LOCATION PUNSIT NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, nonacid, mesic Aeric Epiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Punsit silt loam, on a 3 percent slope in a pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.
Ap--0 to 6 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) silt loam; pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 5 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary (6 to 10 inches thick).
Bg1--6 to 11 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine tubular pores; common fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; many (50 percent) fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron oxides; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Bg2--11 to 23 inches; gray (5Y 6/1) gravelly loam; weak, medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 20 percent rock fragments; common fine and medium prominent yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) masses of iron oxides; slightly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bg horizons is 9 to 24 inches.)
Cd--23 to 72 inches; olive gray (5Y 5/2) loam; massive; very firm; common very fine and fine tubular pores; 10 percent rock fragment; common coarse prominent yellow (10YR 7/8) masses of iron oxides; common very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) stains; slightly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Columbia County, New York; Town of Austerlitz, 300 feet west of County Route 7, and 0.9 miles south of the intersection of Schoolhouse Road and County Route 7. USGS Chatham, NY topographic quadrangle; latitude 42 degrees, 16 minutes, 40 seconds N. and longitude 73 degrees, 34 minutes, 12 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 15 to 30 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to the top of the dense substratum ranges from 20 to 30 inches. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam or silt loam throughout with more than 60 percent silt plus very fine sand. Rock fragments consist of dark phyllite, slate, shale, and schist and range from 5 to 25 percent by volume in the surface and subsoil layers, and 10 to 35 percent in the substratum. Depth to redoximorphic features range from 6 to 14 inches. The soil is moderately acid or slightly acid.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium granular. Consistence is very friable or friable.
The Bg horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3 in the upper part, and in the lower part has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. There is distinct or prominent redoximorphic features. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or firm.
The Cd horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 3. Consistence is firm or very firm. Structure is platy or the material is massive.
COMPETING SERIES: The Busti and Ridgebury series are in the same family. Busti soils lack a Cd horizon. Ridgebury soils have a sandier texture and contain less than 60 percent silt plus very fine sand throughout.
Jamestown, Kilmangh, Orpark, and Painesville series are in related families. Jamestown, Kilmangh, Orpark, and Painesville soils are in the fine-loamy family. In addition, Orpark soils are more acid than Punsit soils.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Punsit soils are nearly level to sloping soils on glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 15 percent. The soils developed in loamy glacial till derived primarily from dark phyllite, slate, shale or schist. Mean annual temperature is 47 to 52 degrees F.; mean annual precipitation is 40 to 50 inches; and the frost free period is 120 to 180 days. The elevation ranges from 150 to 1200 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Well drained Bernardston, moderately well drained Pittstown, very poorly drained Alden soils are associated in a drainage sequence. Blasdell and Hoosic soils are on nearby outwash plains, terraces, eskers, and kames. Well drained Stockbridge and Dutchess soils which lack a dense substratum, shallow Nassau soils, and moderately deep Manlius and Cardigan soils are closely associated on the uplands.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is medium. Permeability is moderate in the solum and slow in the dense substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are pastured or used for growing hay. Other areas are forested. Woodlots contain sugar maple, white oak, gray birch, white pine, and hemlock.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Eastern New York. MLRA 144A. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Columbia County, New York, 1985.
REMARKS: Original classification placed Punsit in the great group of Haplaquepts. Because of changes established in the 5th and 6th editions of `Keys to Soil Taxonomy' this soil now classifies in the new great group of Epiaquepts. Competing series may change as similar soils are reclassified. Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of 6 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - from 6 to 23 inches (Bg1 and Bg2 horizons).
3. Aquic moisture conditions - evidenced by low chroma reduced matrix color and iron oxide concentrations in the Bg horizon.
4. Aeric subgroup - evidenced by 50 percent or more high chroma (value and chroma of 3 or more) colors in the Bg1 horizon.
Soil Interpretation Record No: NY0350