LOCATION VOLUSIA NY+PA
Established Series
Rev. JEW-SEA-SAF
10/2017
VOLUSIA SERIES
The Volusia series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained soils formed in loamy till. These soils are on concave to planer landscape positions in glaciated upland areas. A dense fragipan is at a depth of 25 to 56 cm (10 to 22 inches) below the soil surface. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. Saturated hydraulic conductivity in the mineral soil above the fragipan is moderately high or high and in the fragipan and substratum it is low to moderately high. Mean annual temperature is about 8 degrees C (46 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation is about 1080 mm (42.5 inches).
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Aeric Fragiaquepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Volusia channery silt loam, on a 5 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 inches); very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) channery silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; weak medium and coarse granular structure; friable; common fine and medium roots throughout and few coarse roots throughout; 15 percent rock fragments; neutral; abrupt wavy boundary. (15 to 30 cm thick) (6 to 12 inches thick)
Bw--23 to 38 cm (9 to 15 inches); 60 percent olive brown (2.5Y 4/3) and 40 percent brown (10YR 4/3) channery silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure, friable; common fine and medium roots throughout; 5 percent fine and medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), moist, masses of reduced iron and 5 percent fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6), moist, masses of oxidized iron; 20 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 25 cm thick) (0 to 10 inches thick)
Eg--38 to 43 cm (15 to 17 inches); light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) channery silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine and medium roots throughout; 5 percent fine and medium distinct strong brown (7.5YR 4/6), moist, masses of oxidized iron; 20 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 30 cm thick) (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bx1--43 to 74 cm (17 to 29 inches); light olive brown (2.5Y 5/3) channery loam; moderate very coarse prismatic structure; prisms are 20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches) across; prism faces are gray (10YR 6/1) with strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) borders; very firm; brittle; few fine roots along prism faces; 1 percent medium distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), moist, masses of reduced iron and 1 percent medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), moist, masses of oxidized iron; 25 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bx2--74 to 137 cm (29 to 54 inches); olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very channery loam; moderate coarse prismatic structure; prisms are 20 to 36 cm (8 to 14 inches) across; prism faces are gray (10YR 6/1) with strong brown (7.5YR 4/6) borders; very firm; brittle; 1 percent fine distinct light brownish gray (10YR 6/2), moist, masses of reduced iron and 1 percent fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/8), moist, masses of oxidized iron; 60 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bx horizon is 51 to 163 cm (20 to 64 inches))
C--137 to 183 cm (54 to 72 inches); olive (5Y 5/3) channery silt loam; massive; firm; 34 percent rock fragments; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Cortland County, New York; Town of Georgetown; North of Willet Creek. 2,060 feet north of Morey Hill and German road intersection, and 540 feet east of Morey Hill road. USGS Willet, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 28 minutes, 30.1 seconds N. and Longitude 75 degrees, 53 minutes, 31.4 seconds W. NAD 1983.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 102 to 183 cm (40 to 72 inches). Depth to bedrock is greater than 152 cm (60 inches). Depth to the fragipan ranges from 25 to 56 cm (10 to 22 inches). Rock fragments, mainly channers, gravel and flagstones, range from 5 to 30 percent by volume in the solum above the Bx horizon, and from 5 to 60 percent in the Bx horizon. Rock fragments in the C horizon commonly range from 10 to 60 percent.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Dry color value is 6 or more. It is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. Some pedons have a thin A horizon 5 to 13 cm (2 to 5 inches) thick. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid, unless limed.
The Bw horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Some pedons have a Bg horizon with hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid.
The E or Eg horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. It has common or many, distinct or prominent redoximorphic features in chroma higher than the matrix. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. It has platy or blocky structure or is massive, and is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid.
