LOCATION GREENBELT NYTentative Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Greenbelt loam on a large unsmoothed pile of soil on a 50 percent forested slope. (Colors are for moist soil unless noted differently.)
A-- 0 to 3 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many very fine to coarse roots; common fine pores; 5 percent gravel, 2 percent cobble, and 2 percent stone-sized rock fragments; strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 7 inches thick.)
Bw-- 3 to 13 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) gravelly loam; few medium faint strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles (lithochromic); moderate medium subangular blocky and platy structure; friable; common very fine and fine plus few medium roots; many fine and medium pores; 15 percent gravel, 1 percent cobble, and 1 percent stone-sized rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 15 inches thick.)
C1-- 13 to 27 inches; reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) gravelly loam; common, medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/3) and few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles (lithochromic); massive; firm; common fine and medium plus few coarse roots; common very fine pores; 18 percent gravel, 5 percent cobble, and 1 percent stone-sized rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
C2-- 27 to 57 inches; transported reddish brown (2.5YR 4/4) gravelly loam; common, medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/3) and few medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) mottles (lithochromic); massive; firm; few fine and medium roots; few fine to coarse pores; 9 percent gravel, 5 percent cobble, and 3 percent stone-sized rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (The combined thickness of the C horizon is 18 to 55 inches thick)
Ab-- 57 to 58 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) loam; weak medium granular structure; very friable; many very fine to coarse roots; 5 percent gravel and 5 percent cobble-sized rock fragments; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick.)
Bwb-- 58 to 65 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6) loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; common fine to coarse roots; common, very fine to medium pores; 8 percent gravel and 5 percent cobble-sized rock fragments; strongly acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Richmond County, New York: From the intersection of Richmond Avenue and Platinum Avenue, 2,200 feet southeast on Platinum Avenue, then 25 feet to the south, on a pile of humanly transported soil material; USGS Arthur Kill, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 40 degrees, 34 minutes, 31.41 seconds N. and Longitude 74 degrees, 09 minutes, 44.50 seconds W. (Rockwell GPS receiver); NAD 83.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the fill materials ranges from 40 to 80 inches. The anthrotransported fill may be any geologic deposit ranging from till, glacial outwash, alluvium, coastal plains sediments, or residuum, usually from a local source. Rock fragments range from 1 to 30 percent, and the textures include sandy loam, loam, or silt loam, or their gravelly or cobbly textural phases.
The A or Ap horizon in the transported material have hue of 10YR through 2.5YR, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 through 4. Consistence is very friable or friable. Pieces of B horizon material are commonly mixed in. Structure is granular or subangular blocky, but may be fine platy in reclaimed areas where the surface has been compacted. Reaction ranges from very strongly to slightly acid in unlimed areas and from slightly acid to slightly alkaline in areas that have been limed.
The Bw horizons in the transported material have hue of 10YR through 2.5YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. Structure is subangular blocky, and fine roots are generally common to many. Consistence is very friable or friable. Pieces of other B or A horizons are commonly mixed in. Reaction ranges from very strongly to slightly acid in unlimed areas and from slightly acid to slightly alkaline in areas that have been limed.
Some pedons have BC horizons that are massive with plate-like divisions that inhibit roots from penetrating ped interiors, but allows roots to grow between the plates. Consistence is friable or firm. The other properties are similar to the Bw horizons.
The C horizons in the transported material have hue of 10YR through 2.5YR, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 8. They are massive and may have plate-like divisions. Consistence is friable to firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly to neutral in unlimed areas.
The buried A and B horizons have properties similar to the corresponding horizons in surrounding undisturbed soils.
