LOCATION PENARGYL PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Hapludults
TYPICAL PEDON: Penargyl channery silt loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes; (Colors are for moist interior soil unless otherwise stated)
Ap-- 0 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silt loam; moderate fine and medium platy and strong medium granular structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common very fine and fine roots throughout; 9 percent subrounded channers and 7 percent subangular gravel; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary.
Bt1-- 12 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, moderately plastic; common very fine and fine roots throughout; very few clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 6 percent subrounded channers and 7 percent subangular gravel; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary.
Bt2-- 22 to 36 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) channery clay loam; strong medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, very plastic; few very fine and fine roots throughout; very few clay films on faces of peds and in pores and very few manganese or iron-manganese stains on faces of peds and in pores; common fine and medium distinct light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) masses of oxidized iron; 3 percent subangular cobbles and 5 percent subangular gravel and 12 percent subrounded channers; slightly alkaline; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt3-- 36 to 55 inches; yellowish red (5YR 5/6) cobbly clay loam; strong medium and coarse angular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very few clay films on faces of peds and in pores and very few manganese or iron-manganese stains on faces of peds and in pores; common medium and coarse prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of oxidized iron; 12 percent subangular channers and 5 percent subangular gravel and 13 percent subangular cobbles; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary.
Bt4-- 55 to 74 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) cobbly clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very few clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 5 percent subangular gravel and 13 percent subrounded channers and 10 percent subangular cobbles; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary.
2Bt5-- 74 to 80 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) very stony clay loam; strong medium and coarse angular blocky structure; friable, moderately sticky, very plastic; very few manganese or iron-manganese stains on faces of peds and in pores and very few clay films on faces of peds and in pores; 10 percent subangular gravel, 15 percent subangular stones and 15 percent angular channers; slightly acid; clear irregular boundary.
2Cr-- 80 to 90 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) extremely channery loam; massive; nonsticky, nonplastic; 15 percent angular flagstones and 60 percent angular channers; very strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Northampton County, Pennsylvania; Washington Township, 5,600 feet northwest of Ackermanville, 1,350 feet south-southeast on township road 680 from intersection of T680 and legislative route 48036, 90 feet east of T680 in a cornfield, 700 feet north of driveway; Bangor, Pennsylvania USGS 7.5 Minute Quadrangles, Lat. 40 degrees, 51 minutes, 8.00 seconds N. and Long. 75 degrees, 13 minutes, 56.00 seconds W. NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 70 inches or more. Depth to consolidated shale bedrock is 60 inches to 10 feet or more, where depth to unconsolidated shale often is within 7 feet. Where present, depth to lithologic discontinuity ranges from 24 to 60 inches or more. Often the depth of overlying till parent material is greater than 6 feet. Rock fragments in individual horizons of rounded sandstone pebbles and cobbles and of subangular shale and siltstone channers range from 0 to 30 percent in the upper part where sandstone fragments predominate and from 20 to 65 percent in the lower part of the solum and in the 2C horizon where shales predominate. The particle size control section averages less than 35 percent rock fragments, 20 to 34 percent clay, and 34 to 45 percent fine sand or coarser. The reaction in unlimed soils ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid in the upper part of the mineral solum and is very strongly through slightly acid in the lower part of the solum and the 2C horizon.
The Ap or A horizon has a hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 through 4. Textures of the fine-earth fraction are loam, silt loam. Some pedons have a BA horizon with similar ranges in color and texture.
The Bt horizons have hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8 in the matrix. Textures of the fine-earth fraction are loam, silt loam, clay loam, and silty clay loam.
Where present, the 2Bt horizon have hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 8 in the matrix. Textures of the fine-earth fraction are loam, silt loam, clay loam, and silty clay loam. Shale rock fragments dominate.
