LOCATION LEWBATH NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, semiactive, frigid Typic Fragiudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Lewbath channery silt loam on a 5 percent slope in a hayfield. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) channery silt loam; moderate fine and medium granular structure; friable; many very fine and fine roots; 20 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (4 to 12 inches thick)
Bw--8 to 16 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; very friable; many fine and common medium and coarse roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (3 to 27 inches thick)
BE--16 to 21 inches; light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) channery silt loam; moderate thin platy structure parting to moderate very fine subangular blocky; firm; common fine and few medium roots; 30 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 12 inches thick)
Bx1--21 to 33 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very channery silt loam; strong, very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak coarse subangular blocky; prisms are 12 to 24 inches across; gray (5Y 6/1) faces of prisms and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) borders, streaks are 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide,; very firm and brittle; few fine and medium vesicular and few fine tubular pores; thick clay films are in 50 percent of the pores; few fine roots along faces of prisms; 35 percent rock fragments, including 5 percent larger than 3 inches in diameter; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bx2--33 to 52 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) very channery loam; strong very coarse prismatic structure, massive within prisms; prisms are 15 to 30 inches across; gray (5Y 6/1) faces of prisms and strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) borders, streaks are 1/4 to 1 inch wide; very firm and brittle; few fine and medium vesicular and few fine tubular pores; few fine roots along faces of prisms; 45 percent rock fragments, including 10 percent larger than 3 inches in diameter; common fine distinct light olive brown (2.5Y 5/4) redoximorphic accumulations and few fine faint light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) redoximorphic depletions; moderately acid; gradual irregular boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bx horizons is 18 to 50 inches.)
Cd--52 to 72 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) very flaggy loam; massive; firm; few fine and medium vesicular pores; 55 percent rock fragments, including 25 percent larger than 3 inches in diameter; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Otsego County, New York, Town of Worcester, 1,400 feet south of the intersection of Hollenbeck Road and Smith Road, and 250 feet east of Hollenbeck Road. Elevation 2010 feet. USGS Charlotteville, NY topographic quadrangle; latitude 42 degrees, 34 minutes, 41 seconds N. and longitude 74 degrees, 41 minutes, 58 seconds W. NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 75 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to the top of the fragipan ranges from 20 to 38 inches. Rock fragments, dominantly channers and flagstones, range from 5 to 35 percent by volume above the fragipan; from 15 to 50 percent in the fragipan; and from 15 to 60 percent in the substratum. The fine-earth fraction of the Bx and C horizons have over 50 percent silt plus very fine sand. Reaction, in unlimed areas, ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid in the solum and from very strongly acid through slightly acid in the substratum.
The Ap or A horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam or loam. Structure is weak or moderate granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
Some pedons have an E horizon with hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam. Structure is granular, platy, or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 3 through 8. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam. Structure is weak or moderate subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable.
The BE horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. The texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam, loam, or fine sandy loam. Structure is weak or moderate platy or subangular blocky. Consistence is firm or friable.
An E or E' horizon is present above the Bx horizon in some pedons. The horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is loam, fine sandy loam, or silt loam. Redoximorphic features may be present below a depth of 28 inches in the BE or E horizons.
The Bx horizons have hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture of the fine-earth fraction is silt loam or loam. Structure is coarse or very coarse prismatic with platy, blocky, or massive interiors. Consistence is firm or very firm. Redoximorphic features may be present below a depth of 28 inches in the Bx horizons.
The Cd horizon, if present, has color and texture similar to the Bx horizon. The horizon is massive or has plate-like divisions.
COMPETING SERIES: There are currently no other series in the same family. The Lewbeach, Newfound, Pinckney, and Willowemoc soils may also be included in the same family when updated to the 8th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy. Lewbeach soils have hues of 2.5YR or 5YR in the Bx horizons. Newfound soils have thinner sola and sandy loam textures above the fragipan. Pinckney soils have a lithologic discontinuity above the fragipan. Willowemoc soils have redoximorphic features present between a depth of 12 to 24 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Lewbath soils are on uplands of glaciated dissected plateaus and till plains and mainly occur on convex hilltops and hillsides. Slopes range from 3 to 55 percent. The soils developed in firm till derived from sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Mean annual temperature ranges from 42 to 45 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 35 to 45 inches, and mean annual frost-free days ranges from 90 to 120 days. The elevation of these soils ranges from 1750 to 2500 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Lewbath soils are the well drained member of a drainage sequence which includes the moderately well drained Willdin soils, the somewhat poorly drained Ontusia soils, and the poorly drained Norchip soil. Moderately deep, well drained Mongaup soils, and shallow, somewhat excessively drained and well drained Hawksnest soils are closely associated on nearby landforms where the soil mantle is thinner over bedrock. Valois soils are on adjacent lower valley sides where the glacial till is less dense.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Permeability is moderate in the surface layer and the upper part of the subsoil, and slow or very slow in the lower part of the subsoil (fragipan) and the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Cleared areas are used for growing corn for silage, small grains, hay, and pasture. A significant acreage has reverted to woodland or brush. Native vegetation is sugar maple, beech, northern red oak, black cherry, and white ash. Brushy areas often contain blueberry, spirea, Hawthorne (thorn apple), and poplar.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Central and Southern New York. MLRA 140. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Otsego County, New York, 1989.
REMARKS: This series is the frigid equivalent of the Bath series, and the brown colored equivalent of the Lewbeach series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 21 inches (Bw and BE horizons).
3. Fragipan - the zone from 21 to 52 inches (Bx1 and Bx2 horizons).
4. CEC activity class of semiactive based on lab data from one pedon (S85NY077-02) which is the typical pedon.
5. Udic soil moisture regime.
Soil Interpretation Record No.: NY0389.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Cornell University Soil Characterization Lab data is available for this pedon (S85NY077-02) from Otsego County, NY.