LOCATION STEINSBURG PA+KY MD OH VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Steinsburg gravelly loam - cultivated on 3 to 8 percent south facing slopes.
Ap--0 to 8 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) gravelly loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; some clay bridging; 15 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
Bw--8 to 15 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) sandy loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; some clay bridging; 10 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
C--15 to 30 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) very gravelly sandy loam; massive; friable; 40 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 30 inches thick)
R--30 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) easily shattered sandstone conglomerate.
TYPE LOCATION: Bucks County, Pennsylvania; Doylestown Township, 1/8 mile north of intersection of PA Route 263 and Edison Road at village of Furlong, 1/2 mile west of county road 350, 50 feet south of road.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 12 to 20 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments of quartzite pebbles and sandstone channers range from 0 to 20 percent in the solum and from 15 to 60 percent in the C horizon. The weighted average of rock fragments is less than 35 percent in the textural control section. The reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid throughout the soil unless limed.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Fine-earth textures are loam, sandy loam or fine sandy loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. The fine-earth fraction is loam, sandy loam or fine sandy loam and contains 10 to 18 percent clay. Structure is weak, fine or medium subangular blocky. Consistence is friable.
The C horizon has hue of 5YR through 10YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 6. The fine-earth fraction is loam, sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or loamy sand. It is massive and the consistence is friable.
COMPETING SERIES: Amostown, Ashe, Bernardston, Broadbrook, Brookfield, Cardigan, Chadakoin, Charlton, Chatfield, Cheshire, Chestnut, Ditney, Dutchess, Edneyville, Fedscreek, Hazel, Lordstown, Maplecrest, Marrowbone, Maymead, Montauk, Nantucket, Newport, Paxton, Pollux, Riverhead, Satsop, Scituate, St. Albans, Valois, Wethesfield, and Yalesville soils are all in the same family. Amostown, Bernardston, Broadbrook, Brookfield, Chadakoin, Charlton, Cheshire, Dutchess, Edneyville, Fedscreek, Lordstown, Lowville, Maymead, Montauk, Maplecrest, Narragansett, Nantucket, Newport, Paxton, Pollux, Riverhead, Satsop, Scituate, St. Albans, Valois, Wethesfield, and Yalesville soils have bedrock deeper than 40 inches. Ashe, Chestnut, and Chatfield soils have rock fragments of granite gneiss or schist. Cardigan soils have rock fragments dominantly of phyllite, slate, and schist. Ditney soils are high in feldspars and have rock fragments of arkose and graywacke. Hazel soils have visible mica flakes in the solum. Marrowbone soils have a thicker solum.
Dekalb, Edgemont, Lansdale, Lehew, Manor, and Mt. Airy soils are in related families. Dekalb, Lehew, and Mt. Airy soils have more than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section. Edgemont and Lansdale have argillic horizons. Manor and Mt. Airy soils have micaceous mineralogy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Steinsburg soils are on gently sloping to steep slopes on uplands. Slopes range from 0 to 70 percent. The soils formed in residuum from weakly cemented acid sandstone, arkosic sandstone and conglomerate. The climate is humid and temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 46 inches, and the growing season ranges from 170 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Abbottstown, Croton, Lansdale, Penn, Readington and Reaville soils are on nearby landscapes in the Piedmont. Hartsells, Latham, Ramsey and Rigley soils are on nearby landscapes in the Eastern Kentucky Mountains. Abbottstown, Croton, Hartsells, Landale, Latham, Penn, Readington, Reaville, and Rigley soils all have argillic horizons. Ramsey soils have a lithic contact within 20 inches of the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; moderately rapid permeability. Runoff is medium to very rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: About 75 percent of the Steinsburg soils are in cropland or pasture. Wooded areas are dominantly oak, maple and ash species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Pennsylvania, Kentucky, central New Jersey, Maryland, southeastern Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1937.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 8 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 15 inches (Bw horizon).