LOCATION WURTSBORO PA+NJ NY
Established Series
Rev. GDM-JRH-JDC
09/2015
WURTSBORO SERIES
The Wurtsboro series consists of very deep, moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained soils formed in till derived from quarzite, conglomerate and sandstone. Slope dominantly ranges from 0 to 35 percent. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low to high in the mineral soil above the fragipan and moderately high to low in the fragipan. Mean annual precipitation is 41 inches. Mean annual temperature is 49 degrees F.
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Wurtsboro gravelly fine sandy loam - wooded. (Colors are for moist soil.)
Oi -- 0 to 2 inches; fibrous leaf material; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick.)
E -- 2 to 4 inches; gray (10YR 5/1) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; very friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; 20 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick.)
Bs -- 4 to 10 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak fine granular structure; friable, nonsticky, nonplastic; 20 percent rock fragments; extremely acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick.)
Bw1 -- 10 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; 30 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2 -- 16 to 24 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, nonsticky, slightly plastic; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) areas of iron depletion and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (The combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 8 to 20 inches thick.)
Bx1 -- 24 to 46 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) gravelly fine sandy loam; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate thin and medium platy; very firm, brittle, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common distinct clay films in pores; common faint black coatings on faces of peds; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) areas of iron depletion on faces of prisms; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bx2 -- 46 to 67 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly loam; grayish brown; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate thick platy; very firm, brittle, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common distinct clay films in pores; continuous grayish brown (10YR 5/2) areas of iron depletion on faces of prisms; common medium distinct grayish brown (10YR 5/2) areas of iron depletion and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation within prisms; 25 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid. (The combined thickness of the Bx horizon is 20 to 70 inches thick.)
TYPE LOCATION: Pike County, Pennsylvania; Edgemere State Forest, 2.5 miles south on Flat Ridge road from its intersection with Porters Lake road, 160 feet northwest. USGS Twelvemile Pond, PA topographic quadrangle; Latitude 41 degrees, 13 minutes, 16 seconds N. and Longitude 75 degrees, 2 minutes, 4 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the solum ranges from 40 to 70 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 17 to 28 inches and depth to bedrock is 4 to 20 feet or more. Rock fragments of subrounded or angular sandstone, conglomerate or quartzite range from 0 to 40 percent in individual layers above the fragipan and from 10 to 60 percent in the fragipan and C horizon. Illite is the dominant clay mineral with significant amounts of vermiculite and some kaolimite. Reaction of the mineral solum ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid where unlimed.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Some pedons have A horizons with hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 1 to 3. Texture of the fine-earth is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth is sandy loam, fine sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 and chroma of 3 to 6. Low chroma redoximorphic features are between 12 and 26 inches. Texture of the fine-earth is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The Bx horizon has hue of 5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 6 and typically have both low and high chroma redoximorphic features and grayish prism faces. Texture of the fine-earth is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
Some pedons have firm, gravelly sandy loam C horizon.
COMPETING SERIES: The
Bath,
Braceville,
Broadalbin,
Ira,
Lackawanna,
Mardin,
Rushford,
Sodus,
Swartswood and
Wellsboro series are in the same family. Bath, Lackawanna, Mardin, and Wellsboro soils commonly have 55 percent or more silt plus very fine sand in particle size control section. Braceville soils have stratified sand and gravel in the series control section. Broadalbin soils have rock fragments dominanted by granite, gneiss, and dark shale. Ira and Sodus soils have fragipans which are moderately acid to neutral.
Rushville soils have a rock fragment content of less than 10 percent in the fragipan and C horizon. Swartswood soils do not have redoximorphic features above the fragipan or within a depth of 26 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Wurtsboro soils are nearly level to moderately steep soils of glaciated uplands. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. The soils developed in till derived primarily from acid gray and brown quartzite, conglomerate, and sandstone. The climate is humid temperate; mean annual precipitation ranges from 36 to 46 inches, mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 52 degrees F., and the frost free season ranges from 130 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the
Chippewa,
Lordstown,
Mardin,
Morris,
Swartswood,
Volusia, and
Wellsboro series. Chippewa and Morris soils have low chroma matrix within 20 inches of the surface and are on landscapes of lower drainage. Lordstown soils have bedrock within 40 inches. Mardin and Wellsboro soils have more than 55 percent silt plus very fine sand in the particle-size control section and are on similar landscapes. Swartswood soils do not have redoximorphic features above the fragipan or within a depth of 26 inches and are on landscapes of better drainage. Volusia soils have between 18 and 34 percent clay in the fine-earth fraction and are on landscapes of lower drainage.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Moderately well drained and somewhat poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is medium to very high. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately low to high in the mineral soil above the fragipan and moderately high to low in the fragipan.
USE AND VEGETATION: Almost entirely in woodland. Native vegetation is northern hardwoods of maple, beech and birch.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New York and northwestern New Jersey. MLRA 140 and 144A. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Sullivan County, New York, 1938.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric horizon - the zone from 0 to 4 inches (O1 and E horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 4 to 24 inches (Bs, Bw1 and Bw2 horizons).
c. Fragipan - the zone from 22 to 65 inches (Bx1 and Bx2 horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Laboratory data available on two pedons sampled in Pike County, Pennsylvania, S64Pa-52-2 and S64Pa-52-9 and on two pedons sampled in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, S67Pa-48-8 and S67Pa-48-9.
National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.