COMPETING SERIES: These are Ashe, Brookfield, Buladean, Cardigan, Charlton, Chestnut, Delaware, Dutchess, Edneyville, Flatbush (T), Foresthills (T), Gallimore, Hazel, Lordstown, Newport, Riverhead, Sharpcrest (T), Soco, St. Albans, Stecoah, Steinsburg, and Yalesville. Ashe, Cardigan, Lordstown, Steinsburg and Yalesville are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Brookfield and Hazel soils have many mica flakes and are dominated by micaceous schist rock fragments. Buladean soils have coarse rock fragments that are dominated by felsic crystalline rocks. Charlton soils have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y in the lower part of the Bw horizon. Chestnut soils have weathered granite and gneiss within 40 inches of the soil surface. Delaware, Gallimore, Soco, and Stecoah soils are do not have anthrotranported materials in the series control section. Dutchess soils have hue of 10YR or 2.5Y in the upper part of the Bw horizon. Edneyville soils are underlain by saprolite derived from granite and gneiss. Flatbush (T) soils have an anthrotransported material that is an atypical soil material (fly ash). Foresthills (T) soils have a human transported mantle less than 40 inches thick. Newport soils have a Cd layer. Riverhead soils have stratified sand within a depth of 40 inches. Sharpcrest (T) soils do not have an OSD on file to compete. St. Albans soils have rock fragments comprised mainly of slate and shale.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Greenbelt soils are on nearly level to steeply sloping artificially created or modified landforms in filled areas. These soils formed in anthrotransported soil material 40 or more inches thick. Some pedons have a natural subsoil or substratum that is either a buried pedon or shows evidence of being a truncated soil. Some pedons occur as thick caps in old landfills. The cap of anthrotransported soil material is relatively clean of refuse, with less than 10 percent pieces of plastic, glass, bricks, concrete, and metal. The transported soil material is dominantly from locally excavated upland materials, alluvium, weathered till, glacial outwash, or coastal plains sediments. Rock fragments are derived mainly from sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Slope ranges from 0 to 50 percent. Higher slopes occur when the soil is formed in unleveled mounds or where fill is used to create golf greens and tees. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 40 to 50 inches. Mean annual temperature ranges from 48 to 56 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are Canarsie (T), Centralpark (T), Foresthills (T), and Greatkills (T) soils. Canarsie (T) and Foresthills (T) soils have less than 40 inches of fill. Centralpark (T) soils average more than 35 percent rock fragments within the control section. Greatkills (T) has garbage in the control section. Associated natural soils Wethersfield, Ludlow, Cheshire, and Maplecrest have less than 12 inches of anthrotransported material on the surface.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to medium on vegetated slopes less than 8 percent, and high to very high on vegetated slopes 8 percent and greater. The potential for surface runoff is one class higher where the soil is unvegetated or the surface is poorly protected from erosion. Permeability is moderate in areas where the soil cap has not been compacted, but is moderately slow where it has been compacted.
USE AND VEGETATION: These soils are generally covered with common weeds and grasses, raspberry, ragweed, and mugwort if deposited in sunny locations; by turfgrass if part of a recreation area, and forest understory plants if deposited in a shady location. Trees quickly spread lateral roots into the soil piles deposited nearby. Common reed occurs in old landfill areas. Reed density decreases and mugwort increases in areas with compacted surface layers. The more compacted areas support sparse populations of various grasses, annuals, and perennials that invade disturbed areas. The looser dumps are quickly covered with early succession hardwood seedlings from nearby sources. Reclamation is difficult in smoothed, compacted areas or where common reed density is high. Recreational use is unlikely in park areas where the surface is unsmoothed or where surface stones and boulders have not been cleared.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: These soils occur on modified landscapes in and near major urbanized areas of the Northeast. MLRA 144A and 149B. The soils of this series are small extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES PROPOSED: Richmond County, New York; 1995.
REMARKS: (1) Mottles in the transported material are lithochromic.
(2) Complete characterization data collected as pedon S95NY085-033.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from 0 to 7 inches (A and Bw horizon).
b. Buried soil from the Ab horizon and below.
c. Cambic horizon - from 3 to 13 inches (Bw horizon).
d. The classification of this series is provisional until new Taxonomic classifications are developed for Anthropogenic soils.