LOCATION CHATFIELD NY CT MA NHEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Coarse-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Dystrudepts
TYPICAL PEDON: Chatfield loam, on a 5 percent slope in a wooded area. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted).
Oe-- 0 to 1 inches, moderately decomposed leaf and twig litter. (0 to 2 inches thick.)
A-- 1 to 3 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) loam, weak fine granular structure; friable; common very fine and fine roots; and few medium and coarse roots; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick.)
AB-- 3 to 8 inches, dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam; pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine to coarse roots, and few medium roots; 5 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick.)
Bw-- 8 to 25 inches, brown (7.5YR 4/4) flaggy silt loam; weak fine subangular blocky structure; friable; common fine and coarse roots, and few medium roots; 20 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (9 to 26 inches thick.)
2R-- 25+ inches; fractured granitic bedrock.
TYPE LOCATION: Westchester County, New York; Town of Cortlandt, 75 feet south of Montrose Station Road, 0.2 miles west of the intersection of Montrose Station Road and Washington Street. Peekskill, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 41 degrees, 15 minutes, 33 seconds N. and Longitude 73 degrees, 55 minutes, 16 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness ranges from 16 to 36 inches. Depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 40 inches. Rock fragments range from 5 to 50 percent by volume in the A horizon and from 5 to 35 percent in the B and C horizons. Rock fragments are typically gravel or channers but include cobbles and flagstones, particularly just above the bedrock.
The O horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 or 3 and chroma of 0 through 2. It is slightly to highly decomposed organic material. Structure is granular or subangular blocky, or is massive. Consistence is very friable. Reaction ranges from extremely acid through moderately acid.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 2 through 4, and chroma of 1 through 4. Dry value is 6 or higher. Texture ranges from sandy loam to loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate, fine or medium granular. Consistence is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid, unless limed.
The AB or BA horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 or 4, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture is similar to the A horizon.
The Bw horizon has hue of 7.5YR through 2.5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 4 through 6. Texture ranges from sandy loam to silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. The Bw horizon has fine to coarse, subangular blocky or granular structure, and is friable or very friable. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid through moderately acid. Some pedons have a BC horizon with color and texture similar to the C horizon.
The C horizon, where present, has hue of 7.5YR through 5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. It ranges from sandy loam to silt loam in the fine-earth fraction and may have lenses or pockets of loamy sand. It is massive and may have plate-like divisions. It is friable or firm. Reaction ranges from very strongly to moderately acid.
The 2R horizon is dominantly schist, granite, or gneiss bedrock. In places it is massive, but it dominantly has vertical and horizontal fractures in the upper 12 to 30 inches, but lacks significant displacement below the upper few inches.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Chadakoin, Maplecrest, and Valois series. Chadakoin, Maplecrest, and Valois soils are deeper than 40 inches to bedrock.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Chatfield soils are nearly level to very steep, and are on convex to plane glaciated upland landscapes. The soils formed in a moderately thick mantle of till overlying granite, gneiss, or schist bedrock. Slope ranges from 0 to 70 percent. Rock outcrops are rare to common and are limited to the more resistant bedrock. Mean annual precipitation ranges from 26 to 45 inches; mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 55 degrees F.; and the frost free season ranges from 130 to 180 days. Elevation ranges from 0 to 1,000 feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Brookfield, Charlton, Narragansett, and Paxton soils and their wetter associates on nearby landscapes where the soil mantle is deeper than 40 inches. Hollis soils are shallow to bedrock and are on nearby ridge crests and areas adjacent to rock outcrops.
DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well to somewhat excessively drained. Potential for surface runoff ranges from low to high. Saturated hydraulic conductivity is moderately high to high in the mineral soil.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas of Chatfield soils are in woodland. Major tree species include white and red oaks, sugar maple, beech, hemlock, white pine, eastern red cedar, and Atlantic white cedar. Some small cleared areas are used for pasture, are idle, or are sites for residential and recreational development.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Connecticut, Eastern New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. MLRA's 142, 143, and 144A. The soils are of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Orange County, New York, 1940.
REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1) Ochric epipedon - the zone from 1 to 8 inches (A and AB horizons).
2) Cambic horizon - the zone from 8 to 25 inches (Bw horizon).
3) Lithic contact - bedrock at 25 inches (R horizon).
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for the typical pedon is available from Cornell University; sample number S84NY119-01.