LOCATION FRENCHTOWN OH PAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Typic Fragiaqualfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Frenchtown silt loam, on a nearly level area reverting to brush and trees, formerly a cultivated field. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted.)
Ap-- 0 to 7 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) silt loam, light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) dry; moderate medium and coarse granular structure; friable; few fine black (10YR 2/1) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); very strongly acid; abrupt smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick.)
Beg-- 7 to 12 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silt loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common medium black (10YR 2/1) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); few rock fragments; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6 and 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 10 inches.)
Btg1-- 12 to 21 inches; light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; few faint clay films on sides of pores; many faint light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) clay depletions on faces of peds; 2 percent rock fragments; many medium distinct yellowish brown (10YR 5/6 and 5/8) masses of iron accumulation in the matrix; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary.
Btg2-- 21 to 30 inches; gray (5Y 5/1) silty clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; firm; common faint clay films on faces of peds; gray (5Y 6/1) clay depletions on faces of peds; few medium black (10YR 2/1) concretions (iron and manganese oxides); 2 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear wavy boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btg horizons is 3 to 20 inches.)
Btx1-- 30 to 41 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure parting to weak thick platy; polygons are 4 to 5 inches across; very firm; many distinct clay films on vertical faces of peds; common faint clay films on some horizontal surfaces; many prominent gray (5Y 6/1) clay depletions on faces of peds; common very dark brown (10YR 2/2) soft accumulations (iron and manganese oxides) in ped interiors; 5 percent rock fragments; 60 percent brittle; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
Btx2-- 41 to 48 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure; very firm; few faint clay films on some horizontal surfaces; many prominent gray (5Y 6/1) clay depletions on vertical faces of peds; 5 percent rock fragments; 60 percent brittle; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Btx horizons is 11 to 40 inches.)
BC1-- 48 to 57 inches; brown (10YR 4/3) loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure; firm; few prominent gray (5Y 6/1) coatings on prisms; 10 percent rock fragments; very strongly acid; clear smooth boundary.
BC2-- 57 to 66 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) clay loam; weak very coarse prismatic structure; firm; few prominent gray (5Y 6/1) coatings on prisms; 10 percent rock fragments; moderately acid; clear smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the BC horizons is 0 to 24 inches.)
C-- 66 to 80 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) loam; massive; firm; 12 percent rock fragments; moderately acid.
TYPE LOCATION: Portage County, Ohio; Nelson Township, 2 1/2 miles north northwest of Nelson; 1,950 feet south of Geauga County line, and 1,000 feet west of the intersection of Pritchard and Prentiss Roads. T. 5 N., R. 6 W.; USGS. Garrettsville, OH topographic quadrangle; Latitude 41 degrees, 20 minutes, 32 seconds N. and Longitude 81 degrees, 03 minutes, 47 seconds W., NAD 1927.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Thickness of the solum ranges from 40 to 80 inches, and depth to bedrock is greater than 60 inches. The depth to the fragipan ranges from 18 to 38 inches. Carbonates are at depths of 60 to more than 100 inches. Rock fragments (dominantly sandstone but some shale and crystalline rocks) commonly are 0 to 10 percent by volume in the Ap horizon; 0 to 20 percent in the Bt horizon; and 2 to 30 percent in the BC and C horizons.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5 (6 or 7 dry), and chroma of 1 or 2. Some pedons have A horizons 1 to 5 inches thick that have hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, and chroma of 1 or 2. The Ap or A horizon commonly is silt loam, and less commonly loam. It is moderately acid to extremely acid. Areas that have been limed range to neutral.
An E horizon up to 12 inches thick is in some pedons. The E horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 5 or 6, and chroma of 1 or 2 (3 if hue is 2.5Y or 5Y). It is silt loam or loam. It is moderately acid to extremely acid.
The Btg horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, or is neutral, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 0 to 2. It is loam, silt loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, or their gravelly analogues. It is moderately acid to extremely acid.
The Btx and BC horizons have hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 1 to 4. They are loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or their gravelly analogues. They are slightly acid to very strongly acid.
The C horizon has hue of 10YR or 2.5Y, value of 4 or 5, and chroma of 2 to 6. It is loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, or their gravelly analogues. It is strongly acid to moderately alkaline.
COMPETING SERIES: This is the Hasbrouck series. Hasbrouck soils have less than 10 percent clay in the lower part of the series control section.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Frenchtown soils are in depressions, on broad flat areas and base slopes, and along minor natural drainageways on till plains. The slope gradient typically is less than 3 percent, but the range is 0 to 8 percent (see Remarks). The soils formed in Wisconsinan till strongly influenced by siltstone and sandstone, and in places a thin mantle of loess. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 34 to 40 inches, and mean annual temperature ranges from about 47 to 51 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Cambridge, Canfield, Damascus, Holly, Ilion, Luray, Ravenna, Rittman, Sebring, Venango, and Wadsworth soils. The moderately well drained Cambridge, Canfield, and Rittman soils and the somewhat poorly drained Ravenna, Venango, and Wadsworth soils are in toposequences with Frenchtown soils. All of these soils are on higher landscape positions. Damascus, Luray, and Sebring soils are on nearby terraces. Holly soils are on nearby flood plains. Ilion soils have a darker surface than Frenchtown soils, do not have a fragipan, and typically are in deeper depressions.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained. The potential for surface runoff is negligible to medium. Permeability is moderate above the fragipan and slow or very slow in the fragipan. In undisturbed areas the depth to an intermittent perched seasonal high water table ranges from 1 foot above the surface to 0.5 foot below the surface from October to May in normal years.
USE AND VEGETATION: Principal uses are cropland, former cropland reverting to forest, forest, and pasture in approximately equal amounts. Where adequately drained, the principal crops include corn, wheat, or oats and meadow. The natural vegetation is elm, ash, red maple, swamp white oak, and pin oak.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania. MLRA 139 and 140. The series is extensive, about 201,000 acres.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Amherst, Massachusetts
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 1946.
REMARKS: About 40,000 acres are correlated with higher slopes. Further study of these soils is needed to determine if they should be recorrelated from the Frenchtown series.
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
1. Ochric epipedon - from the surface to a depth of about 7 inches (Ap horizon).
2. Argillic horizon - the zone from a depth of about 12 to 48 inches (Btg and Btx horizons).
3. Fragipan - the zone from a depth of about 30 to 48 inches (Btx1, Btx2 horizons).
4. Redoximorphic features - from the surface to about 66 inches (Ap, BEg, Btg1, Btg2, Btx1, Btx2, BC1, BC2 ).
Notes: 02/2000 revision included numerous changes made to all parts of the OSD. Pedon description updated to include redoximorphic features.
Acreage based on 2004 data.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data for the Frenchtown series include pedons MH-19, MH-31, and ST-15; analysis by the Ohio State University Soil Characterization Laboratory, Columbus, Ohio.