LOCATION BRINKERTON PA+MD NY WVEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Fragiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Brinkerton silt loam - pasture. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) silt loam; weak fine granular structure; friable; few fine irregular brown (10YR 5/3) concretions; neutral;abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick)
Btg1--8 to 14 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular and angular blocky structure; firm, sticky, plastic; common distinct clay films on faces of peds; common fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Btg2--14 to 21 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silty clay loam; moderate fine and medium blocky structure; firm,sticky, plastic; common distinct clay films and silt coats on faces of peds; many medium faint gray (N 6/0) iron depletions in the matrix; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bt horizon is 5 to 18 inches.)
Btxg1--21 to 29 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate medium platy and moderate fine blocky; firm, brittle,slightly sticky, plastic; gray (5Y 5/1) prism faces; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; few distinct irregular black (N 2/0) coatings; many fine and medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btxg2--29 to 34 inches; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) silt loam; moderate very coarse prismatic structure parting to moderate thick platy and moderate medium blocky;firm, brittle,slightly sticky, plastic; gray (5Y 5/1) prism faces; few distinct clay films on faces of peds; many fine black (N 2/0) concretions; many fine and medium prominent yellowish red (5YR 4/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 5percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btxg horizon is 8 to 32 inches.)
Btx--34 to 42 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) silt loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak thick platy and weak medium subangular blocky; firm, brittle, slightly sticky, plastic; gray (5Y 5/1) prism faces; very few faint clay films on faces of peds; many fine black (N 2/0) concretions; common medium faint gray (N 6/0) iron depletions in the matrix and many medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 15 inches thick)
C--42 to 65 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) channery silt loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure; firm, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) prism faces; common medium faint grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) iron depletions in the matrix; 15 percent rock fragments; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Indiana County, Pennsylvania; East Mahoning Township, 1.0 mile west of Marion Center. Latitude 40 degrees, 40 minutes, 12 seconds N. Longititude 79 degrees, 06 minutes, 36 seconds W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 40 to 65 inches. Depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. Depth to the fragipan ranges from 11 to 30 inches. Rock fragments range from 0 to 10 percent by volume above the fragipan, from 0 to 30 in the fragipan, and from 10 to 80 percent in the C horizon. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the solum, unless limed, and from strongly through slightly acid in the C horizon.
The A horizon is neutral or has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 to 6,and chroma of 0 to 3. Texture of the fine-earth ranges from silt loam to silty clay loam.
The Bt horizon is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. Texture of the fine-earth is silty clay loam or silt loam.
The Btx horizon is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 3, and has redoximorphic features with shades of gray, brown and yellow. Texture of the fine-earth is silt loam, loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam.
The C horizon is neutral or has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y,value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 4, and has redoximorphic features with shades of gray and brown. Texture of the fine-earth is silt loam, silty clay loam, or loam.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series in the same family.
The Calvert, Croton, Doylestown, Robertsville, Sheffield, and Thorndale series may be in the same family when they are classified to the 8th Edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy. Calvert and Croton soils have sola less than 40 inches thick. Doylestown soils have 60 to 80 percent silt in the textural
control section. Robertsville soils do not have an argillic horizon above the fragipan. Sheffield soils have neutral reaction in the lower part of the fragipan. Thorndale soils either do not have rock fragments or they are dominated by schist.
The Andover, Armagh, Frenchtown, Mullins, Nolo, Purdy,
Shelmadine, Tyler, and Watchung series are in related families. Andover,Armagh, Mullins, Nolo, Purdy, Shelmadine, and Tyler soils have less than 35 percent base saturation. Frenchtown soils average more than 15 percent fine sand and coarser in the textural control section. Watchung soils average more than 35 percent clay in the textural control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Brinkerton soils are nearly level to sloping soils on concave footslopes and around heads of drainageways. Slopes range from 0 to 15 percent. The soils developed in medium textured colluvium from acid gray shale and siltstone. The climate is humid and temperate, with mean annual precipitation of 35 to 50 inches; mean annual air temperature ranges from 47 to 56 degrees F., and the growing season ranges from 120 to 180 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: Berks, Cavode, Dekalb, Gilpin, Hazleton, Rayne, Weikert, and Wharton soils are on nearby uplands. Berks, Dekalb, and Hazleton soils do not have argillic horizons. Cavode and Wharton soils do not have fragipans. Gilpin and Rayne are well drained and do not have
fragipans. Weikert soils have a lithic contact within 20 inches and do not have an argillic horizon. The moderately well and somewhat poorly drained Comly, the moderately well drained Buchanan and the somewhat poorly drained Portville soils are in the same drainage sequence.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained, with slow to rapid runoff. Permeability is moerate in the surface layer, moderately slow in the upper subsoil, and slow in the fragipan and substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Wooded areas of mixed hardwoods consist of northern red oak, sugar maple, and black cherry with some hemlock and white pine. Cleared areas are chiefly used for pasture.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and West Virginia. MLRA 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 147, and 148. The series is of large extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Morgantown, West Virginia
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 1939.
REMARKS: This soil now classifies with CEC activity class of semiactive. Competing series may change as similar soils are reclassified.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in this pedon are:
a. Ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface of the soil to a depth of about 8 inches (Ap horizon).
b. Argillic horizon - the zone from 8 to 21 inches (Btg horizon).
c. Fragipan - the zone from 21 to 42 inches (Btxg and Btx horizons).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization sample S58PA32-3 was used as a basis for placing the Brinkerton series in the Fragiaqualfs great group.