LOCATION CONESUS NYEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Glossaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Conesus silt loam on a 5 percent slope in a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.)
Ap-- 0 to 9 inches, very dark grayish brown (10YR 3/2) silt loam; weak fine and medium granular structure; very friable; many fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 12 inches thick.)
E-- 9 to 16 inches, brown (10YR 5/3) loam; weak fine and medium platy structure; friable; common fine roots; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; abrupt wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick.)
B/E-- 16 to 25 inches, brown (10YR 4/3) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine roots; ped exteriors have brown (10YR 5/3) silt coatings that constitute less than 15 percent of the layer; few patchy grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay films on all faces of peds; common medium prominent strong brown (7.5YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common medium faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) depletions within the matrix; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear, wavy boundary. (3 to 9 inches thick.)
Bt-- 25 to 36 inches, brown (10YR 4/3) gravelly silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) clay films on all faces of peds and on surfaces along pores; common fine distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6) masses of iron accumulation and common fine faint light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) depletions within the matrix; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (8 to 26 inches thick.)
C1-- 36 to 48 inches, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly silt loam; very weak thick plate like divisions; firm; few distinct olive brown (2.5Y 4/4) masses of iron accumulation within the matrix; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline; clear wavy boundary.
C2-- 48 to 72 inches, grayish brown (2.5Y 5/2) gravelly loam; very weak thick plate like divisions; firm; 20 percent rock fragments; slightly alkaline.
TYPE LOCATION: Genesee County, New York 3/4 miles northeast of Pavilion, 2300 feet east of NY Route 19 and Dillon Road, 50 north of Dillon Road. USGS Stafford, NY topographic quadrangle; Latitude 42 degrees, 53 minutes, 05 seconds N, Longitude 78 degrees, 00 minutes, 36 seconds W, NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 30 to 50 inches. Bedrock is deeper than 60 inches. Depth to carbonates ranges from 30 to 60 inches. Rock fragments range from 5 to 30 percent in the solum and from 10 to 50 percent in the C horizon and include cobblestones and flagstones which range from 0 to 5 percent in the solum and 5 to 10 percent in the C horizon. The soil ranges from strongly acid to neutral in the A and B horizons, and from neutral to moderately alkaline in the C horizon.
The A or Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate fine to coarse granular or subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or very friable. Some pedons have a BA horizon below the A horizon.
The E horizon, where present, has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 2 through 4. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction. Structure is weak or moderate medium or fine subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or firm. Redoximorphic accumulations may be present.
The B/E horizon has colors and textures similar to the Bt and E horizons respectively. Structure is weak or moderate medium or fine subangular blocky. Consistence is friable or firm. Redoximorphic features may be present.
The Bt horizon has hue of 10YR through 5Y, value of 3 through 5, and chroma of 3 or 4. Texture is loam or silt loam in the fine-earth fraction, with less than 35 percent sand, and with individual subhorizons ranging to clay loam or silty clay loam, but averaging less than 28 percent clay. It has weak to strong, fine to coarse subangular blocky structure. Consistence is friable or firm. Redoximorphic depletions are present. Some pedons have a BC horizon that is friable or firm with colors and textures similar to the B and C horizon
The C or Cd horizon has hue of 10YR to 5Y, value of 3 through 6, and chroma of 2 or 3. It has loam or silt loam texture in the fine earth fraction. It is massive and may have plate-like divisions. It has firm or very firm consistence, but can include lenses of friable water-sorted material. Redoximorphic features may be present.
COMPETING SERIES: The Aurora, Danley, Grindstone, and Nunda series are members of the same family. Aurora soils have bedrock within a depth of 20 to 40 inches. Danley soils have bedrock deeper than 40 inches and have an average clay content of 28 to 35 percent in the particle-size control section. Grindstone soils have sola ranging from 12 to 33 inches. Nunda soils have a silty mantle that ranges from 13 to 30 inches thick
The Cassopolis, Cazenovia, Elbaville, Guelph, Hilton, Honeoye, Hortonville, Lansing, Lima, Mariette, Ontario, Remus, Wampsville, and Wassaic series are in related families. Cassopolis soils have a lower rock fragment content in the substratum. Cazenovia soils have 28 to 35 percent clay and hue of 2.5YR to 7.5YR in the Bt horizons. Elbaville soils redoximorphic features in the subsoil and do not have a Cd horizon. Guelph soils have solums that are less than 25 inches thick. Hilton soils contain more than 35 percent sand in the Bt horizon. Honeoye and Lansing soils either lack mottling in the Bt horizon or mottling is limited to the lower 4 inches of the Bt horizon. Hortonville soils have hue redder than 10YR in the B horizons. Lima soils have sola that are less than 30 inches thick. Marlette soils lack mottling in the B horizons. Ontario soils lack mottling in the Bt horizons and contain more than 35 percent sand. Remus soils lack mottles in the B horizon and have less rock fragments in the substratum. Wampsville soils have stratified sand and gravel in the lower part of the series control section. Wassaic soils have bedrock within 20 to 40 inches.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Conesus soils are nearly level to sloping soils on till plains and glaciated dissected plateaus. Slope ranges from 0 to 8 percent, but are as great as 25 percent locally. The soils formed in till of late Wisconsin age derived from shale with varying components of limestone and fine-grained sandstone and siltstone. Mean annual temperature ranges from 45 to 49 degrees F., mean annual precipitation ranges from 30 to 45 inches, and mean annual frost-free days ranges from 120 to 180 days. Elevation ranges from 740 to 1600+ feet above sea level.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Amboy, Appleton, Arkport, Aurora, Colonie, Dunkirk, Howard, Kendaia, Lansing, and Lyons soils. The well drained Lansing, somewhat poorly drained Kendaia and Appleton, and poorly or very poorly drained Lyons soils are in drainage sequence with Conesus soils. Amboy soils contain a fragipan and have coarse-silty particle-size control section. Arkport and Colonie soils are dominantly fine sandy loam and fine sand, respectively. Aurora soils are 20 to 40 inches deep to bedrock. Dunkirk soils have fine-silty particle-size control sections. Howard soils formed in glacial outwash and have loamy-skeletal particle-size control sections.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. The potential for surface runoff is low or high. Permeability is moderate in the solum and slow or very slow in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are cleared and used to grow corn, small grains, hay, and pasture in support of dairying. Some vegetable crops, dry beans, and grapes are produced. Woodlots have sugar maple, red and white oak, American beech, and associated species.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: The north facing slope of the Allegheny Plateau from western New York to the central Mohawk Valley of New York and in adjacent valleys of the glaciated Allegheny Plateau. MLRA 101, 140, and 144A. The series is moderately extensive.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Livingston County, New York, 1940.
REMARKS: It is known that Oxyaquic Hapludalfs lacking 2 chroma redoximorphic depletions in the argillic horizon occur in some surveys and will be accommodated as inclusions in the mapping unit of the Conesus series or may be accommodated as a new series.
Diagnostic horizons and other features recognized in the typifying pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - from the surface to 9 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from 16 to 36 inches (B/E and Bt horizons).
3. Glossaquic subgroup - as evidenced by interfingering of albic material around pedons in the upper part of the argillic horizon (B/E horizon), and low chroma mottles in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data is available from Cornell University Soil Survey Laboratory for pedon S86NY077-3.