LOCATION SHEFFIELD OH PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Sheffield silt loam - on a nearly level area in an idle field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium granular structure; friable; many fine roots; few pebbles; a few fine soft black (10YR 2/1) accretions (oxides); very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick)
Eg-- 8 to 18 inches; light gray (5Y 7/2) silt loam; common fine distinct olive yellow (2.5Y 6/6) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; few pebbles; few fine soft black (10YR 2/1) accretions (oxides); very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches thick)
Bg-- 18 to 22 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silt loam; many (30 percent) fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) mottles; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; many distinct light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silt coats on faces of peds; 2 percent coarse fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Btx1-- 22 to 26 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) silt loam; many fine distinct grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) and yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) mottles; weak very coarse prismatic structure; very firm, brittle; few fine roots on faces of prisms; many prominent gray (5Y 5/2) silt coats and common distinct dark gray (5Y 5/1) clay films on faces of peds; common black (10YR 2/1) soft accumulations (oxides) in interiors of prisms; 2 percent coarse fragments; medium acid; gradual smooth boundary.
Btx2-- 26 to 41 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; common medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) and gray (5Y 5/1) mottles; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium platy; very firm, brittle; common distinct gray (5Y 5/1) silt coats and prominent clay films (greater than 1 mm thick) on faces of peds; about 5 percent coarse fragments; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizons is 8 to 24 inches.)
C-- 41 to 60 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; common to many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/8), light olive brown (2.5Y 5/6), and gray (5Y 5/1) mottles; massive; firm; breaks out in angular chunks; thin clay films in some vertical partings becoming fewer with depth; 10 percent coarse fragments composed mainly of flat angular fragments of sandstone with some shale, igneous, and occasional limestone fragments; strong effervescence; moderately alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Ashtabula County, Ohio; Jefferson Township; about 1.5 miles east of Jefferson; 320 yards south of State Route 167; 15 yards west of Black Sea Road, T. 11 N., R. 3 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum is 40 to 50 inches. Depth to free carbonates is 30 to 45 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 20 to 36 inches. Coarse fragments, mainly sandstone and siltstone with smaller amounts of limestone and crystalline rocks, range from 0 to 5 percent in the Ap horizon and E horizon, 2 to 5 percent in Bg and Btx horizons, and 5 to 10 percent in the C horizon.
The Ap horizon has hue of 2.5Y or 10YR, value of 4 or 5 (6 or 7 dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have an A horizon, 1 to 3 inches thick, that has value of 2 or 3 (4 or 5 dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. The Ap or A horizon is strongly acid or very strongly acid unless limed.
The E horizon has hue of 5Y, 2.5Y, or 10YR; value of 5 to 7; and chroma of 1 to 3. It is very strongly acid or strongly acid.
The Bg horizon has hue of 2.5Y, value of 5 to 7, chroma of 1 or 2, and common or many mottles with chroma of 3 to 8. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. It is strongly acid or medium acid.
The Btx horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 2 to 4. Faces of prisms have chroma of 2 or less. The Bg horizon is silt loam or silty clay loam. Clay films in all or part of the horizon are very few to many and are more than 1 mm thick. The Btx horizon is medium acid to neutral in the upper part and neutral in the lower part.
Some pedons have a BC horizon that has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, chroma of 1 to 4, and is mottled. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. It is neutral or mildly alkaline.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. It is silt loam or silty clay loam. It is mildly alkaline or moderately alkaline and contains free carbonates. The stratified substratum phase is stratified silt loam, silty clay loam and silty clay with some lenses of sandy loam at a depth of 40 to 60 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Brinkerton, Calvert, Croton, Doylestown, Ginat, Robertsville, and Thorndale series in the same family and the Frenchtown, Sebring, Trumbull, and Venango series. Brinkertown soils are strongly acid or medium acid in the lower part of the solum, and do not have free carbonates in the C horizon. Calvert, Croton, and Doylestown soils all lack carbonates in the C horizon and all have shale or rock within a few inches of the lower boundary of the fragipan. In addition, Calvert soils have a small content of mica and serpentine fragments. Ginat and Robertsville soils typically have thicker sola and have reaction lower than medium acid in Btx horizons. Thorndale soils have slightly acid or medium acid C horizons of material weathered from bedrock and have part of the argillic horizon above the fragipan rather than in the fragipan. Frenchtown and Venango soils are in the fine-loamy family. In addition, Venango soils have more than 40 percent of the mass of some horizons above the fragipan with chromas of 3 or more. Sebring soils lack a fragipan. Trumbull soils are in the fine family and lack a fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Sheffield soils occur on large flats and depressions on till plains. The slope gradient is 0 to 3 percent. The regolith is principally low-lime glacial till strongly influenced by clayey shale and siltstone. The mean annual precipitation ranges from about 34 to 44 inches and mean annual temperature ranges from about 47 to 53 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Canadice, Conneaut, Pierpont, Platea, and Wallington soils. Canadice, Conneaut, and Wallington soils are on nearby lacustrine terraces. The moderately well drained Pierpont soils and somewhat poorly drained Platea soils are in a toposequence with Sheffield soils. Pierpont soils are on more sloping or higher landscape positions. Platea soils are on slightly higher landscape positions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. Runoff is very slow. These soils have frequent brief ponding during periods of heavy rainfall. An apparent seasonal high water table is at or within 1 foot of the surface during late winter or spring. Permeability is moderately slow above the fragipan and is very slow in the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principal uses are cropland, forest, pasture, and idle land in approximately equal amounts. Where adequately drained, the principal crops include corn, wheat, or oats, and meadow in rotation. Native vegetation consists of elm, ash, red maple, swamp white oak, and pin oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania. The acreage is of large extent; about 200,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ashtabula County, Ohio, 1970.
REMARKS: An estimated CEC activity class was added at the NSSC request. No further work was done in 2/2006. Sheffield was not recorrelated in the update of Ashtabula County, OH in 2001. This OSD is an orphan since Sheffield was not recorrelated in the update of Ashtabula County, OH. Sheffield remains an active series since it is used in 3 other counties in OH and PA. The last true update of the series was 1/86.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of about 8 inches (Ap horizon); albic horizon from a depth of about 8 to 18 inches (Eg horizon);
argillic horizon - from a depth of about 22 to 41 inches (Btx1, Btx2 horizons); fragipan from a depth of about 22 to 41 inches (Btx1, Btx2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available for 6 pedons in Ashtabula County: AB-53, AB-S10, AB-37 (typical pedon), AB-52, AB-75, and AB-97.