the matrix of one or more horizons between 15 and 75 cm. (Bw horizon)
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.