LOCATION GRENVILLE NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Eutrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Grenville fine sandy loam, in an unimproved pasture on a 3 percent slope at 340 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
A-- 0 to 5 inches; very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) fine sandy loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; many fine and few medium roots; 5 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear irregular boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick)
Bw1-- 5 to 15 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) fine sandy loam; streaks of A material following some vertical macropores; weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; friable; many very fine and common fine roots; many fine vesicular and tubular pores and few medium pores; 10 percent gravel; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw2-- 15 to 26 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) fine sandy loam; very weak coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky; friable; common fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores and many fine vesicular pores; few faint clay films in pores and on faces of peds; 10 percent gravel; common medium faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) and few fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizon is 8 to 30 inches.)
BC-- 26 to 37 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) and pale brown (10YR 6/3) fine sandy loam; very weak medium and coarse subangular blocky structure; firm; few fine roots; common fine and medium tubular pores; 10 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles; few common medium distinct brown (7.5YR 4/4) and common medium faint dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) masses of iron accumulation; neutral; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
Cd-- 37 to 70 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) sandy loam with few small pockets of sand; massive; firm; common fine and medium tubular pores; 10 percent gravel, 2 percent cobbles; few medium faint yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) masses of iron accumulation; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: St. Lawrence County, New York; Town of Potsdam, in a pasture 72 feet north 66 degrees east from a point on a tractor trail that is 600 feet west on the trail from the junction of County Road 108. This junction is .4 mile south on County Road 108 from Burnhams Corners, just over a bridge; USGS West Potsdam, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 44 degrees, 42 minutes, 03 seconds N. and Longitude 75 degrees, 05 minutes, 00 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum and depth to carbonates range from 15 to 40 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 60 inches. Rock fragments, mainly gravel and cobbles, range from 5 to 30 percent by volume in the A horizon, 5 to 35 percent in the B horizon, and from 15 to 40 percent in the C horizon. The masses of iron accumulation in the subsoil and substratum are relict. This zone is not saturated for 1 month or more per year for 6 or more out of 10 years.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to slightly acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 5YR to 10YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. It is fine sandy loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction ranges from moderately acid to neutral.
The BC horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is fine sandy loam or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction is neutral or slightly alkaline.
The Cd horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. It is fine sandy loam, sandy loam, or loam in the fine-earth fraction. Reaction is slightly alkaline or moderately alkaline and it is calcareous. Some pedons have a friable C layer up to 20 inches thick above the Cd.
COMPETING SERIES: The Sisseton series is the only other series in the same family. Sisseton soils are from outside of Region R and formed in areas that receive 18 to 24 inches of annual precipitation.
Dover and Nellis are in related series which are mesic and do not have dolomite as the dominant type of rock fragment.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Grenville soils are nearly level to moderately steep. They are on till plains, and in many places associated with lacustrine deposits in nearby depressions. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. Elevation ranges from 200 to 600 feet above sea level. These soils formed in deposits dominated by dolomitic limestone with varying proportions of calcic limestone and granitic material. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 42 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 45 degrees F. The frost free period ranges from 120 to 150 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Hogansburg, Kalurah, Malone, Nehasne, Pyrities, Raquette, and Waddington soils. Hogansburg, Kalurah, and Malone soils occupy lower topographic positions and are drainage associates. Nehasne soils are less than 40 inches to bedrock. Pyrities soils do not have free carbonates within a depth of 40 inches. Raquette soils have a sandy particle-size control section. Waddington soils have a loamy-skeletal particle-size control section.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is medium to rapid. Permeability is moderate in the solum and moderately slow in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas have been cleared and are used for growing pasture, hay, small grain, and corn. Woodlots contain sugar maple, basswood, hophornbeam, and associated northern hardwoods.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: St. Lawrence and Champlain Valleys of New York. MLRA 142. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Franklin County, New York, 1952.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the soil surface to a depth of 5 inches (A horizon).
b. Cambic horizon - the zone from 5 to 26 inches (Bw horizons).
c. Eutrudepts great group - the zone between 26 and 37 inches has a base saturation greater than 60 percent (BC horizon).
d. Typic subgroup - saturation within 40 inches of the mineral surface is less than 30 days in most years. It is felt that redoximorphic features are not indicative of the current moisture regime.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Data is available for the typical pedon: S81NY-89-29.