The Bx horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 1 through 4. It is dominantly loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction but ranges to clay loam or silty clay loam. It has weak to strong coarse or very coarse prismatic structure with blocky, platy, subangular blocky, or massive prism interiors. Clay films coat most pore walls and can be in some depressions on vertical cleavage faces. Consistence is firm through extremely firm. It has few or common and faint to prominent redoximorphic features. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through slightly acid.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. It is loam to silty clay loam in the fine-earth fraction. It is massive or has lenticular plate-like divisions. Consistence is firm or very firm. Reaction ranges from strongly acid through slightly alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Erie and
Wiscoy series. The Erie soils are neutral or mildly alkaline in the lower part of the solum. Wiscoy soils have silty lacustrine materials with less than 5 percent rock fragments within depths of 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches).
Related series in other families are the
Dalton,
Fremont,
Morris,
Norchip,
Ontusia,
Platea,
Scriba,
Stissing and
Venango soils. Platea and Venango soils have argillic horizons in the fragipan. Dalton soils have coarse-silty particle-size control sections. Fremont soils do not have a fragipan. Morris, Scriba, and Stissing soils have coarse-loamy particle-size control sections. Norchip and Ontusia soils have frigid temperature regimes.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Volusia soils occupy long uniform slopes. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. They are on lower valley sides and on broad divides of maturely dissected glaciated plateaus. The Volusia soils developed in firm basal till derived from siltstone, sandstone and brittle shale or slate. They are underlain by lacustrine materials in some areas. Mean annual precipitation typically ranges from 795 to 1725 mm (31 to 68 inches), but in some higher elevations it can range as high as 1790 mm (70 inches). Mean annual temperature typically ranges from 6 to 11 degrees C (43 to 52 degrees F), but in some higher elevations it can range as low as 4 degrees C (39 degrees F). Mean annual frost-free days ranges from 105 to 180 days. These soils generally occur at elevations between 100 and 670 meters (328 and 2,198 feet), but have been mapped as high as 750 meters (2,460 feet) in some areas.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Alden,
Bath,
Chenango,
Chippewa,
Dalton,
Fremont,
Halsey,
Lordstown,
Mardin,
Wiscoy, and
Wurtsboro series on nearby landscapes. Alden soils are wetter drainage associates on toeslopes and in depressions. Well drained Bath soils and moderately well drained Mardin soils are better drained associates on higher convex landscapes. Chenango and Halsey are on nearby glacial outwash terraces. Chippewa soils are wetter and lower on the landscape. Dalton soils are associated where coarse silty deposits overlie the till. Fremont soils do not have a fragipan. Wiscoy soils have silty lacustrine materials with less than 5 percent rock fragments within depths of 51 to 102 cm (20 to 40 inches). Lordstown soils are common associates that are moderately deep to bedrock.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Somewhat poorly drained. Internal drainage is slow or very slow. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity in the mineral soil above the fragipan is moderately high or high and in the fragipan and substratum it is low to moderately high.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of this soil have been cleared but some are now growing up with a cover of brush and forbes. Cleared areas are used for pasture or for growing hay, oats and corn for silage. Woodlots contain sugar maple, red maple, American beech, hemlock and associated species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Glaciated Allegheny Plateau of New York and northern Pennsylvania. MLRA 101, 139, 140, and 144A. The soil is extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Chautauqua County, New York; Westfield area, 1901.
REMARKS: Volusia is a Hall of Fame series and a benchmark soil. There are plans for future project work to separate out frigid soil areas from areas previously mapped as the mesic Volusia. After these spatial edits are completed, the Volusia OSD will be edited to remove statements in the Geographic Setting section referring to the higher elevation areas.
The separation between Volusia and Venango (Fragiaqualfs) can overlap on the landscape in some places. Future MLRA work refining the difference between the two would be beneficial.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in the typical pedon include:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 23 cm (0 to 9 inches) (Ap horizon).
2. Fragipan - the zone from 43 to 137 cm (17 to 54 inches) (Bx horizons).
3. Aquepts suborder - aquic moisture regime, and matrix or ped faces of 2 chroma or less and redoximorphic features within 51 cm (20 inches) of the soil surface (Eg horizon).
4. Aeric subgroup - a zone within 76 cm (30 inches) of the surface that has dominant chroma higher than 2 in 40 percent or more of the matrix (Bw horizon).
5. Udic soil moisture regime (a humid, temperate climate).
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.