LOCATION PORTVILLE NY+PA
Established Series
PSP-ART
05/2025
PORTVILLE SERIES
The Portville series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in colluvium from interbedded shale, siltstone and fine-grained sandstone. They are nearly level to sloping soils on upland hillsides, benches, and footslopes. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high above the fragipan, and moderately high or moderately low in the fragipan and substratum. Mean annual precipitation is about 940 millimeters and mean annual temperature is about 9 degrees C.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Fragiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Portville silty clay loam, on a 7 percent slope in an idle field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap -- 0 to 18 centimeters; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (10 to 25 centimeters thick)
E -- 18 to 30 centimeters; pale brown (10YR 6/3) channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation and common medium distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) masses of iron depletions in the matrix; 15 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear irregular boundary. (0 to 20 centimeters thick)
E/Btx -- 30 to 56 centimeters; E material (occurs as fillings between tops of prisms, 3 inches wide at the top and 1 inch at the bottom) is light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) channery silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix. Btx material is dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) channery silt loam; weak coarse prismatic parting to moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm, slightly brittle; few fine roots along prism faces; common fine pores; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) on all ped faces; thin discontinuous clay films on ped faces and in pores; common fine manganese concretions; common medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation and light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletions in the matrix; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 36 centimeters thick)
Btx1 -- 56 to 89 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silt loam; moderate very coarse prismatic parting to weak medium subangular blocky structure; very firm, brittle; few fine roots along prism faces; thin discontinuous light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) clay films on ped faces and in pores; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) exterior prism faces with strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) rinds; common fine manganese concretions; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 20 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btx2 -- 89 to 127 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) channery silt loam; weak very coarse prismatic parting to weak very coarse subangular blocky structure; very firm, brittle; few fine roots along prism faces; common fine pores; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) exterior prism faces with strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) rinds; thin discontinuous clay films on ped faces and in pores; common fine manganese concretions; common medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) masses of iron depletion and strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 30 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizon is 50 to 127 centimeters.)
C1 -- 127 to 152 centimeters; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) channery silty clay loam; massive; firm; many thick continuous gray (10YR 6/1) clay and silt coatings on fracture faces; common medium distinct gray (10YR 6/1) masses of iron depletions in the matrix; 15 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.(0 to 76 centimeters thick).
C2 -- 152 to 183 centimeters, yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly silty clay loam; massive; firm; few manganese concretions; 40 percent rock fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Cattaraugus County, New York; town of Carrollton, 50 feet north of Limestone Run Road, 1.6 miles west of Parkside Drive and Limestone Run road. USGS Knapp creek Topographic Quadrangle; Latitude: 42 degrees, 01 minutes, 29 seconds N; Longitude; 78 degrees, 40 minutes, 10 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 91 to 203 centimeters. Depth to bedrock is greater than 150 centimeters. Depth to fragipan ranges from 30 to 91 centimeters; Rock fragments range from 0 to 15 percent in the surface layer, 5 to 40 percent in the subsoil, and 5 to 60 percent in the substratum. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the surface layer and subsoil, unless limed, and from very strongly acid to slightly acid in the substratum.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is loam, silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction.
The E part of the E/Btx horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. texture is silt loam, loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate subangular blocky or platy. Consistence is very friable or friable.
Some pedons may have a Bt or Bw horizon that has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 tough 6 and chroma of 2 to 6, with low and high chroma redoximorphic features in the upper 10 inches of the horizon. Texture is silt loam or silty clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate subangular blocky or prismatic. Consistence is friable or firm.
The Btx horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6 and chroma of 2 to 8. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or clay loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is prismatic and or blocky. Some horizons have weak platy structure. Consistence is firm or very firm.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has color similar to the Btx horizon and texture similar to the C horizon. Structure is prismatic or platy. Consistence is firm or very firm.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 3 to 6, chroma of 2 to 6. Texture is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, or silty clay in the fine earth fraction. Structure is massive. Consistence is friable to very firm.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Abbottstown,
Buckingham,
Gresham,
Ravenna and
Venango series are in the same family. Abbottstown is deep to bedrock and is formed in red residual material. Buckingham soils are Northern
Piedmont soils derived from red and gray metamorphic materials and allow 5YR hue in the solum. Gresham, Ravenna, and Venango soils have glacial till parent material.
The
Napoli series is in a related family. Napoli soils have glacial till parent material. The
Brinkerton,
Cavode,
Londo and
Sargeant series are in related families. Brinkerton soils have grayer subsoils and are in depressions. Cavode soils have clay content greater than 35 percent in the subsoil. Londo and Sargeant soils have tongues of albic material in the argillic horizon.
Gilpin,
Blairton, and
Dekalb soils are related series that have bedrock at depths of 50 to 100 centimeters.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Portville soils are nearly level to sloping and are on benches, lower hillsides and concave footslopes. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. The soil developed in colluvium weathered from interbedded shale, siltstone and fine-grained sandstone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 8 to 10 degrees C, mean annual precipitation ranges from 800 to 1150 millimeters, and the growing season ranges from 120 to 150 days. These soils are at elevations of 425 to 580 meters.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Portville soils are the somewhat poorly drained member of a drainage sequence that includes the well drained
Rayne and
Shelocta soils, the moderately well drained
Ernest soils, and the poorly drained
Brinkerton soils. The
Berks,
Blairton,
Buchanan,
Cavode,
Clymer,
Cookport,
Dekalb,
Gilpin, and
Wharton soils are on associated landscapes. The Berks, Blairton, Dekalb and Gilpin soils have bedrock at depth of 50 to 100 centimeters and lack a fragipan. Buchanan and Cookport soils have base saturation less than 35 percent, have more sand above the fragipan, and lack low chroma redoximorphic features in the upper part of the argillic horizon. Cavode, Clymer and Wharton soils do not have fragipans.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Index surface runoff class is high where nearly level and very high where steeper. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high above the fragipan, and moderately high or moderately low in the fragipan and substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used for growing hay and pasture with some corn and small grains. Native vegetation is mixed hardwoods of sugar maple, white ash, beech, hemlock and eastern white pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Non-glaciated Appalachian Plateau of New York and Pennsylvania at elevations below 1900 feet. Currently only correlated in MLRA 127, but its extent is expected to stretch southward to include West Virginia and areas in MLRA 126 and 124 as those areas are evaluated against this relatively new series concept. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Cattaraugus County, New York 2002.
REMARKS: Ernest series had a dual drainage class. These soils were formerly included as the somewhat poorly drained component of the Ernest series. Available data supports the Alfisol classification. Reference pedons S90NY009-011 and S93NY009-02.
Reference Soil Interpretation Record: NY0589
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 30 centimeters (Ap and E horizons).
b. Argillic horizon - the zone from 30 to 127 centimeters (Bt and Btx horizons).
c. Fragipan - the zone from 30 to 127 centimeters (Btx horizon).
d. Aqualfs suborder - aquic moisture regime, and evidence of wetness that includes redoximorphic features, 2 chroma ped face colors in the zone from 30 to 56 centimeters (Btx horizon), and iron depletions immediately below the Ap horizon (E horizon).
e. Aeric subgroup - as evidenced by the dominant high chroma (>2) zone at a depth of 18 to 30 centimeters (E horizon).
Revised 03/2005-PSP, ART; 02/2007-MWH, DHK
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.