The 2C horizon has a hue of 5YR or 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and a chroma of 4 through 8. Textures of the fine-earth fraction are loam, silt loam, clay loam, and less commonly sandy loam. Some pedons have BC and C horizons with similar ranges in color and texture.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the, Arcola, Bedington, Bucks, Collington, Edgemont, Edneytown, Freehold, Germania (T), Gilpin, Gladstone, Joanna, Leedsville, Millstone, Pennval, Pigeonroost, Pineville, Quakertown, Rayne, Shelocta, Syenite, and Wist series are in the same family. Arcola soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a siltstone or sandstone paralithic contact. Bedington soils are formed in residuum weathered from siltstone, shale or sandstone in the Northern Appalachian valley and Ridge Province. Bucks and Quakertown soils are 40 to 60 inches deep to sandstone, siltstone, or shale bedrock. Collington, Freehold, and Wist soils are formed in marine sediments containing glauconite. Edgemont soils formed in residuum weathered form quartzite rocks and are 3.5 to 7 feet deep to bedrock. Edneytown soils have a solum thinner than 30 inches and lack 5YR color in the Bt. The Germania (T) soils formed in alluvial fans. Gilpin soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to shale or siltstone bedrock. Gladstone soils formed in colluvium and residuum formed from granitic gneiss. Joanna and Leedsville soils formed in residuum from Triassic red sandstone and conglomerate containing quartz pebbles. Millstone soils are well drained soils on stream terraces and flood-plain steps. They formed in loamy alluvium. Pennval soils are formed in colluvium from interbedded shale and siltstone, or sandstone on footslopes of prominent valley ridges. Pigeonroost soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to a gneissic paralithic contact and are formed in residuum affected by soil creep in the upper part and weathered from felsic to mafic, igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. Pineville soils formed in colluvium from sandstone, shale, and siltstone. Rayne soils are also formed in residuum weathered from siltstone, shale or sandstone in the Eastern and Central Allegheny Plateau Province. Shelocta soils formed in colluvium and residuum from shale, siltstone, and sandstone and are greater than 48 inches deep to bedrock. Syenite soils are 20 to 40 inches deep formed in loess over granite residuum and have granite rock fragments.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Penargyl soils are on gently sloping to sloping summits, shoulders and backslopes. Slopes range from 3 to 15 percent. They are formed in young thin ground moraine underlain by shale residuum. Climate is temperate and humid. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches, mean annual air temperature ranges from 45 to 50 degrees F, frost free days range from 150 to 195 days, and elevation ranges from 200 feet to 1200 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The well drained Allenwood soils occur on nearby landscapes from older and redder till. The well drained and shallow Arnot and moderately deep Manlius are on the same landscape and parent material. The well drained shallow Weikert, moderately deep Berks, and very deep moderately well drained Comly soils are on adjacent driftless landscapes formed in acid brown shale residuum. The very deep, somewhat poorly drained Volusia and poorly drained Chippewa soils occurs downslope. The well drained, very deep Connotton, somewhat poorly drained, very deep Red Hook soils are on adjacent landscapes formed in sandy and gravelly glacial outwash. The poorly drained Holly soils are on nearby floodplains. The well and moderately well drained, deep and very deep Swartswood and the very deep and moderately well drained Wurtsboro soils are on nearby landscapes of deeper young till.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high in the mineral soil.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are utilized for crop production. Dominant crops are corn, small grains, soybeans, fruit, hay and pasture. Forested areas are in northern hardwoods of upland oaks, maple, beech and birch.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: MLRA 140 Glaciated Allegheny Plateau and Catskill Mountains Province. Northeastern Pennsylvania. The soils are of limited extent (less than 1,000 acres), but possibly can range to central Pennsylvania, southeastern New York and northwestern New Jersey.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Northampton County, Pennsylvania, 2007
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric Epipedon - the zone from the surface to a depth of 12 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Argillic horizon - the zone from 12 to 80 inches (Bt horizons).
c. Discontinuity - the zone from 74 to 90 inches, although materials are not strongly contrasting, a discontinuity is defined due to composition, size and shape of rock fragments above and below 74 inches (cobbly sandstone till over channery shale residuum).