LOCATION ATHOL PA+MD NJ VAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Ultic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Athol silt loam -- on 8 to 15 percent convex southwest facing slopes in a cultivated field.
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) silt loam, pinkish gray (5YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; friable; 10 percent rock fragments, neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (8 to 12 inches thick)
Bt1-- 8 to 18 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; few distinct clay films on ped faces and in pores; few distinct black coatings; 10 percent rock fragments; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 16 inches thick)
Bt2-- 18 to 26 inches, reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common distinct clay films on ped faces and in pores; few distinct black coatings; 15 percent rock fragments; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (8 to 18 inches thick)
Bt3-- 26 to 33 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky structure parting to weak platy; firm, slightly sticky, plastic; common prominent clay films on ped faces and in pores; few distinct black coatings; 15 percent rock fragments; moderately acid, gradual irregular boundary. (6 to 20 inches thick)
Bt4-- 33 to 41 inches, weak red (2.5YR 4/2) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium blocky structure parting to weak platy; firm slightly sticky, slightly plastic; common distinct clay films on ped faces and in pores; few distinct black coatings; 25 percent rock fragments. Strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 16 inches thick)
C-- 41 to 62 inches, weak red (2.5YR 4/2) gravelly loam; massive; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; very few faint clay films in pores; few distinct black coatings; 25 percent rock fragments; clear irregular boundary. (5 to 30 inches thick)
R-- 62 to 66 inches,(2.5YR 3/2) dusky red calcareous conglomerate or breccia with limestone channers and some quartz pebbles.
TYPE LOCATION: Berks County, Pennsylvania, Amity Township, 3/4 mile west of Yellow House on PA 562 and 1/2 mile southeast on Route 06188, 473 feet east of Route 06188 in cultivated field.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 75 inches. Depth to bedrock is 5 to 10 feet. Rock fragments of shale channers and sandstone and quartzite pebbles range from 0 to 20 percent in the Ap horizon, 5 to 35 percent in the B horizon and 15 to 50 percent in the C horizon. The reaction in unlimed soils is very strongly acid or strongly acid in the upper part of the solum and strongly acid or moderately acid in the lower part of the solum and strongly acid to slightly acid in the C horizon. Illite is the most abundant clay mineral, with chlorite, kaolinite and vermiculite also present.
The Ap horizon has hue of 2.5YR through 7.5YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 through 6. It is silt loam or loam in the fine earth fraction.
The B horizon has hue of 2.5YR and 5YR, value of 3 through 5 and chroma of 2 through 4. The B horizon has textures of loam, silt loam, silty clay loam and clay loam in the fine earth fraction.
The C horizon has hue of 10 R through 7.5YR, value of 3 through 5 and chroma of 2 through 4. Textures are loam, silt loam and clay loam in the fine earth fraction.
COMPETING SERIES: Bolton, Bookwood, Brecknock, Caribel, Carpenter, Culleoka, Door, Dormont, Duffield, Frondorf, Hayter, Lamotte, Legore, Loudonville, Lunt, Manassas, Mechanicsburg, Morrison, Myersville, Neshaminy, Penn, Ryder, Washington, Weedmark, Westmoreland, Wheeling and Williamsburg soils are all in the same family. Bolton soils have rock fragments of chert. Brecknock, Carpenter, Dormont, Duffield, Washington, and Wheeling soils have hue in the B horizon that are 7.5YR or yellower. Bookwood, Culleoka, Frondorf, Loudonville, Penn and Ryder soils have bedrock within 20 to 40 inches. Hayter, Lunt and Morrison soils have more than 35 percent sand in the B horizon. Legore, Myersville, and Westmoreland soils have sola less than 40 inches thick. Neshaminy soils have rock fragments of diabase and quartzite. Williamsburg soils are stratified in the lower portion of the argillic horizon. Information is not available to differentiate the soils of Caribel and Weedmark soils have MAP less than 32 inches. Door soils have mollic epipedons. Manassas soils have mottles within 40 inches.
Leck Kill and Lewisberry soils are in related families. Leck Kill soils have less than 35 percent base saturation and Lewisberry soils are coarse loamy.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Athol soils are on nearly level to moderately steep convex and disected upland ridge tops and side slopes. Slopes range from 0 to 35 percent. They formed in residuum weathered from Triassic conglomerate or breccia consisting of a red calcareous matrix containing fragments of limestone, shale, sandstone and quartz. Climate is humid and temperate, with mean annual precipitation of 40 to 44 inches; average annual temperature is 52 to 55 degrees F and the growing season is 170 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Croton, Hagerstown, Klinesville, Lansdale and Readington soils and the competing soils of Duffield, Lewisberry, Neshaminy and Penn are on nearby landscapes. Croton soils are poorly drained and have fragipans. Hagerstown soils have more than 35 percent clay. Klinesville soils have bedrock within 20 inches of the surface. Lansdale soils have less than 35 percent base saturation. Readington soils are moderately well drained and have fragipans.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. Runoff is slow to rapid. Permeability is moderate.
USE AND VEGETATION: Approximately 85 percent of the Athol soils are cultivated or in pasture. Wooded areas are in hardwood trees mostly oak and hickory.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southeastern Pennsylvania, central Maryland, and northern Virginia. The series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: York County, Pennsylvania, 1912
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of 8 inches.
Argillic horizon - The zone from 8 inches to 41 inches.
Additional data: Series revised to conform to series description criteria and nomenclature as revised in Chapter 4 of Soil Survey Manual 430-V. Series recognized as being very deep and depth to bedrock changed in the Range in Characteristics section to range from 5 to 10 feet. Slope gradient changed to 0 to 25 percent.