LOCATION TUNKHANNOCK PA NJ NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Tunkhannock gravelly loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; common roots; 15 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick.)
Bw1-- 8 to 16 inches; brown (7.5YR 5/4) gravelly loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; common roots; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2-- 16 to 26 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) very gravelly loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; common roots; 45 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw is 13 to 32 inches.)
BC-- 26 to 30 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/4) extremely gravelly sandy loam; very weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; common roots; 60 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick.)
C-- 30 to 72 inches; reddish brown (5YR 4/3) extremely gravelly loamy sand and stratified loamy fine sand; single grain; loose, nonsticky, nonplastic; few roots in upper part; 60 percent rock fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Lycoming County, Pennsylvania; Fairfield Township, 2.4 miles north of intersection of Pa. 87 and U.S. 220 in Montoursville and 300 feet west of PA. 87. Montoursville North, PA topographic quadrangle; Latitude 41 degrees, 17 minutes, 39 seconds N. and Longitude 76 degrees, 54 minutes, 27 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is 3 1/2 to 10 feet or more. Rock fragments, dominantly water rounded sandstone or siltstone range from 15 to 60 percent, by volume, in individual horizons of the B horizon and from 40 to 80 percent in the C horizon. Rock fragments average more than 35 percent in the 10 to 40 inch particle size control section. The soil ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid throughout, where unlimed.
The Ap horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Dry color value is 6 or more. Texture is silt loam, loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Undisturbed pedons have a thin A horizon that has a hue of 2.5YR through 10YR, value of 2 to 5, and a chroma of 1 to 3. Texture is silt loam, loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
Some pedons have an E horizon. They have a hue of 7.5YR through 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 6. Texture is silt loam, loam or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction.
The B horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 through 6, with chroma of 5 or 6 only in the upper part. Texture is silt loam, loam, very fine sandy loam, fine sandy loam, or sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. The content of sand coarser than very fine sand averages less than 50 percent in the solum. Some pedons have a BA horizon.
The C or 2C horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 10YR. Texture is sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand, or sand in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have stratified silt and clay below a depth of 40 inches.
COMPETING SERIES: The Chamate, Chenango, and Oquaga series is in the same family. The Chamate soils are formed in colluvium derived from welded tuff that have flaked off the rock outcrops above these soils. Chenango soils have hue of 7.5YR or yellower throughout the B horizon. Oquaga soils are moderately deep.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Tunkhannock soils are nearly level to very steep soils on glacial outwash terraces, kames, and valley trains. Slope ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The soils formed in water sorted glacial material derived from reddish sandstone, siltstone, and shale. The climate is humid and temperate. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches, mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 55 degrees F., and the frost free period ranges from 130 to 180 days. Elevation ranges from about 800 to 1800 feet.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Barbour, Basher, Braceville, Lordstown, Maplecrest, Oquaga, Rexford, Trestle, and Wellsboro series. Barbour, Basher, and Trestle soils are on flood plains; Barbour and Basher have less than 35 percent rock fragments. Braceville, Rexford, and Wellsboro soils have fragipans. Lordstown and Oquaga soils have bedrock within 40 inches. Maplecrest soils average less than 35 percent rock fragments in the control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well to somewhat excessively drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Permeability is moderately rapid in the solum and rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most gently sloping areas are cleared and used for general farm crops and some truck crops. Wooded areas contain maple, black cherry, beech, ash, oak, hemlock, and white pine.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. MLRA 140 and 144A. The series is moderately extensive. Pennsylvania has about 5,000 acres; New York has more than 20,000 acres.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 1911.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from about 8 inches to a depth of about 26 inches (Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
3. Udic soil moisture regime (a humid, temperate, climate)
Soil Interpretation Record No: PA0137, PA0214, PA0314
Activity class is based on pedon S79NY105 from Sullivan County, NY.