LOCATION CAMBRIDGE OH NY PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Cambridge silt loam, on a convex, 2 percent slope in woodland at an elevation of about 1,075 feet above msl. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Oa-- 0 to 1 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) decomposed organic material; many fine roots; abrupt smooth boundary.
A-- 1 to 2 inch; very dark brown (10YR 2/2) silt loam, very dark gray (10YR 3/1) dry; strong very fine and fine granular structure; very friable; many roots; 1 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (1 to 3 inches thick.)
Bw1-- 2 to 9 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common roots; 5 percent rock fragments, mainly sandstone; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary.
Bw2-- 9 to 18 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; firm; common roots; 5 percent rock fragments, mainly sandstone; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw3-- 18 to 22 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few roots; many distinct light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silt coats on faces of peds; common fine prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Bw4-- 22 to 25 inches; strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) silt loam; weak fine and medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few roots; many distinct light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) silt coats on faces of peds; common medium prominent light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) iron depletions in the matrix; common fine distinct strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments; strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Bw horizons is 11 to 24 inches.)
Btx1-- 25 to 38 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) silt loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium angular blocky; very firm, brittle; very few fine roots along faces of prisms; many distinct dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) clay films on faces of prisms; many prominent light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) and gray (10YR 5/1) iron-depleted silt coats on faces of prisms; strong brown (7.5YR 5/8) thick rind along outer edge of prisms; common medium black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron and manganese accumulation in the matrix; 5 percent rock fragments, mainly sandstone; slightly acid; diffuse wavy boundary.
Btx2-- 38 to 51 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak medium angular blocky and thick platy; very firm, brittle; common distinct light olive gray (5Y 6/2) iron-depleted clay films on faces of prisms; few medium black (10YR 2/1) masses of iron and manganese accumulation in the matrix; 10 percent rock fragments, mainly sandstone; slightly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizons is 10 to 36 inches.)
C-- 51 to 72 inches; olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) silt loam; massive; firm; few prominent gray (5Y 6/1) iron-depleted coats on vertical seams; 10 percent rock fragments, mainly sandstone with some black shale and some crystalline rocks; slightly effervescent; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Ashtabula County, Ohio; about 2.1 miles east-northeast of Richmond Center, in Richmond Township; 1,740 feet east of the intersection of Footville-Richmond Road (County Road 12) and Pymatuning-Lake Road (County Road 274), then 60 feet north. T. 10 N., R. 1 W.; USGS Leon, Ohio-PA topographic quadrangle; Latitude 41 degrees 41 minutes 20 seconds N. and Longitude 80 degrees 31 minutes 56 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 36 to 67 inches. Depth to the top of the fragipan ranges from 16 to 30 inches. Carbonates are at depths of 40 to greater than 80 inches.
An O horizon, where present, may consist of mostly undecomposed (Oi) to decomposed (Oa) materials.
The A horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 2 to 4, and chroma of 2 or 3. Pedons with an Ap horizon have hue of 10YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 or 3. Texture is silt loam, loam or their channery or gravelly analogues. Structure is weak to strong, very fine to medium, granular. Rock fragments range from 0 to 20 percent. Reaction is extremely acid to strongly acid. Areas that have been limed range to slightly acid.
Some pedons have discontinuous E or BE horizons with hue of 10YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 2. Texture is silt loam, loam or their channery or gravelly analogues. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium, subangular blocky. Rock fragments range from 0 to 20 percent. Reaction is extremely acid to strongly acid.
The Bw horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. Texture is silt loam or loam or their channery or gravelly analogues. Structure is weak or moderate, fine to coarse, subangular blocky, parting to weak thin platy in some pedons. Rock fragments range from 2 to 25 percent. Reaction is extremely acid to moderately acid.
The Btx horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. Vertical faces on prisms have coats in hue of 10YR to 5Y, or neutral, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2. Texture is loam, silt loam, clay loam, silty clay loam or their channery or gravelly analogues. Structure is weak or moderate, very coarse prismatic, parting to weak or moderate, medium or coarse, angular or subangular blocky, or parting to thin or thick platy. Rock fragments range from 2 to 35 percent. Reaction commonly is very strongly acid to slightly acid but some pedons are neutral in the lower part.
The C horizon has hue of 7.5YR to 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 4. Texture is loam, silt loam or their channery or gravelly analogues. Rock fragments range from 2 to 35 percent. Reaction is very strongly acid to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no other series in the same family. Clarksburg, Comly, Gatton, Homewood, Hustontown, Readington and Wooster series are similar soils in related families. All of these soils average more than 18 percent clay in the particle size control section above the fragipan.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Cambridge soils formed in low-lime Wisconsinan age till strongly influenced by acid siltstone, sandstone and shale, with a minor component of limestone and are on convex knolls, summits, shoulders and sideslopes on till plains and moraines. Slope ranges from 0 to 25 percent. The calcium carbonate equivalent ranges from 2 to 10 percent. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 29 to 43 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from 46 to 52 degrees F. The frost free period is 110 to 198 days, and elevation ranges from 720 to 1,200 feet above msl.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Blakeslee (T), Braceville, Chenango, Frenchtown, Hoosic, Mill (T), Red Hook, and Venango soils. The somewhat poorly drained Venango and the poorly drained Frenchtown and Mill (T) soils are in a toposequence with Cambridge soils. They are on lower landscape positions than Cambridge soils. The Blakeslee (T), Braceville, Chenango, Hoosic, and Red Hook soils formed in gravelly outwash deposits and are on nearby outwash plains and terraces.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff is very low to medium. Permeability is moderate above the fragipan and slow or very slow in the fragipan. Depth to the top of an intermittent perched seasonal high water table ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 feet from December to April in most years.
USE AND VEGETATION: This soil is used for cropland, pasture, hayland and woodland. Many cultivated areas have been abandoned and are reverting to trees and brush. Native vegetation consisted of deciduous hardwoods with sugar maple, beech, and oaks as the main species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, New York, and northern New Jersey. MLRA's 139 and 140. The series is moderately extensive, about 92,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts.
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 1946.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of about 10 inches (0, A, and Bw1 horizons).
Argillic horizon and fragipan - from a depth of 26 to 52 inches (Btx1 and Btx2 horizons).
Udic moisture regime.
In this revision Cambridge soils are reclassified from Fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs to Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Oxyaquic Fragiudalfs, due to analysis of laboratory data and updates contained in the 8th Edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
The sandstone substratum phase was correlated only in Ashtabula County, Ohio. It was correlated as Mitiwanga soil during the modernization soil survey of Ashtabula County.
Part of the previous location description was incorrect. The location description has been corrected and expanded in this revision.
Additional study is needed on the Bw horizons as compared to the Bt horizons in such soils as Canfield and Rittman series to see if they are significantly different.
ADDITIONAL DATA: The typifying pedon was redescribed near the site sampled as profile AB-35. Refer to pedon AB-35 for characterization data on the typical pedon, sample numbers 3431 - 3439 and 1246 - 1249 (dated 9/24/55) from Ashtabula County, Ohio. Additional characterization data, pedon AB-122, was collected during the modernization of the Ashtabula County Soil Survey, sample numbers 26429 - 26443. All samples analyzed by the Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio.