LOCATION PAULINS KILL NJ
Established Series
FCS-DCP-DHZ
08/2016
PAULINS KILL SERIES
The Paulins Kill series consists of very deep, well drained soils formed in Wisconsinan glaciofluvial deposits. They are nearly level to very steep soils on outwash deltas and valley trains associated with extinct proglacial lake basins. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C, and the mean annual precipitation is about 1205 mm.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Sandy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Humudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Paulins Kill gravelly loam, on a 1 percent slope in a hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted otherwise.)
Oi--0 to 2 cm; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) slightly decomposed herbaceous plant material. (0 to 6 cm thick)
Ap--2 to 29 cm; dark brown (10YR 3/3) gravelly loam, brown (10YR 5/3) dry; moderate fine and weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many fine and common medium roots; 5 percent fine, 10 percent medium, and 10 percent course gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.2); abrupt wavy boundary. (18 to 33 cm thick)
Bw--29 to 51 cm; strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) very gravelly coarse sandy loam; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; 15 percent fine, 20 percent medium, and 15 percent coarse gravel; strongly acid (pH 5.4); clear irregular boundary. (15 to 42 cm thick)
BC--51 to 66 cm; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) extremely gravelly loamy coarse sand; massive; very friable; few fine roots; 20 percent fine, 25 percent medium, and 20 percent coarse gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear irregular boundary. (0 to 48 cm thick)
2C1--66 to 114 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) extremely gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 40 percent rounded red and gray sandstone, gray shale, and limestone medium gravel; 20 percent fine and 10 percent coarse gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6).
2C2--114 to 130 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) extremely gravelly coarse sand; single grain; loose; 25 percent fine, 15 percent medium, and 45 percent coarse gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6).
2C3--130 to 152 cm; brown (10YR 4/3) very gravelly stratified loamy coarse sand and loamy sand; single grain; loose; 15 percent fine, 25 percent medium, and 15 percent coarse gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6).
TYPE LOCATION: Sussex County, New Jersey; Hampton Township; located in the Paulins Kill River Wildlife Management Area about 2,700 feet northeast of the intersection of Route 622 (Newton-Swartswood Road) and Junction Road and 500 feet northwest of Junction Road; USGS Newton West, NJ topographic quadrangle; latitude 41 degrees 4 minutes 34.7874 seconds N. and longitude 74 degrees 47 minutes 08.8656 seconds W., NAD83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 33 to 75 cm. Depth to bedrock is greater than 160 cm. Rock fragments include stones, cobbles, and gravel, and range from 2 to 40 percent by volume in the A horizon, 15 to 65 percent in the B horizon, 40 to 80 percent in the BC horizon, and 5 to 85 percent in the individual 2C horizons. Soil reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum and from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum. Reaction increases to slightly alkaline below 2 meters in some pedons.
The O horizon has hue of 2.5YR to 10YR, value of 2 or 2.5, and chroma of 2. It is composed of slightly, moderately, or highly decomposed plant material from woody and/or herbaceous sources.
The Ap, or A horizon, has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 2 to 3 moist or 3 to 5 dry, and chroma of 1 to 3 moist or 2 or 3 dry. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam. It typically has weak or moderate, medium or fine granular structure, but the range includes subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have an AB horizon below the A horizon with color and textures similar to the A and B horizons.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is coarse sandy loam or sandy loam. It has weak or moderate, fine or medium granular or subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BC horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture of the fine earth fraction is loamy coarse sand or loamy sand.
The 2C or C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is stratified loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, coarse sand, or sand in the fine earth fraction. It is single grained and has loose consistency.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family.
The
Brandywine,
Gloucester, and
Hoosic series are in a closely related family. None have an umbric epipedon. Also, the Brandywine soils formed in residuum, and Gloucester soils formed in sandy till. Neither have a stratified substratum.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Paulins Kill soils are nearly level to undulating soils on outwash deltas and valley trains and include "Gilbert-type" delta landforms (topset beds, foreset beds, bottomset beds). These soils are also found on kame terraces. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in coarse-textured glaciofluvial deposits that are predominately composed of red and gray sandstone, gray slate and shale, and quartz pebble conglomerate but also contain some limestone and quartzite and, in some areas, granitic-gneiss. The mean annual precipitation is 920 to 1800 mm, and the mean annual air temperature is 8 to 13 degrees C. The frost free period is 135 to 200 days. Elevation ranges from 30 to 340 meters above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Fredon,
Halsey,
Hazen, and
Otisville series. Fredon soils are somewhat poorly drained and occur in nearby depressions and drainageways. Halsey soils are very poorly drained and occur in nearby depressions and drainageways. Hazen soils are coarse-loamy and occur in less gravelly areas intermingled closely with Paulins Kill on the landscape. Otisville soils are excessively drained and occur in higher positions on the landscape.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from low to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is high in the solum and high or very high in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used to grow hay, corn, small grains, vegetable crops and deciduous fruit, or are idle. Other areas are intensively managed for wildlife habitat. Woodlots contain sugar maple, white ash, pin oak, hickory, ironwood, and in the coolest areas, American beech.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciofluvial landforms in northwestern New Jersey; MLRAs 140 and 144A. These soils are moderately extensive with about 72,000 acres of the series mapped.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sussex County, New Jersey, 2016. It is named after the Paulins Kill, a tributary to the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey.
REMARKS: The Paulins Kill series replaces a taxadjunct to the Hoosic series in Sussex and Warren Counties in New Jersey.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Umbric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the mineral soil to a depth of 29 cm (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 29 cm to 51 cm (Bw horizon).
3. Sandy-skeletal feature - averaging 35 percent or more (by volume) rock fragments and a fine-earth fraction with a texture of sand or loamy sand, including less than 50 percent (by weight) very fine sand in the thickest part of the particle-size control section, the zone from 25 to 100 cm (Ap, Bw, BC, and 2C1 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory characterization data for Paulins Kill 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.