LOCATION ONTARIO NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Glossic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Ontario loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated)
Ap-- 0 to 8 inches, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) loam, gray (7.5YR 6/1) dry; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick.)
E-- 8 to 14 inches, brown (7.5YR 5/3) loam; weak medium platy structure; friable; common fine roots; common fine pores; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick.)
Bt/E-- 14 to 21 inches, brown (7.5YR 4/4) loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; brown (7.5YR 5/2) fine sandy loam coatings on faces of peds 1 millimeter thick that constitutes less than 15 percent of the layer; thin clay linings on surfaces along pores and on all faces of peds; 10 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; clear, wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick.)
Bt-- 21 to 39 inches, reddish brown (5YR 4/4) gravelly loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3) clay films on all faces of peds and on surfaces along pores; 20 percent rock fragments; neutral; clear wavy boundary. (12 to 29 inches thick.)
C1-- 39 to 48 inches, brown (7.5YR 5/2) gravelly loam; moderate thin and medium plate like divisions; firm; few pores; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline, slightly effervescent; clear wavy boundary.
C2-- 48 to 72 inches, brown (7.5YR 4/3) gravelly loam; massive; firm; few pores; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline, slightly effervescent.
TYPE LOCATION: Genesee County, New York, Town of Elba, 2 1/2 miles southeast of the village of Elba, one mile west of Norton Road and Edgerton Road, 100 feet north of Edgertown Road. USGS Batavia North, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 43 degrees, 03 minutes, 42 seconds N. and Longitude 78 degrees, 09 minutes, 31 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of solum ranges from 36 to 48 inches. Depth to bedrock is more than 40 inches. Depth to carbonates ranges from 34 to 48 inches. Stones, cobbles, and gravel range from 0 to 30 percent in the solum and from 10 to 50 percent in the C horizon.
In undisturbed areas, an A horizon 3 to 6 inches thick is present. The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Dry color values are more than 5.5. Texture is fine sandy loam, loam or silt loam. Structure is very weak and moderate medium or fine granular and consistence is friable to very friable. Reaction is strongly acid to neutral.
The E horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture is fine sandy loam, very fine sandy loam or loam or gravelly analogs. The material is massive or has weak platy or fine to coarse blocky structure.
The Bt/E horizon has colors and textures similar to the E and Bt horizons. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse blocky. Consistence is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral. Clay films cover 5 to 30 percent of ped faces and line pores
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. Ontario must be 7.5YR or redder in at least one subhorizon in the Bt. Texture ranges from loam to sandy clay loam or gravelly analogs, averaging 18 to 28 percent clay. Structure is moderate or strong, medium or coarse blocky. Consistence is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from strongly acid to neutral. Clay films cover 5 to 30 percent of ped faces and line pores.
The C or Cd horizon has hue of 10YR through 5YR, value of 4 through 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. Consistence is friable to very firm. Texture is fine sandy loam or loam or gravelly analogs. It is slightly to strongly alkaline and slightly to violently effervescent till having thin or thick weak or moderate plate like divisions or the material is massive.
COMPETING SERIES: The Fairport, Honeoye, Lansing, Wampsville, Wassaic, and Yunenyeti series are in the same family. Fairport, Wassaic, and Yunenyeti soils have bedrock within a depth of 40 inches. Honeoye soils have solum less than 32 inches. Lansing soils are 10YR or yellower in all subhorizons of the Bt. Wampsville soils are stratified in the lower part of the series control section.
The Aurora, Cazenovia, Conesus, Danley, Hilton, Lima, Madrid, and Mohawk series are similar soils in related families. Aurora, Conesus, Danley, and Nunda soils have mottles with chroma of 2 or less in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Cazenovia soils have more than 28 percent clay in the Bt horizon. Hilton and Lima soils have redox features within a depth of 40 inches. Madrid soils have coarse-loamy particle-size control sections. Mohawk soils have Ap horizons with moist color value of 3 or less.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Dominantly undulating to rolling till plains and drumlins. Slope ranges from 0 to 35 percent. The regolith is calcareous basal till of Wisconsin age high in limestone and sandstone. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 42 inches, mean annual air temperature from 46 to 50 degrees F., and mean growing season from 150 to 200 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Hilton, Appleton and Lyons soils are catena associates, with Lima replacing Hilton and Kendaia replacing Appleton locally. Dunkirk, Collamer, Amboy, and Williamson soils are on associated silty lake deposits. Hudson and Rhinebeck are on associated clayey deposits. Alton and Palmyra soils are on associated glacial outwash deposits. Arkport and Colonie are on associated sandy deltas.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low to very high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high or high in the solum and low to moderately high in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: A high proportion of the series has been cleared and farmed. A significant acreage, especially on drumlins, is idle or is in unimproved pasture. Crops include hay, corn, oats, wheat, and some vegetables and considerable deciduous fruit. Woodlots have red and white oak, sugar maple, hickory, black cherry and associated species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Ontario plain of western New York and locally in the Mohawk Valley. MLRA's 101 and 140. Ontario is a very extensive soil.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Monroe County, New York, 1910.
REMARKS: A new pedon from Genesee County was used because the typical pedon does not match the typical pedon for Ontario in the Ontario County, NY Soil Survey. After a review of the use of the Ontario and Lansing series for the range of the color hue in the Bt, the requirement that at least one subhorizon be 7.5YR or redder was added to Ontario and the competing series section of Ontario and Lansing were adjusted to reflect the change.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typical pedon are as follows:
(1) Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 8 inches (Ap horizon).
(2) Argillic horizon - the zone from 14 to 39 inches (Bt/E and Bt horizons).
(3) Glossic subgroup - as evidenced by interfingering of Albic material around peds in the upper part of the Argillic horizon (Bt/E horizon) and mean annual soil temperature less than 10 degrees C.