LOCATION PARKER NJ+VA
Established Series
CFE-JHW; Rev. RJE-DHK
12/2021
PARKER SERIES
The Parker series consists of very deep, somewhat excessively drained soils that formed in residuum derived from granitic gneiss bedrock. They occur on gently sloping to very steep slopes of ridges and hills. Slopes range from 3 to 70 percent.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Parker very gravelly sandy loam, on a 24 percent slope, wooded. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oe--0 to 7 inches; black (10YR 2/1) partially decomposed organic matter in spaces between angular stones, gravel and cobbles; strongly acid. (0 to 7 inches thick)
A--7 to 12 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) very gravelly sandy loam; strong coarse granular structure; friable; many fine and few large roots; 50 percent angular stones, cobbles and gravel; strongly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick)
Bw1--12 to 27 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) very gravelly loam; moderate coarse granular structure; very friable; few fine and many large roots; 50 percent angular gravel, cobbles and stones; strongly acid; diffuse irregular boundary.
Bw2--27 to 38 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) very gravelly sandy loam; moderate coarse granular and moderate fine subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine and large roots; 50 percent angular stones, cobbles and gravel; very strongly acid; diffuse irregular boundary. (combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 15 to 35 inches)
C--38 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; few fine roots; 60 percent angular stones, cobbles and gravel, mostly hard and unweathered; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Morris Township, Morris County, New Jersey; 870 feet north of Hanover Avenue across the road from junction with Raynor Road; USGS Mendham, NJ topographic quadrangle; approximate coordinates lat. 40 degrees 50 minutes 06 seconds N and 74 degrees 31 minutes 24 seconds W, NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to solid bedrock ranges from 5 to 10 feet or more. Rock fragments range from 35 to 70 percent by volume through the solum and 60 to 90 percent in the C horizon. Rock fragment sizes commonly range from gravel through stones but individual pedons are dominated by either gravel, cobbles or stone fragments. Rock fragments on the soil surface range to extremely stony. The silt and sand fractions are dominated by quartz, feldspar and various ferro-magnesium minerals derived from granitic gneiss or similar rocks. The soil usually contains very small amounts of mica. The fine-earth fraction of the control section typically has 10 to 18 percent clay. Texture of the fine-earth fraction throughout the solum and substratum is loam or sandy loam. Some pedons have a few faint clay films on faces of peds and in voids and bridging between sand grains. The soil is very strongly acid or strongly acid unless limed.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 1 through 4. It commonly has moderate or strong, medium or coarse granular structure.
Some pedons have an E horizon that has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 6.
The B horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. The abundant rock fragments interrupt structure, but the fine-earth fraction has moderate, medium and coarse granular or weak, fine or medium subangular blocky structure.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. Color patterns appear to be related to differential weathering of the banded gneiss (or related types) bedrock. Some pedons have a Cr horizon below 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: The are the
Bremo,
Cardiff,
Greenlee,
Griffinsburg (T),
Handshoe,
Konnarock,
Northcove,
Watt, and Wriston (T) series. Bremo soils are moderately deep to hard bedrock and have rock fragments consisting of hornblende schist, gneiss, quartz, feldspar crystals, or greenstone. Cardiff soils are deep to hard, fine-grained metamorphic bedrock and have rock fragments consisting of fine-grained metamorphic rocks such as slate or phyllite. Greenlee soils generally occur at elevations between 1500 and 3500 feet in the Southern Appalachian Mountains and developed in colluvium. Griffinsburg (T) and Konnarock soils are moderately deep to hard bedrock. Handshoe soils have rock fragments dominated by sandstone and formed in colluvium. Northcove soils generally occur at elevations between 1200 and 3800 feet in the Southern Appalachian Mountains and developed in colluvium derived from low-grade metasedimentary rocks such as quartzite, phyllite, slate, metagraywacke and metasandstone. Watt soils are moderately deep to hard graphitic bedrock. Wriston (T) soils are moderately deep to hard sedimentary bedrock and have rock fragments consisting of finer-grained sedimentary rocks such as shale, siltstone or fine-grained sandstone.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Parker soils formed in residuum derived from granitic gneiss bedrock. They are on ridges and hills in the uplands. Slopes of 15 percent are common but the range extends from 3 to 70 percent. The mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 55 degrees F.; mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 48 inches; and the frost-free season ranges from 150 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Annandale,
Califon,
Edneyville and
Washington soils. Annandale, Edneyville and Washington soils have argillic horizons and less rock fragments throughout. Califon soils have redoximorphic features in the subsoil and substratum, have fragipans, and are at lower elevations in the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat excessively drained. Moderately rapid permeability. Index Surface Runoff class ranges from very low to medium.
USE AND VEGETATION: Less than half of the Parker soils are cleared of trees and stones for growing crops. Most cleared areas are idle for a number of years and are in various stages of second growth forest dominantly of dogwood and red cedar. On Parker soils which have not been cleared but have been repeatedly logged, the vegetation is the oak-hickory forest.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: New Jersey and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent, with approximately 85,000 acres identified.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Upper Raritan River area, New Jersey, 1938.
REMARKS: The 11/2005 revision places Parker in a semiactive CEC activity class. This placement is based on the similar Gladstone series which has laboratory data for three pedons, all within the semiactive class.
Diagnostic horizons recognize in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon--0 to 12 inches (Oe and A horizons)
b. Cambic horizon--12 to 38 inches. (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons)
ADDITIONAL DATA: CEC class placement based on lab data from the related Gladstone series. Three Gladstone pedons from Hunterdon and Warren Counties have semiactive activity class.
REVISED: 11/86- CFE, JHW; 11/2005-RJE, DHK
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.