LOCATION SCHOHARIE NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine, illitic, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Schoharie silty loam - (in a cultivated field having a slope of 3 percent, (Colors are for moist soil unless specified otherwise)
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam; moderate medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick.)
E-- 8 to 11 inches, pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam; weak thin platy structure; friable; common fine roots; slightly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 6 inches thick.)
Bt/E-- 11 to 18 inches, reddish brown (5YR 5/4) silty clay; moderate to strong fine angular blocky structure; firm; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam material 1 to 2 millimeter thick on some vertical faces of peds that constitutes less than 15 percent of the layer; patchy clay films on vertical faces of peds; common fine and medium pores with clay linings on surfaces along pores; few fine roots; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (2 to 8 inches thick.)
Bt-- 18 to 33 inches, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) clay; strong medium angular blocky structure within moderate, course prismatic structure; firm; patchy clay films on vertical faces and on surfaces along pores; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the lower part; few fine roots in upper part; slightly alkaline; clear smooth boundary. (12 to 36 inches thick.)
C1-- 33 to 52 inches, reddish brown (5YR 5/3) silty clay; moderate coarse plate like divisions; very firm; common medium faint pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) areas of iron depletion and common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; moderately alkaline, slightly effervescent; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 32 inches thick.)
C2-- 52 to 72 inches, reddish brown (5YR 4/3) silty clay; massive; firm; laminated with weak red (2.5YR 5/2) silt and very fine sand layers 2 to 3 millimeters thick; common medium distinct yellowish red (5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; 5 percent rock fragments; moderately alkaline, strongly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Genesee County, New York, Town of Stafford, one-half mile east of Horseshoe Lake, 400 feet southeast of NY route 33 and Prole Road, 50 feet north of Prole Road. USGS Byron, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 43 degrees, 00 minutes, 50 seconds N. and Longitude 78 degrees, 06 minutes, 55 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 through 55 inches. Depth to carbonates ranges from 17 through 55 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Content of rock fragments range from 0 through 3 percent in the mineral soil above a depth of 40 inches.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR; value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Structure is weak or moderate granular or fine blocky. Reaction ranges from moderately acid through neutral.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, silt loam, or silty clay loam. Structure is weak or moderate, granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from moderately acid through neutral.
The Bt/E horizon has colors and textures similar to the Bt and E horizon. Structure is moderate or strong, fine to coarse subangular or angular blocky. Consistence is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from moderately acid through neutral.
The Bt horizons have hue of 10R through 5YR; value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. Some pedons have subhorizons with redoximorphic concentrations having chroma 3 through 8 and hue of 10R through 7.5YR. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is heavy silty clay loam, silty clay, or clay. The clay percentage averages greater than 35 percent. Structure is moderate or strong, subangular or angular blocky, or coarse or very coarse prismatic. Reaction ranges from moderately acid through slightly alkaline.
Some pedons have a BC horizon with colors and textures similar to the Bt. Consistence is firm or very firm. Reaction is slightly or moderately alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 10R through 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silty clay or clay. Consistence is firm or very firm. Reaction is slightly or moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Alexandria, Brushcreek, Lairdsville, Lucas, Morley, Ozaukee, and St. Clair series in the same family. Lairdsville soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. The remaining soils have 7.5YR or yellower hues throughout the Bt horizon.
The Cayuga, Cazenovia, Hudson, Milton, and Odessa series are similar soils in related families. Cayuga soils have a lithologic discontinuity below which is an increase in rock fragment content. Cazenovia soils have a fine-loamy particle-size control section. Hudson soils have 7.5YR to 2.5Y hues throughout the B horizon. Milton soils have mixed mineralogy. Odessa soils have dominant chroma of 2 or less on faces of peds in the Bt horizon.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Schoharie soils are on convex land forms and dissection forms of lake plains and of various glacial land forms that are mantled with lake sediments. Slope ranges from 0 through 60 percent. The soils formed in reddish clayey lake sediment. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 28 through 40 inches; mean annual air temperature, from 45 through 50 degrees F.; mean annual frost free days range from 120 through 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Arkport, Cayuga, Cazenovia, Colonie, Dunkirk, Fonda, Hilton, Honeoye, Lakemont, Odessa and Ontario soils. Arkport, Colonie and Dunkirk soils are on coarser fluvial deposits. Cayuga soils are associated where the lacustrine materials are less than 40 inches thick over till. Cazenovia, Hilton, Honeoye and Ontario soils formed in till. Fonda, Lakemont, and Odessa soils are wetter catenary associates.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff ranges from medium to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the mineral surface and subsurface and low to moderately high in the subsoil and substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used for growing hay, pasture, corn, and small grains. Some areas are idle. Woodlots contain sugar maple, red oak, some hickory, white ash, and similar hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Principally on the Erie-Ontario Plain, the Mohawk Valley, and the northeast portion of the Allegany Plateau and the Catskill Mountains. MLRA's 101, 140, and 144A. The soil is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Schoharie County, New York, 1915.
REMARKS: Schoharie soils were formerly classified as Typic Hapludalfs. They have been classified as Oxyaquic Hapludalfs due to changes in the 8th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon:
1) Ochric Epipedon - from 0 to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2) Glossic feature - from 11 to 18 inches (Bt/E horizon).
3) Argillic Horizon - from 11 to 33 inches (Bt/E, and Bt horizons).
4) Oxyaquic Subgroup - as evidenced by redoximorphic accumulation of iron above 40 inches (Bt and C horizons).