LOCATION WATERTOWN OHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Watertown sandy loam-on a 1 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap--0 to 12 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4) sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak fine granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; dark brown (7.5YR 3/4) coatings on faces of peds; 2 percent fine gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 14 inches thick).
Bt1--12 to 17 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; common distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay bridges on sand grains; 2 percent fine gravel; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bt2--17 to 25 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) sandy loam; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine roots; few faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay bridges on sand grains; 3 percent fine gravel; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizons is 6 to 32 inches.)
BC--25 to 42 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loamy sand; weak coarse subangular blocky structure; very friable; few fine roots; 5 percent fine gravel; strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 20 inches thick.)
C1--42 to 72 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly coarse sand; single grained; loose; 20 percent fine gravel; strongly acid, abrupt wavy boundary.
C2--72 to 80 inches; very gravelly coarse sand; single grained; loose 40 percent gravel; slight effervescence; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Muskingum County, Ohio; Cass Township; about 1 mile north of Dresden; 1300 feet northeast of the intersection of Gene Cox Drive and Dresden Road, along Dresden Road; then 600 feet east.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 25 to 60 inches. The range in gravel content of individual horizons (dominantly fine gravel) is from 0 to 35 percent by volume in the Ap horizon, 0 to 60 percent in individual strata of Bt and BC horizons, and 0 to 75 percent in individual strata
in the C horizon (with an average of more than 15 percent); but the control section averages less than 35 percent.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 to 5 (6 or more dry), and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sandy loam, coarse sandy loam, loamy sand, loamy coarse sand; or gravelly loamy sand. It commonly is very strongly acid to medium acid, but limed areas range to neutral. Some undisturbed pedons have dark colored A horizons 1 to 4 inches thick.
In cultivated pedons the E horizon is mixed in the Ap. Undisturbed pedons have an E horizon that has hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 to 3. It has similar texture range as the Ap horizon. It is strongly acid or very strongly acid.
The Bt and BC horizons have hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. The Bt horizon is sandy loam or coarse sandy loam, or their gravelly analogues in the upper part; but the lower part of the Bt horizon in some pedons and the BC horizon are loamy sand, loamy coarse sand; or their gravelly or very gravelly analogues. The particle size control section is more than 15 percent very coarse and coarse sand. The Bt and BC horizons are very strongly acid to slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the
Chavies,
Cranston,
Highfield,
Lewisberry, and
Tracy series in the same family. Chavies soils have more than 40 percent fine and very fine sand and less than 15 percent coarse and very coarse sand in the particle size control section. Also they do not have sandy and gravelly C
horizons within a depth of 40 inches. Cranston and Highfield soils have more than 60 percent silt and very fine sand and less than 15 percent coarse and very coarse sand in the particle size control section. Also, Cranston soils do not have sandy or
gravelly textures within 40 inches. Lewisberry soils have hue redder than 7.5YR and argillic horizons that extend to depths greater than 40 inches. Tracy soils have less than 15 percent coarse and very coarse sand in the particle size control section and have thicker argillic horizons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Watertown soils are on terraces and have a plane or convex surface. The soils formed in stratified sandy glacial outwash or alluvium. Slope gradients range from 0 to 15 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 36 to 44 inches, and mean annual temperature is about 51 to 55 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Ashton, Chagrin, Chili, Conotton, Hackers, Huntington, Lakin, Mentor, Nolin, and Wheeling soils. Ashton, Chili, Conotton, Hackers, Mentor, and Wheeling soils commonly are on higher terraces, alluvial fans and valley trains. Ashton, Hackers, and Mentor soils are fine-silty, and in addition Ashton soils have a dark surface layer. Chili and Wheeling soils are fine-loamy. Conotton soils are loamy-skeletal. Chagrin, Huntington, and Nolin soils are on nearby flood plains. Lakin soils commonly are banked against hills adjacent to the valley and formed in eolian material. They have lamella but lack an argillic horizon.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow. Permeability is rapid.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Watertown soils are cultivated. Principal crops are grain and vegetables, often for truck crops, and some mixed hay. In some areas irrigation is used. The original vegetation was mixed hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Ohio. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washington County, Ohio, 1973.
REMARKS: The Watertown series has been reclassified with this revision of the series. Field studies, laboratory data, and an investigation of the original typical pedon indicate that most areas are coarse-loamy and have an argillic horizon that is weakly expressed.
The 01/2006 revision updates this soil to the 9th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (2003). The CEC activity class placement is based on associated soils and not on laboratory data. Class placement may be revised in the future when laboratory data are reviewed or become available.
Competing series, pedon description (including horizon nomenclature and/or descriptive terms), and other sections on the OSD were not revised.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of 12 inches (Ap horizon)
b. argillic horizon - the zone from a depth of 12 to 25 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are available for MS-30 (the typical pedon).
Previous revision dates: 07/88-AR, JRS, LAT, DRM